The Department of Art History has graduated over two hundred Ph.D. students since 1965. Graduates of its Ph.D. program have worked as curators and administrators at renowned museums, research institutes, and foundations like The Art Institute of Chicago, Getty Research Institute, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Museum of African Art (Smithsonian Institution), The Menil Collection, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art. They have been faculty members at a range of outstanding research universities and liberal arts colleges, including Arizona State University, DePauw University, Dickinson College, Michigan State University, Middlebury College, Rice University, St. Michael's College, St. Olaf College, Skidmore College, Stony Brook University, Temple University, the University of Chicago, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, University of Toledo, University of Tulsa, University of Washington, Valparaiso University, Virginia Commonwealth University, and Wayne State College.  

Students choose to specialize in the art and culture of Africa; the Americas; Asia; Ancient, Medieval and Early Modern Europe (until 1700); Modern Europe (1700-1960); West Asia and North Africa; or in Contemporary art practices (1960- ).

In addition to their Art History requirements, our Ph.D. students complete an outside minor in a complementary field. Examples of minors our students pursue include African American and African Diaspora Studies, African Studies, American Studies, Ancient Studies, Classical Studies, Curatorship, Gender Studies, Medieval Studies, and Renaissance Studies. Students can also create their own individualized minor to best complement their major field of study. Recent individualized minors include Arab Postcolonial Studies and History of the City of Rome.

The Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art’s collections and those of the Lilly Library, the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Moving Image Archive, and the Kinsey Institute provide unique classroom and research opportunities.