“My time in the Queen's University art history program was incredibly enriching. As a graduate student studying contemporary art, I benefited from experiential learning opportunities including a practicum course at the Agnes Etherington Art Centre. This allowed me to gain valuable professional experience working in a museum, as well as affording me a greater appreciation for museum practices and knowledge of the Agnes' incredible collections. The faculty at Queen's University were encouraging and eager to support student-led initiatives. Overall, the program offered a fantastic environment from which to undertake my research.”
Sarah E.K. Smith, PhD, Art History, 2013. Assistant Professor and Canada Research Chair in Art, Culture and Global Relations (Tier 2), Faculty of Information and Media Studies, Western University.
“Queen’s Art History provided me with a lifelong network of peers both in academics and in the professional art world. My assertive and ambitious Queen’s colleagues were fundamental to the open, critical, and diverse ways of thinking that the program fostered. Our supervisors encouraged us to engage beyond the walls of the academic institution, and the traditional confines of the discipline in order to contribute meaningful and game-changing research. This heavily contributed to growing my own ability, courage, and willingness to challenge conventions from the ground up – a lifelong process of evaluation and re-evaluation.”
Riva Symko, Ph.D., Art History, 2014. Head of Collections & Exhibitions/Curator of Canadian Art at Winnipeg Art Gallery
The graduate program at Queen's doesn't just train art historians, it builds thoughtful scholars for the new millennium. My two years in the Master's program were extremely challenging, but the support and guidance that I received from the outstanding faculty helped me to quickly find my voice as a thinker and teacher. I will be forever grateful for my years at Queen's!
Dr. Elizabeth Otto, M.A. Art History, 1997
Associate Professor of Modern and Contemporary Art, University at Buffalo, State University of New York
My art history graduate education at Queen's provided me with excellent training as an art historian. It also allowed me to gain practical experience doing local architectural history research and to learn how to catalogue architectural drawings. By taking a course on the history of architectural drawings, I had the opportunity to study and work directly with historic drawings in the Queen's Archives, and learn how to research and catalogue them while producing a finding aid for a newly acquired collection. This kind of hands-on experience was invaluable and helped me find paid internships and jobs after receiving my Master's degree.
Christine O'Malley, B.A. and M.A., 2003
(Ph.D University of Virginia), Assistant Director of New Student Programs, Cornell University.
My experience as a graduate student in art history at Queen's University was entirely positive. Queen's has it all; great art history professors, a fantastic art museum on campus, and a conservation program that is unique in Canada. I would describe Queen's as one of the most well rounded and dynamic places to study art history. I will forever be grateful for the research experience that my Bader Fellowship in art history provided for, and the teaching opportunities that I was given. At Queen's I developed all the skills needed to get an academic job, and I am happy to say that I found one in my chosen field of Northern Renaissance art very soon after completing my PhD. Thank you Queen's Art Department!
Andrea Bubenik, Ph.D. Art History, 2008
Lecturer in Art History, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
The spirit of intellectual inquiry, the fostering of academic community and the dedication to pedagogy that shaped my Queen's experience are what I try to bring to my job as an art historian and university professor.
Sally Hickson, Art History M.A. and Ph.D.
Associate Professor and Graduate Coordinator, University of Guelph, President of the Universities Art Association of Canada
Having a master's degree from Queen's most certainly played in my favor when I applied to the doctoral program in the History of Art and Architecture at Harvard University in 2002. The Art History program at Queen's not only encouraged me to begin to ask deeper questions about what I was studying, it prepared me for both the professional stream of the art historian in the museum and the academic stream of the university. What more flexibility could a student in these hard days ask for?
Cammie McAtee, M.A. Art History, 1994
I remember my studies at Queen's as a period full of intense, energizing intellectual challenge. My critical awareness of our discipline's history grew and with it my ability to evaluate the theories and interpretations that frame the study of art objects. In my coursework and while writing my thesis, I became a more perceptive viewer, reader, and writer, cultivating skills that prepared me for my doctoral work.
Sarah Kyle, M.A. Art History, 2002
Assistant Professor of Humanities and Philosophy at the College of Liberal Arts, University of Central Oklahoma
"Completing both my MA and PhD degrees in the Art Department at Queen's University provided me not only with tools of critical inquiry but also a comfort and familiarity with interdisciplinary aspects of academic pursuits. Both of these things have been instrumental in creating and sustaining my current program of research, and have provided a foundation from which I now am able provide my own students a similar academic experience. The Faculty members I worked with at Queen's fostered a scholarly environment that was at once academically rigorous and yet flexible enough to allow me to pursue interdisciplinary topics in my research papers, thesis and dissertation. One of the things I valued most about doing my graduate work at Queen's was the sense of community. For example, senior graduate students worked closely with those just beginning the program in order to plan events such as the now-annual graduate student conference. I also appreciated how my supervisor always seemed to have time in her very busy schedule to meet with me in order to discuss my research and queries in detail. This sense of mentorship has continued after graduation, something for which I am truly grateful."
J. Keri Cronin, M.A. and Ph.D. Art History, 2004
Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Visual Arts at Brock University
The faculty’s combined expertise in the fields of visual cultural studies, European and Canadian material culture and critical museology is one of the department’s key assets. These individuals are most exceptional and acclaimed instructors in their respective fields of study, and I consider it a privilege to have studied with them. In particular, I found my supervisor, Dr. Lynda Jessup, to be one of the most dedicated, energetic and dynamic instructors that I have come across in my graduate studies. Her approach to teaching is truly inspirational – she instructs by example. The student body is unlike any other I have encountered. My peers and colleagues made every effort to engage with different studies, people, and events, providing support for myself and others at every turn. They are a most collegial and congenial group, an aspect that has been the deciding factor for many who have thought about attending Queen’s. I have established life-long friendships there during my studies, and I know I’m extremely fortunate to have done so. In academia, a great deal of success depends upon your network, and I’m pleased to say I’m tapped into one of the best ones in the country.
Andrea Terry, M.A. and Ph.D. Art History, 2010
I completed both my master's and doctoral degrees in the Department of Art at Queen's, where I benefitted from programmes that combined practical curatorial training with academic approaches to the study of art and culture. In particular, I was able to gain valuable experience co-curating an exhibition with the Agnes Etherington Art Centre Chief Curator through the Department's practicum course during my M.A. I built on this training in a graduate seminar during my Ph.D. by undertaking a group curatorial project on contemporary art, which led to the collaborative publication of an exhibition catalogue, an artist's interview, and a peer-reviewed book chapter. I have no doubt that the exceptional way in which the Department's faculty combine such professional and academic training was instrumental in my finding a tenure-track position in the History of Visual Culture at the University of New Brunswick during the final year of my doctoral studies. I continue to benefit from the circle of talented and dedicated scholars I met during my time at Queen's.
Erin Morton, Ph.D. Art History, 2009