Harvard University: History of Art and Architecture Department

THE DISSERTATION

Thesis Prospectus
Prospectus Committee
Thesis Colloquium
Thesis Defense
Illustrations Fund

After the successful completion of the general examination, a topic and adviser for the dissertation should be chosen. Students should discuss potential topics with several faculty members before beginning. The final prospectus should be approved not later than 3 months (within the academic calendar -- September through May) of passing the general examinations in order to be considered to be making satisfactory progress toward the degree. This is the time when the Thesis Reader and Dissertation Proposal form should be completed and submitted to the department office or DGS.

Three signatures are now required on the thesis acceptance certificate. Two of the three signatories must be GSAS faculty. The primary adviser must be in the department of History of Art and Architecture; the secondary adviser need not be. In addition to the primary and secondary advisers the student may have one or more other readers. Two readers must be in the department.

THE PROSPECTUS

Not including the bibliography, the prospectus should be 5-10 pages in length, but not more. The prospectus should discuss in clear terms -- understandable to all members of the faculty, including those who are not specialists in your field -- the following:

the nature of the problem that you intend to undertake (linking it, if possible, to the specific field of your General Exams)
its importance to the overall field of study in which you are working
a broad review of previous scholarship: who are the main figures who have dealt with this or similar issues? and what, in your opinion, remains to be done? (i.e. why are you writing this particular dissertation?)
a discussion of the methodologies and materials you anticipate using to tackle your problem
if you foresee any areas of difficulty in gathering the material necessary for the completion of the work, you should also note them
an envisaged schedule of research and writing
a bibliography indicating the works that you have consulted thus far in investigating and defining your topic
It should have a title page listing the name of your adviser and the names of the other members of your prospectus committee; and it should conform to the standards of scholarship within your field in terms of diacritical marks and citations.
A Thesis Reader Request and Dissertation Proposal Approval form should be submitted with the dissertation proposal. It is available in the department office.

PROSPECTUS COMMITTEE

Your adviser, in consultation with you, should form a prospectus committee of at least three members of the faculty (including the adviser).. After meeting as a group with the candidate, committee members should provide extensive written comments on the proposal to the student within one month of receiving it. Ideally, the prospectus would be done well in advance of submitting a grant nomination proposal so that suggested revisions may be incorporated into that document. A draft of the entire prospectus should be submitted with the petition for taking the general examination

THESIS COLLOQUIUM

(for those who entered prior to Sept. 1997, only the thesis colloquium is required, not the defense.)

Before writing the final version of the thesis, a dissertation colloquium will be required from each graduate student (who took the General Examination after September 1, 1991). It is highly recommended that the colloquium be delivered during the semester upon returning from the year of funded research. The colloquium is envisioned as a forum for discussion of the scope, framework, and argument of the dissertation prior to writing. Thesis colloquia are scheduled throughout the academic year. Members of the department are expected to attend each colloquium which is also open to graduate students and invited guests of the speaker.

The thesis proposal should be copied by the student at least one week prior to the colloquium and made available to anyone who might attend. A stack should be left in the xerox room in the department.

THESIS DEFENSE

Required for those entering the program after September, 1997. The thesis colloquium is not additionally required, but strongly encouraged.

The Department of History of Art and Architecture requires that all Ph.D. dissertations (of students entering in September 1997 and beyond) be defended. At the defense, the student has the opportunity to present and formally discuss the dissertation with respect to its sources, findings, interpretations, and conclusions, before a Defense Committee knowledgeable in the student's field of research. The Director of the thesis is a member of the Defense committee. A committee is permitted to convene in the absence of the thesis Director only in cases of emergency or other extreme circumstances.

The Defense Committee may consist of up to five members, but no fewer than three. The suggested make-up of the other members of the committee should be brought to the Director of Graduate Studies for approval. Two members of this committee should be from the Department and one of these should be a tenured faculty member from the Department of History of Art and Architecture. One member should be outside the Department (either from another Harvard department or outside the University).

The Defense will be open to department members only (faculty and graduate students), but others may be invited at the discretion of the candidate. Travel for an outside committee member should be made as far in advance as possible and will be covered by the department, assuming it is within reason. The Department Administrator will assist in making the travel arrangements. A modest honorarium will be given for the reading of the thesis for one member of the jury outside the University.

A minimum of one month prior to scheduling the defense, a final draft of the thesis should be submitted to two readers (normally the primary and secondary advisers). Once the two readers have informed the Director of Graduate Studies that the thesis is "approved for defense," the candidate may schedule the date, room, and time for the defense in consultation with the Department and the appointed committee. This date should be no less than six weeks after the time the Director of Graduate Studies has been informed that the thesis was approved for defense. It should be noted that preliminary approval of the thesis for defense by the primary adviser and another reader does not guarantee that the thesis will be passed.

The defense normally lasts two hours. The candidate is asked to begin by summarizing the pertinent background and findings. The summary should be kept within 20 minutes. The Chair of the Committee is responsible for allotting time, normally allowing each member of the committee 20 to 30 minutes in which to make remarks on the thesis and elicit responses from the candidate. When each committee member has finished the questioning, the committee will convene in camera for the decision. The possible decisions are: Approved; Approved with Minor Changes; Approved Subject to Major Revision (within six months); Rejected. The majority vote determines the outcome.

Approved with minor changes: The dissertation is deemed acceptable subject to minor revisions. The dissertation is corrected by the candidate, taking into account the comments made by the committee. The revisions will be supervised by the primary adviser. Upon completion of the required revision, the candidate is recommended for the degree.

Approved subject to major revision within six months: The dissertation is deemed acceptable subject to major revisions. All revisions must be completed within six months from the date of the dissertation defense. Upon completion of the required revisions, the defense is considered to be successful. The revisions will be supervised by the primary adviser.

Rejected: The dissertation is deemed unacceptable and the candidate is not recommended for the degree. A candidate may be re-examined only once upon recommendation of two readers. Rejection is expected to be very exceptional.

A written assessment of the thesis defense will be given to the candidate and filed in the Department by the Chair of the Defense Committee. Candidates should keep in mind the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences deadlines for submission of the thesis and degree application when scheduling the defense.

SUBMITTING THE DISSERTATION

Students ordinarily devote three years to research and writing the dissertation, and complete it prior to seeking full-time employment. The dissertation will be judged according to the highest standards of scholarship, and should be an original contribution to knowledge and understanding of art. The final manuscript must conform to University requirements described in the Supplement The Form of the Doctoral Thesis distributed by the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

Graduate students should negotiate with their readers the timing of submission of drafts prior to final revisions. The complete manuscript of the dissertation should be submitted to the thesis readers not later than September 1 for a November degree, December 1 for a March degree, and April 1 for a June degree. The thesis readers may have other expectations regarding dates for submission which should be discussed and handled on an individual basis. The student is still responsible for distribution of the thesis to the committee for reading. In cases where a thesis defense is scheduled, the thesis must be submitted to two of the readers at least one month prior to the defense. The thesis defense must be scheduled at least two weeks prior to the university deadline for thesis submission.

A written assessment by dissertation readers must be included with the final approval of each thesis including suggestions, as appropriate, on how the dissertation might be adapted for later publication.

REIMBURSEMENT FOR ILLUSTRATIONS

Students may, with the permission of their adviser, submit high quality xeroxes of the necessary illustrations instead of photographs as long as they are xeroxed on the requisite paper. Up to $50 may be reimbursed for these expenses.