The interdisciplinary Ph.D. Program in Visual Studies is offered jointly by the Department of Art History
and the Department of Film and Media Studies at the University of California, Irvine. Our curriculum integrates methodological and theoretical insights from the two constituent disciplines, as well as the related fields of history, literary theory, and cultural studies. Visual Studies allows for the interpretation of artifacts (canonical or otherwise) in light of the political and social mechanisms and consequences of vision itself. Our students explore an ever-expanding array of objects and visual experiences produced in a variety of media including painting, sculpture, architecture, photography, film, television, video, and digital technologies. We encourage study in areas traditionally covered by programs in art history or film and media studies, as well as investigations of how the two fields interact and how they may expand beyond their existing limits.

The Program in Visual Studies is part of the School of Humanities at UC Irvine, and our students are able to take advantage of distinguished faculty and programs throughout the School. In particular, many choose to supplement their degrees in Visual Studies with a graduate certificate either in Critical Theory or in Women's Studies. With some two million volumes and 20,000 active serial subscriptions, the libraries on campus constitute a significant research tool for faculty and students alike. UC Irvine is home to the University of California's Humanities Research Institute, which sponsors a continuous series of important lectures and conferences, encouraging dialogue among the disciplines throughout the academy.

UC Irvine has a current enrollment of around 20,000; it is one of the campuses slated for significant growth within the University of California system in the years to come. Located in Orange County, the Irvine campus is convenient to three other UC campuses (UCLA, UC San Diego, and UC Riverside), and our students enjoy easy access to the graduate courses and the libraries of these institutions. Students enrolled at UC Irvine may take advantage of the many significant cultural and research institutions located in southern California, including the Getty Center, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Norton Simon Museum, the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Huntington Library and Gardens, The Museum of Television & Radio and the Margaret Herrick Library of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.