16 PhD programmes in Visual Arts in United States

Columbia University offers one of the richest graduate Art History and Archaeology program in the discipline, and students are encouraged to take advantage of its variety of subjects and approaches.

Media Arts and Sciences is a PhD program housed in the transdisciplinary School of Arts, Media and Engineering at Arizona State University.

Are you interested in the philosophy and methodology of interdisciplinary research in the areas of architecture, design and art history? Are you interested in learning the skills to function successfully as an independent scholar? Join this Design, Environment and the Arts (History, Theory and Criticism) program at Arizona State University today and start your explorations.

Although the Department of History of Art at The Ohio State University offers both the Master of Arts and the Doctor of Philosophy degrees, the MA is awarded in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the PhD. The department does not admit students who wish to work solely toward the master's degree.

The Visual Arts course of study at the Institute for Doctoral Studies in the Visual Arts (IDSVA) comprises three interrelated academic programs: Seminars, Topological Studies, and Independent Studies. Each of these programs focuses on the historical relation between art and ideas.

The Musical Arts degree from The University of Arizona has emphases in composition, conducting, and performance. In the performance emphasis concentrations are available in bassoon, cello, clarinet, double bass, euphonium, flute, guitar, horn, harp, harpsichord, oboe, organ, percussion, piano, saxophone, trombone, trumpet, tuba, viola, violin, and voice. 

The Ph.D. program in Visual Studies, administered by the faculty of the Department of Art History at the University of California, Irvine (UCI), offers students the opportunity to pursue a doctorate in the cultural analysis of visual artifacts and experiences.

The Art History and Education - Art and Visual Culture Education program from The University of Arizona prepares artist/teacher/researchers who contribute to the research, creative scholarship, knowledge, theory, and practice of art and visual culture education in university, school, museum, community, or other arts leadership positions.   

The PhD program in Computer Science (Art, Media and Engineering) at Arizona State University emphasizes research on the integration of the human physical experience with computation and digital media.

The History of Art graduate program at Johns Hopkins University is designed to give students working toward the PhD degree an encompassing knowledge of the history of art and a deep understanding of the theories and methodologies pertaining to art historical research. 

The Art History and Education program from The University of Arizona provides an interdisciplinary, theoretically informed, methodologically diverse two track PhD program: with one track in Art History and one in Art and Visual Culture Education.  

The Visual Studies program offered by University of Missouri - Columbia has played a prominent role in the teaching of the visual arts in North America since Walter Miller and John Pickard first began lecturing on campus in the 1890s.

Embark on a journey that delves into cross-cultural, interdisciplinary explorations of performance, broadly defined. We offer a Theater and Performance Studies degree at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

An intensive program at University of Georgia with tracks in Art Education and Art History. Students engage in intensive research and work closely with faculty mentors. They procure jobs at universities and museums and routinely secure tenure track and curatorial positions.

The Visual Arts program at the University of California, San Diego consists of two degree paths: Art History, Theory and Criticism and Art Practice, a concentration designed for artists engaged in advanced research who wish to pursue their work in an environment geared to doctoral study, and to produce studio, media, performance or public facing work alongside a written dissertation.

The PhD in Visual and Performing Arts program at University of Texas at Dallas is designed primarily for individuals who wish to conduct advanced research and to teach at the college level, and can lead to a wide variety of non-academic careers as well.