Wednesday, November 29, 2017

German and Visual Studies: New PhD program



German and Visual Studies
At Penn State University

A new Dual-Title Ph. D. Program

We are pleased to announce a new dual-title Ph.D. program in German and Visual Studies at Penn State University. This new doctoral degree provides students a formal curriculum to investigate the history of German culture in relation to the theory, technology, history, and dissemination of visual images as they shaped social relations and personal identities.

Penn State is teaching a new generation of German scholars with an integrated understanding of all media. The German department’s culture faculty are active scholars in Visual Studies and have as a group published extensively in the field, including such topics as advertising, art, cinema, photography, fashion, theory, and architecture, as well as on the relationship between word and image in traditional print and digital media.

The German department will continue to provide a comprehensive graduate education in the cultural history of the German-speaking world, while the new program provides additional courses dedicated to Visual Studies. All doctoral students are encouraged to develop their own interdisciplinary agenda with scholars throughout the university.

Penn State’s Ph. D. in German and Visual Studies also brings together faculty and students from the College of Arts and Architecture, the College of Communications, and the College of the Liberal Arts. Faculty teaching in Visual Studies come from a wide range of departments, including Art History, Comparative Literature, English, French, German, Spanish, and Media Studies.

Enrollment in this innovative program begins in Fall 2017. Students applying for admission may make their interest in the Visual Studies degree known when they apply to the German PhD program.  Their personal statements should reflect their interest in visual studies.


January 15, 2018 is the deadline for applications.  For questions and further information about Penn State’s German and Visual Studies Ph.D. program, please contact Professor Daniel Purdy dlp14@psu.edu or Professor Sabine Doran sud28@psu.edu