The Department of History of Art and Architecture offers an M.A. program with two tracks, History of Art and Architecture and the Built Environment. The department does not accept external applications for a terminal master's degree. The M.A. is available only to Vanderbilt undergraduates who enroll in the department's 4+1 combined B.A./M.A. program.
The Department of History of Art and Architecture treats critically the major fields in world art and architecture, from ancient to contemporary, and serves to connect the arts to the other humanities. Many students will use the program in history of art or architecture and the built environment as a foundation for careers in which analytical reading and writing skills gained in the major are especially valued: as the basis for advanced training in professional schools (such as architecture, law, medicine, journalism, and business), for further postgraduate work in history of art, architecture, urban studies, and related fields, and for employment in galleries, museums, or design-centered fields. A major goal of the department is to help students become readers of visual images and material culture throughout their lives, as well as to encourage visual approaches to learning.
Interdisciplinary research is fundamental to history of art and the study of architecture and the built environment, and graduate students are encouraged to pursue courses in other departments, programs, and schools: African American and Diaspora Studies, American Studies, Art, Asian Studies, Biological Sciences, Cinema and Media Arts, Classical and Mediterranean Studies, Communication of Science and Technology, Communication Studies, Earth and Environmental Sciences, English, European Studies, French and Italian, History, Jewish Studies, Mathematics, Medicine, Health and Society, Neuroscience, Philosophy, Physics, Political Science, Psychology, Public Policy Studies, Religious Studies, Russian and East European Studies, Sociology, Spanish and Portuguese, Theatre, and Gender and Sexuality Studies (College of Arts and Science); Musicology and Ethnomusicology (Blair School of Music); Human and Organizational Development (Peabody College); and Civil Engineering, Computer Science, Engineering Science, Environmental Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering (School of Engineering).