MA Art History & Criticism/MBA Degree Program

The combined MA in Art History & Criticism is a 69 credit program including a minimum of 21 credits taken in the Department of Art and 48 credits taken in the College of Business. The combined degree program is 15 credits shorter than the two programs taken independently.

With decreasing support for the arts and the interdependence of the private and public sectors, students pursuing careers in museums, galleries, non-profit institutes, corporations with an art collection and other arts-related organizations, will benefit from knowledge and experience in the multi-faceted financial and organizational imperatives of modern business enterprises. We expect most graduates from this combined degree program to find employment in not-for-profits, including government organizations and public institutions, but also in private sector firms with a strong interest in or component involved with the visual arts. These firms and institutions are often strongly impacted by government regulation, world and national economics, public policy, and private endeavors, for example: government and private funding, professional arts organizations, private donations, museum administration, education.

Requirements:

Students qualifying for the MA Art History and Criticism/MBA joint degree will be allowed to enter the program directly following their bachelors degree without having previously obtained a masters degree. Under other circumstances, the College of Business usually requires students to have an advanced degree or 5 years of business experience to enter their 48 credit MBA program.

Admissions Process:

Admissions decisions to the combined program will be made by a joint committee made up of faculty from the business and arts program. To gain admission to the combined degree, a student will have to be approved by faculty from both departments. The Admissions Committee of the MBA program agrees to accept the GRE test score for admission. Students may originate the application process in either program and whichever program reviews the application first, it will send all approved applications for review to the other committee for admission to the combined program.

Completion of Program:

The current MA program requires 36 credits to complete (12 courses). The 36 credits are comprised of 9 credits of required art history and criticism courses, 3 credits Teaching Practicum, a minimum of 6 credits of ARH electives, and a minimum of 6 credits of elective courses in the Humanities and Social Sciences outside the department. Three to six credits are permitted for the MA thesis. There is a comprehensive exam that must be passed as well as a foreign language reading requirement.

The Accelerated MBA program requires 48 credits (16 courses plus an internship) for students with an advanced degree such as an MA. The 16 courses include 11 required courses, a 3 credit industry project and a 4 course concentration in one of the following areas: Management, Marketing, Finance, Human Resources, Health Systems Management or Information Systems Management.

In the combined degree program, MA students would substitute courses offered in the MBA program for 9 credits of outside electives in the Humanities and Social Sciences, for the 3 credits Teaching Practicum (unless the student decides s/he wishes teaching experience), and for 3 of the 6 credits for the thesis. The total minimally available MA credits for substitution are 15 credits. The MBA program requires an internship for its students who do not have business experience. We anticipate that internships would be available for these students at some of the leading museums and art galleries in the greater New York area such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Archives of American Art at the Smithsonian's New York office, the New York City cultural affairs office, and the Art Gallery in Chelsea, New York.

Students would receive both degrees upon completion of the entire program. Because the MA portion of the dual degree program is completed first, if students leave prior to completing the MBA portion of the degree, they would receive the MA degree in Art History and Criticism provided they completed all the regular MA degree requirements.