American University provides a Master's program in art history for prospective artists and art directors. Applicants wishing to be admitted into the program must possess a Bachelor of Arts degree from an accredited college or university. If an applicant's undergraduate major was not art history, they will need to have successfully completed at least 24 credits of Art History in an accredited college program before they can be accepted into American University's Master's program. To determine who is eligible for the program, the school reviews each applicant's previous transcript records, academic history and GRE scores. Additionally, prospective students must also submit a sample of their writing and two letters of recommendation from recent professors who are familiar with their work as artists or as students. The school's Art History Master's program will take at least four semesters to complete, but the amount varies depending on how many classes students take for each term. The curriculum educates students in a wide variety of topics, including teaching in high schools or community colleges, researching historical works, managing library and archival departments, editing for companies and working several diverse types of museum duties in research development, education, and curatorship.
Georgetown's Department of Art and Art History provides a Master's program in Museum Studies that incorporates and combines art history with museum practices. The program focuses on the global significance of museums and the modern issues pertaining to museums today. The program increases the experience of the students and enables them to apply their knowledge to practical situations by providing them with opportunities to conduct individual research, fulfill internships and work with highly regarded Georgetown art history instructors, curators and other museum professionals in the Washington D.C region. The program takes 12 months to complete, and the courses emphasize museology, art history, diverse artistic interpretations, effective museum displays and the academic study of art. The informative lectures address relevant topics such as the roles of museums in modern cultures, museum education programs and audiences, new technologies in the industry, art collection management skills, curatorial work and the ethics of art acquisition.
Corcoran College Of Art And Design offers a Masters Program in the History of Decorative Arts. The history of decorative arts program is a 48 credit hour program dedicated to hands-on applications accompanied with professional training. The quality of the school's curriculum is adorned by its alliance and connection to the Smithsonian Associates and the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. With a focus on a close, scholarly study of the decorative arts, the courses involve analysis of historically significant art works, the appropriate integration of formal analysis, substantive critical thought methodologies and effective historical research techniques.
Located in Fairfax, Virginia, just minutes outside of Washington, D.C., George Mason University offers a masters program for Art History. The program is enhanced by traditional research skills, the application of new technology and the abundance of available artistic resources in the Washington D.C. area such as museums and monuments. With an emphasis on museology, the courses teach lessons regarding methods of historical art analysis and improve the student's understanding of important historical works, original interpretations and methodologies, the application of skills to practical situations and internship preparation. The school equips the students with the knowledge and ability to conduct independent research and prepares them for a diverse range of employment opportunities related to art museum and gallery work.