Certificates in Areas of Concentration

Certificate in the History of Collecting and Display

The Certificate in the History of Collecting and Display is open to doctoral students in art history as well as qualified graduate students in other departments at USC. The program provides a means of advancing knowledge about the presentation, circulation, and consumption of works of art, as distinct from the more traditional art historical emphasis on their production. Graduate students from outside art history must receive written permission from their home department and Department of Art History before pursuing the certificate.

Visual Studies Graduate Certificate

The Visual Studies Graduate Certificate provides Ph.D. students with the tools and knowledge necessary to think critically about visual objects and experiences and to bring that thinking to bear on their ongoing scholarly work and doctoral research. Students will combine the sustained analysis of specific representations with attention to broader philosophical frameworks and historical conditions.
This certificate is designed for students enrolled in a Ph.D. program at USC whose scholarly work includes a significant focus on visual culture. Rather than attending to visual forms (e.g. art, film, photography, advertising, digital media, illustrated books) in isolation from one another, the certificate considers the overlaps between images, texts and material objects was well as the alternative modes of interpretation such overlaps demand.