PhD in Visual Studies in Santa Cruz United States | University of California, Santa Cruz

The Visual Studies Ph.D. program delivers an interdisciplinary curriculum centered on visual-cultural research, combining tailored coursework with guided dissertation work under faculty mentorship.
Our faculty's wide-ranging specializations enable diverse supervisory options for investigating multiple art forms and visual traditions, spanning both historical and modern viewpoints with international coverage across regions like Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, North and Latin America, Indigenous territories (including pre-colonial California), Asia, Europe, the Mediterranean, and the Pacific Islands.
Students gain exceptional opportunities to examine how social, political, and cultural dynamics influence—and are influenced by—various forms of visual expression and their connections to intricate multisensory processes. Key focus areas encompass spatial and visual theories, environmental and social equity, colonial and postcolonial visual culture, along with Anthropocene and Indigenous scholarship across historical and contemporary contexts.