School for Studies in Art and Culture
Art History


St. Patrick’s Building 423
Telephone: 520-2342
Fax: 520-3575

The School


Acting Director:
Bryan Gillingham
Supervisor of Graduate Studies:
Natalie Luckyj

The School for Studies in Art and Culture offers a program of study and research leading to the degree of Master of Arts in Canadian Art History. The program is unique in its breadth and comprehensiveness. Students can choose to focus on art and architecture drawn from Canada’s wealth of different artistic communities, including the traditions of Euro-Canadians, aboriginal peoples, other ethnic groups, and women. They are encouraged to consider these traditions as aesthetic expressions and within broad contexts of race and gender and of social, political, and economic history.

Qualifying-Year Program

Applicants who do not qualify for direct admission to the master’s program may be admitted to a qualifying-year program. Applicants who lack an honours degree, but have a pass degree with an honours standing (at least B overall) will normally be admitted to a qualifying-year program. Refer to the general Regulations section of this Calendar for regulations governing the qualifying year.

Master of Arts

Admission Requirements

The minimum requirement for admission to the master’s program is an honours bachelor’s degree (or the equivalent) in art history or a related discipline, with at least high honours standing. Related disciplines may include anthropology, Canadian history, and Canadian studies. Applicants without a background in art history may be required to take up to a maximum of 2.0 credits in certain designated courses from the undergraduate art history program in addition to their regular program.

Program Requirements

The specific program requirements for students in the M.A. program are as follows:

Subject to the approval of the graduate supervisor
0.5 credit may be taken outside the Art History program. A maximum of 1.0 credit (or the equivalent) may be selected from course offerings at the 400 level in Art History.

The student’s program will be developed in consultation with the graduate supervisor and graduate faculty of Art History, and must be approved by the graduate supervisor. The prescribed program will take into account the student’s background and special interests, as well as the research strengths of the Art History graduate faculty.

Deadlines

Thesis Proposal
Full-time students will normally submit their thesis topic to the thesis proposal board no later than April 15 of the first year of registration for students enrolled full time, and no later than the middle of the fifth term of registration for students enrolled part time.

Thesis
Regulations governing requirements for the master’s thesis, including deadlines for submission, are outlined in the General Regulations section of this Calendar, Section 12.

Language Requirements

Students are required to demonstrate a reading knowledge of French (or another language to be approved by the Art History graduate supervisor).

Academic Standing

A standing of B- or better must be obtained in each credit counted towards the master’s degree.

Graduate Courses*



  • Art History 11.500T2
    The Practice of Canadian Art History
    This course examines three areas: (1) the historiography of both native and non-native Canadian art history; (2) the history and practice of collecting institutions in the six areas of concentration in Canadian art: Indian art, Inuit art, Canadian art, Euro-American tradition, architecture, folk and popular arts, and photography with attention to questions posed by new methodologies and theoretical approaches; and (3) cross-cultural and multi-cultural aspects of contemporary art. Additionally, the course provides on-site introduction to techniques of archival and collection research within the major collecting institutions in Ottawa.

  • Art History 11.501F1, W1 or S1
    Graduate Practicum
    This course involves practical on-site work in Ottawa collecting institutions (as available) and an extensive written assignment derived from the practicum project. The departmental graduate practicum coordinator and the on-site supervisor are jointly responsible for the final mark. A maximum of one 1.0 credit practicum will be accepted towards degree requirements.

  • Art History 11.502F1, W1, S1
    Directed Readings and Research
    Tutorials designed to permit students to pursue topics in Canadian art which they have selected in consultation with the faculty of the program.

  • Art History 11.519W1
    Aspects of Contemporary Art Practice
    This course offers opportunities to examine a wide spectrum of contemporary art practice in Canada. Explorations of the artist collective, traditional and new media (painting, sculpture, installation, video, computer art, etc.), relationship of artist and society, critical and public reception of comtemporary art production, as well as interaction between institutional collecting and artist-run centres will provide the basis for a cultural analysis of specific sites of individual and institutional practice.

  • Art History 11.543F
    Contemporary Canadian Architecture
    An examination of the leading figures and trends in Canadian architecture since 1950.  This includes the influence of international modernism, regionalism, urban theory, and postmodernism.

  • Art History 11.599F4, W4, S4
    M.A. Thesis

    Courses Not Offered 1997-98


    11.511 Topics in Historical Canadian Arts

    11.512 The History of Art Criticism in Canada to 1940

    11.513 Esotericism in Canadian Art

    11.515 Reading Modernism and Postmodernism in Canada

    11.516 Contemporary Women Artists: 1970 to the Present: Vision and Difference

    11.517 Public Art in Canada: Issues and Realities

    11.518 Contemporary Canadian Earthworks and Environmental Art

    11.520 Art of the Woodlands Indians in the Historic Period

    11.521 Art of the Plains Indians in the Historic Period

    11.522 Art of the North-West Coast Indians in the Historic Period

    11.523 Museums and First Nations in Canada

    11.524 Contemporary Indian Art

    11.526 Canadian Art and the Museum

    11.527 Creating an Exhibition

    11.530 Prehistoric and Historic Inuit Art

    11.531 Contemporary Inuit Sculpture

    11.532 Contemporary Inuit Graphic Arts

    11.533 Topics in Contemporary Inuit Art

    11.540 Aspects of Historical Architecture in Canada

    11.542 Architectural Drawings in Canadian Collections

    11.550 Historical Canadian Photography

    11.551 Modern Canadian Photography

    11.560 Canadian Folk and Popular Arts:  Sources and Styles

    11.561 Canadian Folk and Popular Arts: Critical Readings