Art History

Program Overview

The graduate program in Art History leads to the Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy degrees, offered in the following fields:

• Ancient
• Medieval
• Early Modern
• Modern​ and Contemporary

Both the MA and PhD programs emphasize the research, writing, and teaching necessary to pursue a career in academia, curatorial work, art consultation, heritage programs, cultural journalism, or secondary school teaching. The faculty supervise students in the fields of Ancient, Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque, Asian, African, Architecture, and Modern and Contemporary Art.

Students in the graduate program may also benefit from the department’s affiliations with the Centre for Medieval Studies, the Centre for Renaissance and Reformation Studies, the program in Book History and Print Culture, and the Mediterranean Archaeology Collaborative Specialization. Resources and affiliated faculty at the Royal Ontario Museum, the University Art Centre, the Gardiner Museum, and the Art Gallery of Ontario also provide access to Toronto’s vibrant arts scene. The University hosts a number of specialist libraries for art historical research, including the Department of Art History’s library with over 40,000 exhibition catalogues, the Cheng Yu Tung East Asian Library, and Robarts Research Library, a resource unrivalled in Canada and among the leading university libraries in North America.

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