Other Opportunities - Architectural History

5th Year Master of Architectural History Program

Some students in the UVA Bachelor of Architectural History program may consider pursuing the M.A. degree in our department by remaining for a fifth year of study. Prospective students may apply for the 5th Year MARH Program in their 4th year or after graduating from the Bachelor of Architectural History program at the University of Virginia. Only students with a cumulative overall GPA of at least 3.3 will be considered. Current students who wish to continue directly on for the fifth year M.A. should meet with the Architectural History Graduate Director when planning their courses for their third year, i.e. spring semester of their second year but no later than fall semester of their third year. These students should complete their undergraduate theses during the fall semester of their fourth year, i.e. before the M.A. application deadline in January. Graduates of the BARH program should be in contact with the Graduate Director before submitting their application.

Admission to the 5th Year MARH Program will be determined through the regular graduate admissions process. The same application (including GRE’s, Letters of Recommendation, and a book essay) will be required. The 5th Year MARH Program is intended for students with strong undergraduate records at UVA.

Graduate Financial Aid will be awarded in the same manner as to all graduate students. Application for financial aid from the Department of Architectural History should accompany the application. Application to the Office of Financial Aid also should be made.

Curriculum Requirements for the 5th Year MARH Program
A minimum of 30 credit hours of graduate-level courses is required in order to complete the MARH degree. Students in the fifth year MARH program are required to take at least 24 credit hours over at least two semesters. A maximum of two courses/6 credits taken at the graduate level during the undergraduate years can count for graduate credit. These six credits must be beyond the 120 required by our accreditation agency for a Bachelor of Architectural History. In total the combined BARH/Fifth Year MARH requires 150 unique credit hours. Students are required to take ARH 8001 (Methods in Architectural History), at least three graduate seminars (9000-level), and ARH 8994 (Thesis). They should also fulfill the distribution requirements of a major area (3 courses/9 credits) and a minor area (two courses/6 credits). Students must also take two courses (6 credits) in areas other than their major and minor areas. At least one course must cover the period before 1450. The distribution areas are: the Americas, Asia, Europe, and the Mediterranean. Historic Preservation may count as the minor area. The student should work with the Graduate Director while still an undergraduate to make sure that s/he can fulfill these requirements by the end of the fifth year. Those students interested in also obtaining the certificate in Historic Preservation should consult with the director of that program.

Waivers
When a student has previously passed a course (earning a grade of B or better) that satisfies a core course in architectural history, the graduate director, in consultation with the instructor of the course to be waived, may waive the requirement for that student. The student must take an approved elective to count in lieu of a waived course. No reduction in hours for the Master’s degree results from waiving a course.

Students who earned a Bachelor of Architectural History from U.Va. will have satisfied the foreign language requirement at the undergraduate level, which will satisfy the graduate program Language Qualification should they enroll in the MA program within two years of graduation.

Sample Core Curriculum

Students graduating from a BARH program with 126 credits can use a maximum of 6 credits at the 5000 level to bring over to the MARH Program.