At the School of Visual Arts in New York City
209 East 23rd Street/ New York, NY 10010-3994.
Contact [email protected], (212) 592-2408, or go to
http://artcriticism.sva.edu
The Art Criticism & Writing graduate program at the School of Visual Arts offers a two-year course of study leading to an MFA degree. SVA is one of the nation’s leading independent colleges of art and design, located in the heart of Manhattan, just blocks from the Chelsea gallery district.
For students who want to improve their writing and advance their knowledge of contemporary art, theory, and history, this program offers specialized instruction from practitioner-teachers led by the Chair of the program, David Levi Strauss. Current faculty include Thyrza Nichols Goodeve, Robert Hullot-Kentor, Raphael Rubinstein, Tom Huhn, Ken Johnson, Suzanne Anker, Susan Bee, Bill Beckley, Roger Denson, and Jeffrey Kastner. The core faculty is joined by visiting critics and scholars who come into the program in various capacities on a frequent basis. Publisher of the Brooklyn Rail Phong Bui, Art in America senior editor Nancy Princenthal, and poet and essayist Ann Lauterbach all visited our Thesis Seminar this Spring, and visiting lecturers this Fall 2008 will include Linda Nochlin, Bill Berkson, Carol Becker, W.J.T. Mitchell, and Leo Steinberg.
The sixty-credit program offers foundation courses in the bases of criticism and the fundamentals of critical writing, leading to the completion of the thesis in the final term. The small class size allows a great deal of one-on-one time with the faculty and extensive dialogue with other students. The focus in writing is on the essay as form, as well as on shorter forms of review, through our criticism blog Degree Critical. New electives offered this Fall include “The Art of the Interview” by Thyrza Goodeve, “Art Magazines” by Jeffrey Kastner, and “Media Critique and Aesthetics: Theodor Adorno on Television, Photography, Film, Radio, and Music” by Robert Hullot-Kentor.
An underlying principle of this program from its inception has been that the image should begin to occupy a place in the understanding of life comparable to that occupied by the humanities and sciences. To that end, we spend a good deal of time studying the history of images and how they currently operate in the world.
Applications for the Fall 2008 term will be accepted until June 1, 2008. Scholarship packages are available on a competitive basis.
The Chair is available through the Spring to meet with interested candidates to discuss the program and its philosophy. To arrange an interview, write to [email protected] or call (212) 492-2408.
For more information go to: http://artcriticism.sva.edu