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Student Procedure for Taking the Examination
- In November or the fifth term in residence, assemble a committee and submit the Petition for Taking the General Examination with the preliminary thesis proposal.
- Meet with committee, set dates, prepare and submit bibliography and summary of expectations.
- Reserve a room in the museum for the oral examination and inform the committee and the department office.
- When and where will the exams be held?
- Will there be any further meetings between the candidate and either the full committee or individual members?
- Who will be responsible for reserving and opening the room in which the oral exam takes place?
- When and where will the review of the exam take place? (as part of oral exam or afterwards?)
Bibliography
- What is the scope and intent of the bibliography?
- How do the bibliographies for the general and specific fields differ?
- Will it be a comprehensive survey of the existing literature, or is there a focus on, for example, recent scholarship?
- Is the bibliography primarily intended to cover literature previously unknown to the student? Or is it to be seen as primarily a review of writing that the student is already acquainted with? or both?
- What is a workable length for the bibliography? Will the student be expected to know every source on the bibliography, and if so, in what detail?
- What is the last date before the exam after which no new materials will be added to the list (generally no less than two weeks)?
Written Examination
- In what way will the questions for the general and specific portions differ?
- How many questions will appear in each section of the exam?
- How will the exam reach the examinee and subsequently examiners?
- Will there be written feedback on this part of the exam?
- N.B. Each committee will have different concerns and expectations as to the manner in which the questions will be approached and answered. Be prepared to discuss these expectations (methodological issues, relative importance of specific examples, bibliography, etc.).
Oral Examination
- How many works will be given [N.B. to faculty: traditionally 12; N.B. to students: ensure that your committee is aware that you have the option of not discussing one of the works.]
- Will there be slides, photographs, or objects? or a combination?
- If there are objects, what is the range of the objects?
- When and where will the images be available for viewing before the committee convenes?
- Clarify the overall purpose of objects. In discussing the objects, what issues are to be treated, and what is their relative priority? For example, how important are attribution, connoisseurship, contextualization, condition/conservation, comparison, etc.
General Exam Process for Harvard Art Museums
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