Ohio University
Graduate Catalog

Comparative Arts

Doctoral Program

The Ph.D. program in comparative arts is an academic program of liberal humanistic study in the arts of Western civilization. Fundamental emphasis is placed on the ability to deal with works of art on their own terms: that is, the competence to analyze a work in any basic medium using the procedures of accepted modes of analysis within the scholarly tradition of each artistic discipline. But, as our name implies, departmental work is further focused upon the exploration of relationships between works of art and their significant cultural and intellectual contexts. There is no intention in this program to present a choice between scholarship and creative expression. Instead, the program is based on the belief that knowledge and understanding of your heritage and the development of acute critical abilities can only enhance the creative spirit, not hinder it.

Degree work is thus structured around a historical-theoretical-critical basis, involving period studies in each of the basic artistic disciplines, as well as interdisciplinary seminars.

Admission Requirements

You should have completed a master's degree from a reputable accredited university. This program of study may be in historical and critical studies of any major art discipline or in a studio or performance field. If your master's degree training is in modern languages, literature, history, or philosophy, and you have interest and training in arts fields, you are also encouraged to apply.

Your application for admission should include:

1. Official transcripts of all previous degree work.
2. At least three letters of recommendation from people qualified to speak of your academic achievement and potential.
3. A three- to five-page essay in which you discuss reasons for selection of interdisciplinary work for a graduate degree and a statement of philosophical and practical expectations from such study.
4. A sample research paper.
5. Scores for the Graduate Record Examination (quantitative and qualitative aptitude tests) or the Miller Analogies Test. The department recommends a personal interview when at all possible.

Most admissions to the Comparative Arts Program are for fall entry. Submit all application materials by the beginning of March, as basic admission decisions for the following year are generally made by the middle of April.

Program Requirements

The basic curriculum for the degree consists of the following:

1. Historical-Theoretical Studies: From the arts of theater, music, painting, sculpture, etc., two will be selected as areas of concentration requiring a minimum of six courses in each. In the area not selected as one of the areas of concentration, a minimum of one course is required.
2. Seminar: A full cycle of the Seminar in Comparative Arts, consisting of all six courses, is required.
3. Academic Minor: Three courses in aesthetics.
4. Studio Minor: Students without studio/performance experi-ence are required to take three courses.

You are also required, as a part of the total program, to demonstrate proficiency in at least two scholarly tools outside of, but related to, your area of concentration as determined by the graduate committee of the department. You may choose from:

1. A reading knowledge of two foreign languages.
2. A reading knowledge of one foreign language plus at least three graduate courses in the literature of that language.
3. A reading knowledge of one foreign language plus satisfactory competence in a related tool (music theoretical systems, statistics, etc.) The music theoretical systems option is not open to students with graduate training in a music area.

Upon petition, the department will accept test scores from the Educational Testing Service which demonstrate reading proficiency in a foreign language, provided the test score is at least 600 and no more than three years old.

Minimum course requirements for the degree may ordinarily be completed in six to eight quarters of full-time residency, of which a minimum of three quarters must be continuous. Toward the end of your sixth full quarter of study or when the coursework is virtually completed, and upon recommendation of the graduate committee of the department, you must take a comprehensive examination. In this examination, you must demonstrate the ability to make historical, philosophical, and comparative analyses of works of art.

In addition to the requirements stated above, all candidates for the Ph.D. degree in comparative arts must register for six quarters of CA 891 Seminar in Comparative Arts. All candidates for the degree are also required to teach and/or engage in some performance activity as determined and supervised by the department.

A dissertation (and oral defense) which is comparative in nature is the culminating demonstration of your scholarly abilities.

Requests for financial aid may accompany applications for admission. Most graduate teaching associateship appointments are made for a nine-month academic year period beginning in the fall quarter.

Comparative Arts (CA) Courses

520X Problems in Comparative Arts (The Fine Arts in Florence) (1-6)
Prereq: enrollment in Italy program. Artistic expression in Florentine life as it may be seen in examples of architecture, painting, sculpture, and music.
Staff; Sp; Y.

