Glossary

ABD

Once a student is admitted to candidacy, they have completed all degree requirements except for the dissertation and they are “All but Dissertation”

APL

Arts + Public Life: an initiative to deepen the connection between the University, arts community, south side institutions, and the Chicago community

Arts Core

Courses that meet the General Education requirements in the arts for undergraduates. Also referred to as AMD (Arts, Music, Drama) 

Bross

Bross lecture series endowed in memory of Louise Smith Bross, presented every three years by a distinguished scholar of pre-1800 European art and resulting in a book-length publication

CAA

College Art Association, which sponsors the annual professional conference of art historians and artists at which many of our faculty and students present and participate

CI

Critical Inquiry: a UChicago-based journal devoted to critical thought in the Arts and Humanities, with several art history faculty members serving on the editorial board

CLAS

Center for Latin American Studies with which many of our faculty are affiliated

COSI

[pronounced kōsē] Chicago Object Study Initiative, a partnership between UChicago and Northwestern’s Art History departments and the Art Institute of Chicago and originally funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation from 2014 until 2023.

CSGS

Center for the Study of Gender and Sexuality with which many of our faculty are affiliated

CWAC

[pronounced kwăk] Cochrane-Woods Art Center. Building that houses the Art History Department and the VRC, adjacent to the Smart Museum and the Court Theater. Also sometimes used to refer to the north side of campus, often pairs with the Logan Arts Center on the south side of the Midway, framing the campus with two arts centers

DGS

Director of Graduate Studies

DUS

Director of Undergraduate Studies

Field

FLAS

Foreign Language and Area Studies funding, awarded for language study to many art history students by the Humanities Division with funding from the U.S. Department of Education 

The Gray

Gray Center for Arts and Inquiry, which has sponsored collaborations of our faculty with artists and other scholars

HTF

Teaching Fellow in the Humanities Division, also known as Humanities Teaching Fellow

PME

Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, down the street from CWAC and including the Eckhardt Café

Jimmy's

Alias for the Woodlawn Tap, the pub one block from CWAC frequented by Art History graduate students

JSMC

The Joel Snyder Materials Collection named in honor of former faculty member Joel Snyder.

Logan

The Logan Center for the Arts south of the Midway

MAPH

Master of Arts Program in the Humanities, which provides opportunities to attain a Masters in the Humanities with a focus on Art History

The Med

Medici Restaurant and Bakery located on 57th Street

The Midway

The Midway Plaisance is a mile long park extending along 59th and 60th Street on the south side of campus near the Logan Center for the Arts.

The Neubauer

Neubauer Collegium for Culture and Society, an interdisciplinary research institute that has supported the collaborative research of many of our faculty

OPC

1. Open Practice Committee, an umbrella for visiting artists lectures in the Department of Visual Arts, founded by artist and former UChicago faculty member Tania Bruguera

2. Obama Presidential Center, being planned near campus in Jackson Park and designed by architects Tod Williams and Billie Tsien, who also designed the Logan Center for the Arts

Plein air is a popular café adjacent to the Seminary Bookstore and Frank Lloyd Wright’s Robie House on Woodlawn Avenue 

The Pub

The UChicago Pub in the basement of Ida Noyes Hall, open to members of the UChicago community with a famous trivia night, food, games, and drinks

QP

Qualifying Paper, typically submitted in the second year of the PhD program

Quad Club

The Quadrangle Club, also known as the QClub, contains event spaces, a restaurant, tennis courts, and hotel rooms for faculty, staff, and the UChicago community

Ratner

The Gerald Ratner Athletics Center across the street from the Art History department

SCRC

The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center located in the Regenstein Library, housing rare books, manuscripts, and archives

Seminary

The Seminary Co-Op Bookstore is an independent bookstore founded in 1961. Originally located in the basement of the Chicago Theological Seminary, it moved to Woodlawn Avenue in 2012. 

SLI

Summer Language Instituteoffering beginning and intermediate courses in several modern languages and selected ancient languages, and reading and research language courses for graduate students

Smart

The Smart Museum of Art adjacent to and closely associated with the Art History department

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Social Hour

Frequent social events for department graduate students sponsored by the Humanities Division

VRC

Visual Resources Center, located in CWAC, housing a wealth of digital media

Walker

The former Walker Museum for geology that today houses the offices of the Humanities Division and the English department

WI

Writing Intern, a teaching position for undergraduate courses focused on writing instruction