Art History, Visual Art & Theory

Open House: Tuesday, December 10, 2024, 5–7pm 
Audain Art Centre, 6398 University Boulevard, University of British Columbia 

Application deadlines for fall 2025 admission 
Graduate programs: January 8, 2025 
Undergraduate programs: January 15, 2025 

The Department of Art History, Visual Art and Theory (AHVA) invites prospective students and members of the public and wider arts communities to an Open House on December 10 at the Audain Art Centre. Join us for informal presentations of current research and works-in-progress, the closing of the Connecting the Dots exhibition in the AHVA Gallery, and an opportunity to chat with students, faculty, and staff. This social evening will include the presentation of a number of student awards, so please come out to help celebrate and learn more about the Department of Art History, Visual Art and Theory.  

AHVA fosters critical discourse and artistic practice within an inclusive and supportive environment. The department maintains the highest standards of intellectual practice, seeking to be innovative in pedagogy and international in scholarly perspective. AHVA faculty members are actively involved in research and bring this strength into their teaching at all levels. Many of our graduates have established distinguished careers in the artistic, scholarly, and curatorial fields.  

The department regards interaction with the social sphere as a valuable component of academic study and engages with professional and community groups associated with their practices. Recent visitors and residencies include: Eric Alliez, Michele Bacci, Amanda Beech, Dave Beech, Paul Chaat Smith, Autumn Star Chacon, Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, Delinda Collier, Abigail Deville, Beau Dick, Stan Douglas, Claire Fontaine, Peter Galison and Caroline Jones, Isabel Graw, Rachel Haidu, Maria Hupfield, Heather Igloliorte, Stanya Kahn, Joseph Koerner, Germaine Koh, Miwon Kwon, Tony Labat, Catharine Malabou, José Vicente, Martín Martínez, Dylan Miner, Cao Minghao, Reza Negarestani, Marianne Nicolson, Tameka Norris, Taqralik Partridge, Diamond Point, Josephine Pryde, R.H. Quaytman, Avinoam Shalem, Yoshiko Shimada, Kaja Silverman, Trevor Stark, Ming Tiampo, Cheyney Thompson, Angela Vanhaelen, Hajra Waheed, Bronwen Wilson, Paul Wong, and Haegue Yang. 

We acknowledge that the UBC Vancouver campus is situated on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam). 

BFA in Visual Art / contact: greg.gibson [​at​] ubc.ca
The Bachelor of Fine Arts, Visual Art major offers students a specialized program of visual art practice, critical theory, and art history within a dynamic university setting. Courses become more interdisciplinary as students progress through the program. To inform students’ art production and facilitate critical thinking and discussion, BFA students are introduced to critical issues related to contemporary art practice, writing, and theory through studio theory seminars each year. The BFA provides an excellent foundation for students wishing to study or work in various fields involving the making and understanding of visual art and contemporary aesthetics. 

Graduate programs / contact: ahva.grad [​at​] ubc.ca 
Sources of funding available to AHVA graduate students include Graduate Student Initiative (GSI) awards, Indigenous Graduate Fellowships, international student tuition credits, teaching assistantships, bursaries, and program-specific fellowships. Graduate students in all programs receive guidance and have a track record of success in external, SSHRC, and Affiliated competitions.  

The Master of Arts in Art History is a two-year thesis program designed to instruct students in methods of research and presentation of scholarly materials. The program offers advanced study in the arts of Europe, North America, Asia, Africa and the Indigenous arts of the Americas. Enriched by access to the full complement of university offerings, students are encouraged to situate art in its broadest context and analyze its impact on the world around us. The program provides excellent preparation for a wide range of art-related careers, in addition to further study at the PhD level. Students receive GSI funding for year one of their program. 

The Doctor of Philosophy in Art History fosters art historical research and scholarship at the highest level and promises exacting study and deepening experience of the field. Combining outstanding scholarly achievement, original research, and a firm theoretical grounding, the program involves coursework, demonstration of competency in two foreign languages, a comprehensive examination, dissertation proposal, roundtable presentation, and dissertation and oral defense. Four-year funding packages are available for Canadian and international students, with further funding options for advanced PhD students.  

The Master of Arts in Critical and Curatorial Studies is the oldest graduate curatorial studies program in Canada and the only one that results in an MA in Art History in the milieu of a graduate art history and studio department. The program combines studies in the methodology and history of exhibitions, art history, and contemporary art with training in the practice of curating exhibition. In addition to coursework, students have access to the visitors in the Curatorial Lecture Series and Distinguished Visiting Artist program and are encouraged to work individually and collectively on exhibitions throughout the two-year program. Many program graduates have gone on to work in the Vancouver and international art communities. Students are eligible for two years of funding from the Audain Endowment for Critical and Curatorial Studies Graduate Fellowship. CCST students benefit from working in close proximity to MFA students, with a dedicated shared studio workspace on the same corridor as the MFA studios at the Audain Art Centre.

The Master of Fine Arts in Visual Art is a highly competitive graduate program with an international profile. MFA students participate in intensive weekly studio seminars that are also a forum for critical discussions concerning leading issues in contemporary art and cultural theory, and their own studio and writing practice. Students take additional academic coursework to enrich their particular focus and may work in any area or media of contemporary art. The MFA in Visual Art degree is awarded after 24 months and the successful completion of all coursework, a major paper focused on the candidate’s research, and participation in a group thesis exhibition at the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery. MFA students are eligible for significant financial support from the B.C. Binning Memorial Fund.