Affiliated Programs

Professor Jennifer Van Horn and students
Professor Jennifer Van Horn and students visit Charlottesville, Virginia to experience plantation landscapes firsthand and to consider how these spaces are presented to the public. This trip was generously funded by the Center for Material Culture Studies. (Photograph courtesy of Jennifer Van Horn)

Affiliated Programs

Center for Material Culture Studies

The Center for Material Culture Studies (CMCS) builds on the University's distinguished international reputation in the interdisciplinary study of material and visual culture. Through the Center, students and teachers examine material objects as living artifacts, as texts and contexts, to better imagine, interpret, and appreciate the world we inhabit; experience material and visual culture in a dynamic learning, teaching, research, and public service environment; participate in seminars, field-based research ventures with institutional partners and state, regional, and national organizations; and contribute to the national effort in documentation, interpretation, preservation, and teaching of material and visual culture.

Museum Studies Program

The Museum Studies Program offers courses and a certificate for students who plan careers as museum curators, educational directors, or administrators.

Winterthur Program in American Material Culture

The M.A. in American Material Culture is a multidisciplinary graduate course of study offered cooperatively by the University and the Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library.

Center for Historic Architecture and Design

The Center for Historic Architecture and Design (CHAD) is a multidisciplinary research and public service group exploring the evolution of historic architecture, engineering, and the built environment. Graduate students in art history may qualify for CHAD grants, internships, and research assistantships.

Department of Art Conservation

In cooperation with Winterthur, the University offers the M.S. degree in the conservation of artistic and historic objects and the Ph.D. in Preservation Studies. The Department collaborates with these programs, which offer graduate courses in the history of materials and techniques to interested graduate students.