Transatlantic Reflections on the Practice-based PhD in Fine Art

Once the only country in the world to offer a doctorate for studio artists, the PhD in fine art disappeared in the US after pressures established the MFA as the terminal degree for visual artists. Subsequently, the PhD in fine art emerged in the UK and is now offered by approximately 40 universities. Today the doctorate is offered in most English-speaking nations, much of the EU, and countries such as China and Brazil.

Using historical, political, and social frameworks, this book investigates the evolution of the fine art doctorate in the UK, what the concept of a PhD means to practicing artists from the US, and why this degree disappeared in the US when it is so vigorously embraced in the UK and other countries. Data collected through in-depth interviews examine the perspectives of professional artists in the US who teach graduate level fine art. These interviews disclose conflicting attitudes toward this advanced degree and reveal the possibilities and challenges of developing a potential doctorate in studio art in the US.

Jessica B. Schwarzenbach is a graduate of Rhode Island School of Design, School of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, and Lesley University, USA and an artist and independent researcher who has published in the areas of education and qualitative methodology.

Paul M.W. Hackett is Professor of Ethnography, Research Methods, and Consumer Behavior at Emerson College, USA and holds PhDs in fine art and psychology.