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• Undergraduate Program
• Master's Program
• Ph.D. Program

Planning Process and History of the PSP

The proposal was formed by a group of twelve faculty and administrators from nine different departments, programs, and the dean’s office. The task force members included: the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, the Assoc. Dean for Arts and Humanities, the Director of MC Studies, the Chair and former Chair from Art Conservation, the former Director of the Conservation Ph.D., the Director of Museum Studies, the Director for the Center for Historic Architecture and Design, the Director of the Winterthur Program in Early American Culture, the Preservation Department Head in the UD Library, the Associate Director of the Center for Historic Architecture and Design, and an Associate Professor from Anthropology. They met regularly over the last year and a half to create an outline for a new doctoral program. In winter of 2004, the Center for Material Culture Studies voted unanimously to administer the program.   Draft copies of the proposal were circulated, and five lunch-time meetings were held with thirty faculty members and administrators from possible cooperating departments and museums in March and April 2004. Comments and suggestions were gathered and incorporated into the proposal.

The Art Conservation Research Ph.D. (1990-2003) served as a pilot project for the proposed PSP. Six students graduated from the program (including the 2003 winner of the Wilbur Owen Sypherd Prize for dissertations in the Humanities). Because this former program required the students to fulfill lengthy requirements in both a humanities and a science department, the students took longer to complete the degree than was anticipated. No dissertations had been completed when the program came up for review in 1995, and permanent status was not conferred. There was also concern regarding the limited interactions of the small student population with the University population.   The coursework and examinations for the new, broader PSP are more focused and the Biomechanics PhD (BIOM) has served as an interdepartmental prototype. As in the BIOM, the applicant has chosen a specific area for research before admission. Although a relatively small student body is anticipated, collaboration among the PSP students, their interdisciplinary supervising committees, and undergraduate and Master’s-level students in relevant departments is arranged through a non-credit PSP seminar, required for three semesters, as in BIOM. Students are required to present their ongoing research on a regular basis to those in attendance. When possible, PSP students will be connected with undergraduate honors thesis students for one semester as appropriate according to topic.