History of Art / Kunstgeschichte

The structured doctoral program History of Art / Kunstgeschichte offers outstanding research opportunities in the histories of artistic media from the medieval period to the present, in the areas of visual arts, architecture, sculpture, and applied crafts. Currently key areas of emphasis within the Institute of Art History of the University of Zurich include the teaching and research in the fields of European and North American art history, East Asian art history, Islamic art history, medieval archaeology, the theory and history of photography, as well as studies in textiles arts.

The program offers, besides focused advising by the program directors and Institute professors, access to national and international networks, mobility through affiliated academic programs, opportunity for workshops in conjunction with partner institutions, and for participation in various summer programs. In addition, the program offers training in university teaching skills and optional enrollment in academic writing courses. Accepted doctorate students do not receive a stipend. The form of supervision of individual students is usually arranged in direct consultation with the related program director. Accepted students are enrolled at the University of Zurich and graduate from there. Enrollment is possible for either spring (until January 31, 2011) or autumn (until July 31, 2011) semesters.

An M.A. degree in art history with above-average scores is expected from all applicants. Degrees from closely related fields such as architectural history, archaeology, history of photography, media studies, and culture studies, will also be considered.
Applications are complete with a CV and a concise description of the proposed PhD project (maximum 15,000 characters, complete with bibliography and proposed schedule). Be sure to indicate which Institute program you would like to work with. Applications in PDF format are due January 17, 2011 (if applying for the spring 2011 semester) or March 31, 2011 (if applying for the autumn 2011 semester).

Please send applications to:
The Institute of Art History,
University of Zurich,
Raemistrasse 73,
CH-8006 Zürich,
Switzerland.
E-Mail: adminkhist.uzh.ch

Information on the program can be seen via the Internet: http://www.uzh.ch/studies/application/doktoratphd_en.html http://www.int.uzh.ch/doktor/in_en.html
Please note: the program does not require continuous residency in Switzerland.

For questions, please refer to Professor Wolfgang Kersten, the official program advisor of the Institute of Art History: (wkerstenkhist.uzh.ch) and/or to Dr. Nanni Baltzer, the coordinator of the doctoral program (nannibaltzergmx.net).

For detailed information (in German) on the doctoral program and on teaching and research within the Institute, please refer to: http://www.khist.uzh.ch/Studium.html. For the East Asian art history program, refer to: http://www.eastasianarthistory.net/