Art History Dissertations: Hints on Choosing a Good Topic

The purpose of art history dissertations is contribution to scholar knowledge. When writing an art history dissertation, you have an opportunity to study a certain subject in detail and to present the results of your study to a reader. Choosing topics for art history dissertations often becomes a stumbling block for students. Below, we offer you some hints on choosing a good art history dissertation topic.

You may start developing an art history dissertation topic with choosing an epoch that you want to study. Choose the period where you have the most substantial background. In your art history dissertation, you may follow different approaches, for example:

• Study a phenomenon within the borders of a certain period
• Compare condition of a phenomenon during two periods
• Study evolution of a phenomenon through several epochs

Then, you need to go from broad to narrow: choose a subject that you want to study in an art history dissertation. Surrealism? Pottery? Color symbolism? In your art history dissertation, you may study any subject that you are interested in.

However, it is not enough to choose a subject. For your art history dissertation, you should develop a range of questions that you will answer. For example, in your art history dissertation, you can study:

• Essence
• Peculiarities
• Interaction
• Causes of appearance
• Evolution
• Influence et al

If it is difficult for you to come up with the questions, work with information sources devoted to your subject, and gradually you will grope for the necessary direction.

Do not forget that dissertation writing is always about theory. Thus, you should base your research on theoretical background. However, make sure, you stay in the dimension of art history, not art theory.