Università degli Studi di Perugia

Degree course in Art history [LM-89] D. M. 270/2004

General information

Qualification awarded

Master’s Degree in History of Art

Level of qualification

Second Cycle

Specific admission requirements and specific arrangements for recognition of prior learning

Access to the courses is open (there are some prerequisites for admission). To be admitted to the master’s degree program applicants must have a three-year university degree or another equivalent degree attained abroad and recognized as suitable. Applicants must have a good basic knowledge of art history and a general training in the humanities and history of art in the medieval, modern, and contemporary ages and must have been awarded a three-year degree with a mark of at least 95/110. In the case of a lower mark, the applicant will have to sustain one or more written exams and/or an oral discussion of the disciplines comprised in the degree program. The Council will then make its decision to admit or not to admit the applicant on the basis of the results of this discussion and a careful evaluation of the applicant’s previous academic career.

In the case of a lower mark, the applicant will have to sustain one or more written exams and/or an oral discussion of the disciplines comprised in the degree program. The Council will then make its decision to admit or not to admit the applicant on the basis of the results of this discussion and a careful evaluation of the applicant’s previous academic career. Enrollment in the master’s degree program is also open to students holding a three-year degree from other degree programs, faculties or universities, and students holding a four-year degree related to art history.

In order to enroll in the program students must have completed 90 curricular credits (ECTS credits) in the following disciplines:

L-ART/01.02,03,04,05,06,07,08; L-FIL-LET/04,08, 10; M-DEA/01; M-GGR/01; M-STO/01,02,04,08,09, (of which at least 36 in sectors L-ART/01,02,03,04) or recognized as analogous by the Program Council.

Students with lacking a portion of the 90 required credits will have to complete their curricular preparation or enroll in individual courses (if already holding a degree). To enroll in the program students must present an authorization to enroll attesting to their satisfaction of all the required curricular prerequisites signed by their program advisor. Students not in possession of all the prerequisites must make up the deficit by way of individual course before being permitted to enroll in the program.

Profile of the programme

Graduates of the Master’s Degree Program in Art History will have access to:

-       public institutions operating in the fields of land planning, participatory planning and the adoption of community service contracts with special reference to museums and monuments;

-       agencies engaged in research and intervention for the protection and enhancement of art and cultural artifacts;

-       government agencies, museums, public entities and supervisory agencies dedicated to the conservation and enhancement of artistic and cultural heritage, research and training agencies engaged in art historical research or in community and public education on subjects related to the history of art;

-       teacher selection exams for teaching artistic disciplines in fine arts academies and in similar scholastic institutions; teaching Italian , History, Civics and Geography in lower level secondary schools; teaching literature and art history in upper level secondary schools (on condition of acquiring the necessary ECTS credits through the choice of elective courses).

Qualification requirements and regulations

The program has a duration of 2 years during which the student must acquire 120 credits (ECTS credits) including those assigned to the comprehensive final exam. The average work load per academic year is 60 credits with each credit corresponding to 25 hours of study, distributed as follows: 6 hours of classroom teaching, and 19 hours of individual study. The teaching and learning activities, scheduled to begin in the last week of September, are divided into semesters and may consist of lectures, seminars, exercises, and in specific cases, with the approval of the Degree Program Council, also of group projects, case studies and other forms of activity which the teacher believes useful. 

Where necessary, individual or classroom tutoring, including computer-assisted learning, will be made available. For the purpose of evaluating student performance teachers may use written essay exams and/or objective tests, oral exams, discussion of student work products, the critical examination of texts; where appropriate, other forms of evaluation may be adopted including those using computerized or telematic support systems. All modalities of performance evaluation will be concluded by an individual oral exam with the attribution of a single final mark with respect to the ECTS credits assigned to the course.

Key learning outcomes

Graduates of the master’s degree program in Art History will have acquired:

• advanced historical and methodological skills for research and critical exegesis in the different areas and chronological periods relative to the development of the arts (architecture, painting, sculpture, decorative arts) from the Middle Ages to the contemporary era.
• Theoretical and applied knowledge on questions related to the tutelage, conservation, management, promotion, fruition, and enhancement of our cultural heritage and its institutions;
• Skills related to specific themes related to historical, stylistic, catalogical, and conservationist inquiry in a determined artistic sector, demonstrating the competent use of research skills and the capacity to produce original scholarship;
• The ability to make full and profitable use of the computers and electronic technologies in specific areas of competence, particularly in relation to the cataloguing and documentation of art historical artifacts and their relative contexts;
• A working knowledge, in both written and oral form, of at least one foreign language of the European Union, with reference to the disciplinary lexicon in the art-historical field.

Examination regulations, assessment and grading

Individual exams are administered in oral or written form before a commission composed of at least two teachers and will be marked on a thirty point scale and, when appropriate, the attribution of honors. The final mark for the degree program is based on the results of the individual exams and the final comprehensive exam which includes the presentation in written form of a work of research discussed in a degree session before a commission and marked on a 110 point scale and, where appropriate, the attribution of honors.

Graduation requirements

The degree is awarded upon the acquisition of 120 credits (ECTS credits) and the approval of the written thesis.

Mode of study (full-time, part-time, e-learning, ...)

The program recommends full-time enrolment and attendance of all courses. Nevertheless, part-time enrollment is possible. The number and sequence of the courses to be activated during the academic year is established by the Degree Program Council at its annual planning session.

Occupational profiles of graduates with examples

Graduates of the master’s program in Art History will be able to:

• carry out interventions of scientific investigation and documentation, tutelage, musealization, and enhancement of the artistic and historical patrimony within the framework of the competence of superintendencies, foundations, regional and local administrations, as specialists and researchers in the filed of art history with the ability to perform functions of elevated responsibility in specific institutions, such as museums and superintendencies (curators and conservators), and professional activities of specialized consulting for  sectors of the culture industry and public education in the area of artistic and cultural heritage;
• participate with a significant degree of autonomy and competence in the various programs of research and enhancement of art-historical heritage (conferences, publications, exhibitions, community education, and so on) in national and international contexts;
• provide knowledge and assistance of an art historical nature to public institutions and private actors in matters related to art history and historic and artistic preservation and enhancement;
• compose and devise informational and communicative materials on art historical themes in sectors such as publishing, tourism, mass communications, cultural promotion, and the performing arts.

Access to further studies

In accordance with current law, the master’s degree meets the requirements for access to more advanced study programs leading to teaching certification in the first and second level secondary schools. Furthermore, the master’s degree is a requirement for admission to research doctorate programs.

Programme director or equivalent

Tabella riepilogativa regolamento

General (Regulations 2013)