Bard Graduate Center’s MA program began in the fall of 1993. Unique among American graduate programs, our students study the cultural history of the material world in all times and places, from the arts of the ancient world to the twenty-first century. It is a two-year program comprised of coursework, an internship, and a final qualifying paper.
For Students starting in the Fall of 2017:
Students receive the Master of Arts degree in Decorative Arts, Design History, and Material Culture after successfully completing the following requirements:August Orientation Session
Research, Library, and Digital Workshops; Language Classes.
- No credit
500/501. Survey of the Decorative Arts, Design History, and Material Culture I and II (two semesters)
- 6 credits
502. Approaches to the Object (one semester)
- 3 credits
11 Elective Courses
- Two electives must cover periods before 1800, and a third must be a non-Western course. Students may fulfill this requirement with an independent study.
- 33 credits
Reading Knowledge of French, German, Italian, or Spanish.
- MA students are required to pass a translation exam by the end of the first year of study.
- No credit
Internship
- 3 credits
Qualifying Paper
- 3 credits
Our internship program is designed with your career development in mind. Utilizing our network of institutions and alumni, it is a chance to gain practical, real-world experience in a professional setting related to your academic interests and career goals. It is an extension of Bard Graduate Center’s object-centered curriculum, and students have fulfilled the requirement in a variety of settings—from the costume department of the Metropolitan Opera to the decorative arts wing of the Victoria and Albert Museum.
The program is guided by our Director of Masters Studies, and students have completed internships in more than 250 cultural institutions in New York City and across the country. The program has also developed internationally with students spending recent summers at the V&A, the Ashmolean Museum, Waddesdon Manor, the Musée du Louvre, the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, the Musée Carnavalet, and the Musée des Arts Décoratifs.
All MA students must register for the required no-credit internship in April of their first year. Internships are typically completed during the summer between the first and second year of study though may also be done during the academic year. They are usually six to eight weeks in length, and must be a minimum of 100 hours (students often complete more). Internships are approved by the Director of Masters Studies and all students are evaluated by their host sites. The internship is graded Pass/Fail.
International outreach and institutional partnerships are a key part of Bard Graduate Center’s mission, and a number of opportunities are offered to MA students. Formal exchange programs are set up with the Royal College of Art in London, Humboldt University in Berlin, and the École du Louvre in Paris, where Bard Graduate Center hosts visiting students from these institutions for a semester and BGC students have the opportunity to reciprocally enroll for a semester (in the cases of the Royal College of Art and Humboldt) or to participate in a summer study session (at the École du Louvre). There is also a summer program at the University of Amsterdam, and BGC sends two doctoral students to participate in this two-week forum.
The summer travel program takes MA students abroad for a two-week, faculty-led study trip. Travel costs and accommodation are subvented by BGC, allowing all students in the program to participate.
The internship program has also developed internationally, and students are offered numerous opportunities overseas, including at the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Ashmolean Museum, Waddesdon Manor, Historic Royal Palaces, the Musée du Louvre, the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, the Musée Carnavalet, and the Musée des Arts Décoratifs.
This global vision is supported further by the numerous visiting scholars and speakers who come to BGC during the academic year and by courses co-taught with partner international institutions via video link.
Each May, we hold our annual Qualifying Paper Symposium, our MA students’ capstone academic event. The graduating class presents papers based on the research they did for their recently submitted qualifying papers to the wider community and invited guests.