Academic Year:
Preservation Studies
Telephone: (302) 831-3489
http://artcons.udel.edu/doctorate
Faculty Listing: http://www.artcons.udel.edu/doctorate/faculty
Contact PSP Director, Joyce Hill Stoner jhstoner@udel.edu for additional information.
Program Overview
The Preservation Studies PhD in the department of Art Conservation is an interdisciplinary doctoral course of study that teaches the philosophies, research methodologies, and policies informing preservation efforts focused on art, architecture, landscapes, and material culture. It is distinct from other discipline-based courses of graduate study in that it provides a mechanism to combine cross-field expertise toward doctoral study in preservation. The Preservation Studies Program prepares students to address questions regarding individual objects and works of art, collections, buildings and structures, and sites and landscapes. More specifically, it trains its PhD candidates to 1) assess the significance and cultural contexts for the production, function, reception, and preservation of all aspects of visual and material culture; 2) identify, evaluate, and implement preservation practice and policy; and 3) integrate ideas and methods from the full range of preservation-related disciplines.
The Preservation Studies doctoral program builds on unique and distinguished programs at the University of Delaware. The Preservation Studies Program may involve collaboration with faculty and physical resources in the Colleges of Arts and Sciences, Agriculture, Engineering, Human Services, Education, and Public Policy, Marine and Earth Studies, and the Winterthur Museum. Applicants apply to a specific area of concentration within Preservation Studies, and acceptance is contingent upon compatibility with existing University of Delaware resources.
Requirements for Admission
Successful applicants to the Preservation Studies Program must hold a Master's Degree in a discipline relevant to one of the program concentrations. All college and university transcripts should be submitted to the Office of Graduate and Professional Education; these must come directly from the institution. The application must also include the following: a paragraph summary of intended dissertation research and the relation of this topic to existing UD expertise and resources and a personal statement discussing areas of interest, intellectual goals, and how this program would be seen to meet these goals. Applicants must demonstrate prior background work that will enable them to successfully complete graduate-level courses and conduct graduate-level research on the proposed dissertation topic. A professional and academic resume is required as is a writing sample to help the admissions committee assess the applicant's ability to design and conduct a research project and to communicate findings to the scholarly community. Graduate Record Examination scores are required. Applicants for whom English is not a native language should submit TOEFL scores in order to demonstrate satisfactory proficiency in the English language. A score of 550 or higher is required for paper-based TOEFL exams; 213 or higher is required for computer-based TOEFL exams. Applications must include three letters of recommendation that speak to the applicant's ability to conduct research in the chosen area of concentration. The deadline for submission of an official application form to the Office of Graduate and Professional Education is February 1. The committee may request additional materials. An on-campus interview is strongly encouraged.
The Preservation Studies Program will convene a committee of at least three faculty members in the chosen area of expertise to process and consider the application after all materials listed above are received. Admission to the program will be selective and competitive based on the number of well-qualified applicants and the limits of available faculty and facilities for each concentration and dissertation topic area. Applicants who meet stated minimum requirements are not guaranteed admission, nor are those who fail to meet all of those requirements necessarily precluded from admission if they offer other appropriate strengths.
Financial Aid
Funding is competitive and may take the form of fellowships, teaching assistantships, and research assistantships. Please refer to Graduate Fellowships and Assistantships for further information.
Requirements for the Degrees
Upon their acceptance into the Program, students will meet with their advisors to formalize their curricula. They will choose approved courses relevant to their area of concentration and projected course of study. Areas of concentration include: Historic Preservation Planning (including Structures, Landscape, and Preservation of Social and Cultural Context), Preservation Technologies, Conservation Research and Technical Studies, and Heritage Management. Each student's curriculum must include a balance of courses that provide an introduction to the wide range of theoretical and methodological issues as well as courses supporting individual preservation research endeavors. Theoretical and methodological breadth ensures that all students in Preservation Studies are familiar with basic procedures of research design and data handling and analysis needed to conduct dissertation research. Eighteen credits of coursework are required. A non-credit seminar for presentation of research in progress will also be required for three semesters (PRES 801). Three courses will be required as approved by the advisor, selected in consultation with the student. There will be three electives. Once advanced to candidacy, students must register for at least 9 credits of PhD dissertation credit (PRES 969). (A total of 27 course credits.) Proficiency in one or more foreign languages may be required for certain areas of concentration and/or dissertation topics and will be determined by the chair of the dissertation committee. Likewise, proficiency in certain practical laboratory techniques may be necessary for certain concentrations.
After 18 credits of course work have been graded, the student must pass a written qualifying examination in the areas of concentration, supervised by senior faculty from the appropriate departments. The scope and content of the examination will be determined by the dissertation committee chair in consultation with members of the committee and/or professors of courses the student has completed for the concentration requirement. The qualifying examination must be passed before the student proceeds to candidacy. One semester after passing the qualifying examination, the student must submit a formal dissertation proposal (of about 10-15 pages) to his or her dissertation committee. The completed dissertation is expected to reflect the results of original and high quality research of significance to preservation studies, written in a scholarly and literary manner worthy of publication. The student will conduct an oral defense of the dissertation to all members of the dissertation committee.
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students and others who use the Catalog should note that the policies, rules, regulations,
requirements for graduation, course offerings, and other materials reproduced in the Catalog change
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