581 Individual Problems (1-6)
Staff; F, W, Sp, Su; Y.

581X Individual Problems (1-6)
Prereq: perm; study abroad.
Staff; Sp; Y.

700 Teaching Seminar in Comparative Arts (4)
Prereq: CA grad students. Seminar-practicum designed to prepare TA for assumption of classroom responsibilities. Examines content, method, audiovisual materials necessary to teaching of Introduction to Fine Arts sequence (CA 117, 118).
Haigney; F; Y.

701 Music Theory Systems (4)
For nonmusician graduate students. Introduces musical theoretical systems ca. 300 B.C. to present.
Wortman; F; Y.

702 Music Theory Systems (4)
Prereq: 701. For nonmusician graduate students. Introduces musical theoretical systems ca. 300 B.C. to present.
Wortman; W; Y.

703 Music Theory Systems (4)
Prereq: 702. For nonmusician graduate students. Introduces musical theoretical systems ca. 300 B.C. to present.
Wortman; Sp; Y.

711 Music in Antiquity and the Middle Ages (4)
Cultural history of music to ca. 1410.
Wortman; F; A.

712 Music in the Renaissance (4)
Cultural history of music, 1410-ca. 1600.
Wortman; W; A.

713 Music in the Baroque Period (4)
Cultural history of music ca. 1600-ca. 1730.
Wortman; Sp; A.

714 Music in the Classic Period (4)
Cultural history of music ca. 1730-ca. 1825.
Wortman; F; A.

715 Music in the 19th Century (4)
Cultural history of music in 19th century.
Wortman; W; A.

716 Music in the 20th Century (4)
Cultural history of music in 20th century.
Wortman; Sp; A.

721 The Arts in Antiquity (4)
Artistic development between Minoan/Helladic cultures to advent of Constantine.
Staff; F; A.

722 Medieval Art (4)
Art of Europe from Age of Constantine to Art of Giotto.
Staff; W; A.

724 Northern Renaissance Art (4)
Art of Northern Europe in 15th and 16th centuries.
Staff; Sp; A.

725 Italian Renaissance and Mannerist Art (4)
Art and history of Quattrocento, Cinquecento Italy.
Staff; Sp; A.

726 Baroque and Rococo Art (4)
Art of 17th and 18th century Europe.
Staff; F; A.

727 Art of 19th Century (4)
European art from French Revolution to 1900.
Staff; W; A.

728 Modern Art (4)
Specific movements and artists since 1900.
Staff; Sp; A.

741Art and Beauty in Antiquity and Middle Ages (4)
First in a series of three seminars studying concepts in art, beauty, creativity, aesthetic function, and experience.
Chojna; F; Y.

742Art Theory and Criticism: Modernity (4)
Chojna; W; Y.

743Art and Society Now: Special Topics (4)
Chojna; S; Y.

770 Greek Theater and Drama (4)
First in series of eight seminars covering theater and drama of western world in-depth from prehistoric times to contemporary.
Haigney; F; A.

771 Roman and Medieval Theater (4)
Haigney; W; A.

772 Renaissance Theater and Drama (4)
Haigney; Sp; A.

773 Restoration and 18th Century Theater (4)
Haigney; D.

774 Baroque European Theater (4)
Haigney; F; A.

775 19th Century European Theater (4)
Haigney; W; A.

776 Contemporary Theater (4)
Haigney; Sp; A.

881 Individual Problems (1-15)
Staff; F, W, Sp, Su; Y.

891 Seminar in Comparative Arts (4)
Team taught; F, W, Sp; Y.

892X Individual Problems (4-15)
Prereq: study abroad.
Staff; Sp; Y.

895 Dissertation (1-15)
Dissertation as recommended by department.

Return to 1995-1997 Graduate Catalog Table of Contents

University Publications and the Computer Services Center revised this file (http://www.ohiou.edu/~gcat/95-97/area/comparts.html) April 13, 1998.

Please e-mail comments or suggestions to "gcat@www.cats.ohiou.edu."