How to apply for the PhD in History of Art
Course requirements:
Candidates accepted for this course will have a 1st class or a high 2i honours degree and, a Masters degree with 70% overall (or equivalent) in History of Art or a related discipline. Please note the information given in the International Qualifications Search is a guideline of the University's minimum academic requirements. The requirements for this course are higher than the University minimum academic requirements.
The University requires all applicants to demonstrate competence in the English language at a very high level before they begin their proposed course of study. You must be able to demonstrate that you are able to communicate in English at a level and in an idiom suitable to the subject. You will, therefore, need to provide evidence that you meet the University’s minimum requirements for competence in English. For further information see Postgraduate Admissions Office.
The Department of History of Art places particular emphasis upon competence in foreign languages required for work in the chosen area of specialization. Language tuition in Latin and modern foreign languages is available, but students who already possess the necessary language skills will be better prepared to undertake the course.
How to Make an Application for the PhD in History of Art:
If you do meet the course requirements, you are recommended to consult the list of our established University Teaching Officers (UTOs) and their research interests (see below for links to information about each of our UTOs). If one of our UTOs has relevant research interests to your own, please email them directly with a short research proposal of about 300 words, an example of your writing and a CV to determine whether they are potentially available to work with you as a supervisor before you make a formal application.
Professor Rosalind (Polly) Blakesley - European, British and Russian art, 18th-early 20th century
Professor Donal Cooper - Italian late Medieval and Renaissance art
Professor Caroline Van Eck - European art and architecture and their theories, in particular French, the reception of Graeco-Roman art, the anthropology of art, Giovanni Battista Piranesi, and Aby Warburg.
Dr Kareem Estefan - Film, video, and digital media, particularly Arab moving-image practices, documentary and Global South cinema, and activist engagements with colonialism and its legacies in contemporary art and film
Professor Alyce Mahon - 20th-century art, especially Surrealism, performance and feminist art practice
Professor Alexander Marr - European and British art and architecture, 16th and 17th centuries
Dr Frank Salmon - British and European Architecture, 17th-19th century
Dr Laura Slater- Medieval art and architecture
Dr Amy Tobin - 20th- and 21st-century art, and moving image, especially in relation to feminism, gender politics, queer and post-colonial theory
Dr Xin Peng - Film history, classical Hollywood cinema, critical race and postcolonial theories, Asian American studies and transnational cinemas
You will need to arrange for the following documents to be submitted with your application:
- Academic Reference(s)
- A Personal Reference will only be required if you are applying for the Gates Cambridge Scholarship
- Transcript
- Evidence of Competence in English if English is not your first language
- Sample of Work - this could be a journal publication or a chapter from your undergraduate dissertation
- Research Proposal of 1000 - 1500 words should consist of a topic and a hypothesis, a literature review, a statement on method, and key references
Application Deadlines
You are recommended to only make a formal application via the University’s Postgraduate Admissions Office, once an established UTO has confirmed that they would be interested to consider a formal application. Please note that an offer of admission to the University is subject to final approval by the University's Postgraduate Admissions Office. Do not assume that you will be made an offer on the grounds that your prospective supervisor has suggested you make a formal application – this just represents the first stage of admission administration.
All applications must be made via the Postgraduate Admissions Office website. It is important that you read through the information available before submitting your application. If you are already a current postgraduate student at Cambridge you will be referred to as a ‘Continuer’ on the Postgraduate Admissions Office website.
The PhD in History of Art commences in October each year and applications for the course can be made from the preceding September. All applications must be made via the Graduate Student Application Form (GRADSAF) available on the Postgraduate Admissions Office website. It is important that you read through the information available on the Graduate Admissions Office website before submitting your application.
The final deadline for applicants seeking funding is early January, for the exact date, please see the Postgraduate Admissions website. Even if you are not seeking funding, we strongly recommend that you submit your application by this date.
If places are still available on programmes beyond this deadline; self-funded applicants will continue to be considered until the final deadline in May, for the exact date please see the Postgraduate Admissions website No applications will be considered after this deadline.
Course Fees
Information relating to the fee for this course is available from the Postgraduate Admissions Office.
Funding
If you are seeking funding for your course via one of the University’s main funding competitions, there are specific deadlines and eligibility criteria for each competition. Please check the Funding Section of the Postgraduate Admissions Office website for information and application deadlines.
After your Application is Submitted
When the application reaches the Department, it will be considered by the Department’s Graduate Admissions Team. Applicants will be invited for an interview online. The Faculty’s Degree Committee will then consider the application and make a recommendation to the Postgraduate Admissions Office as to whether an offer of a place on the course should be made, and if so, with what academic conditions.
Please be aware that this process may take several months. You can check the status of your application at any time via your self-service pages.
Full information about making your application, Colleges, fees and funding opportunities is provided on the Postgraduate Admissions Office website pages.
For further information on graduate admission to the Department of History of Art contact: postgraduate.admin@aha.cam.ac.uk