FAQS from Prospective Applicants to IPCAA Q.:
What exactly is an "interdepartmental program"
and how is it different from a department offering graduate
instruction?
A.: In IPCAA’s case, it is a structured sequence
of coursework, examinations, and dissertation research,
leading to the Ph.D. in Classical Art & Archaeology.
IPCAA is not “part of” any other department,
but it is formally sponsored and supported by two existing
academic departments (Classical Studies and The History
of Art), and faculty from several other cognate departments
are actively involved. IPCAA receives its own funding
from the Graduate School and the College of Literature,
Science and the Arts; it has its own Director, Graduate
Advisor, and Student Services Assistant; it is governed
by an Executive Committee; but it has no faculty lines
of its own, so that the Program draws upon the teaching,
examining, advising, and mentoring of faculty based
in the various co-operating departments. Such an arrangement
is necessary, where relevant resources are spread widely
among different units (thus at Michigan, e.g., ancient
historians are mostly based in the History Department,
ancient art historians in History of Art, Near Eastern
and Egyptian archaeologists in Near Eastern Studies,
and so on). Unlike in certain arrangements of this kind
elsewhere, for IPCAA students the intellectual center
of gravity is in the Program itself, rather than in
any of its collaborating departments, and the use of
the Kelsey Museum as its physical “home”
serves to reinforce an unusually strong sense of “belonging”
and of social cohesion among its students.
Q.: Can I apply to the University
of Michigan for a Master of Arts degree in Classical
Art & Archaeology?
A.: No. Admission is for the doctoral program only,
and IPCAA does not normally award a terminal M.A. Students
enrolled in the doctoral program, however, earn a M.A.
in Classical Art & Archaeology as an interim degree
(usually after four semesters in residence and 30 credit
hours).
Q.: How much ancient and modern language
preparation do I need before applying to your program?
A.: Because a classical archaeologist needs to be competent
in both of the ancient languages, and in relevant modern
languages as well, all students in the program must
satisfy language requirements in Greek, Latin, French
and German. Preference is normally given to applicants
who have already demonstrated significant preparation
and competence in at least one of the required ancient
languages and one of the modern foreign languages. If
your knowledge of the ancient languages is limited (or
if you have only studied one of them), we often advise
deferring an application to this (or, indeed, any other)
graduate program in Classical Archaeology, in order
to provide adequate time to improve your Greek and Latin.
There exist post-baccalaureate courses designed explicitly
for this purpose, for example those at the University
of Pennsylvania, at the University
of California, Los Angeles, and Columbia
University.
Q.: Do I need to take the GRE [Graduate
Record Examination]?
A.: Yes, since this is a requirement of the Graduate
School for applicants in all subjects. We need your
official GRE report in hand at the time we consider
your application in January. Make sure you take the
GRE in good time (i.e., well before December) in order
to meet this deadline. Eligibility for certain types
of Fellowship support requires that your combined GRE
score and your undergraduate Grade Point Average exceed
certain thresholds, but these are only two among the
wide variety of factors we take into account in assessing
an applicant's suitability
for the program.
Q.: What kind of financial aid is
available?
 A.:
IPCAA guarantees funding for five years, but in reality
has been able to provide support for all its students
for six years. The precise details of a multi-year financial
package for any given student are rarely known at the
outset, and no two students are supported in precisely
the same way. Nonetheless, all first-year students are
on full fellowship support, every student gains teaching
experience (as a Graduate Student Instructor) for between
2 and 4 semesters, and most students work at least once
in the Kelsey Museum as a Graduate Student Research
Assistant. At the Candidacy stage (Years 4-6), funding
from both external and Michigan-based competitive Fellowships
and Travel Awards assumes greater importance. Basic
health insurance coverage is provided for all IPCAA
students on a continuous basis. There is no need to
file a separate financial aid application to IPCAA (since
we fund all students we accept); but you may wish to
consider making application for certain national-level
awards (e.g., Mellon, Javits). Click
here for further information about financial support
and fellowship opportunities.
Q.: For what sorts of jobs do IPCAA
students usually apply after graduation, and how successful
have they been?
A.: By far the majority of our students enter the Program
in hopes of eventually finding a university teaching
and research position, and by far the majority of those
who complete the Program have indeed been successful
in fulfilling that ambition (not always with a job in
the part of the country or at the type of school they
had expected!). Others arrive with a strong interest
in possible museum-based careers, or develop such an
interest from working “behind the scenes”
at the Kelsey Museum (and the new certificate in Museum
Studies seems likely only to make this more popular);
a number of our alumni hold jobs involving curation,
conservation, and outreach work in museum settings.
But a smaller number of former IPCAA students have found
employment in a wide range of other contexts, including
high school teaching, special education, architecture,
international banking, freelance writing, data management,
and film-making. Please click here for a list
of IPCAA’s former students and their current positions.
Q.: How many students does IPCAA accept
each year, and how difficult is it to gain admittance
to the Program?
A.: IPCAA’s current size is about two dozen students.
At present, there are no plans for the Program to grow
any larger (we could not provide adequate financial
support, and there are unlikely to be sufficient professional
positions available), nor become much smaller (we do
not wish the graduate school experience to be a lonely
one, with few fellow-students). This means that each
year we usually accept about four new students into
the program with full funding; every third year we can
accept five. In an average year, we receive several
dozen times as many applications as we have places available.
Competition for acceptance is therefore fierce, but
this should not deter you from applying, if you feel
you measure up well against our criteria. Many well-qualified
applicants for whom, regretfully, we cannot find a place
at Michigan do gain admission in good programs elsewhere.
Q.: Do you provide financial assistance
for summer activities, if they're relevant to the Program?
 A.:
Yes. Some students hold Fellowships that provide full
support through the summer months. But every winter
semester IPCAA also invites its students to state their
summer plans and associated expenses, and the Program
then makes awards to all deserving cases, using money
provided to this end by the Graduate School, the Program’s
own funds, and the newly-created John Griffiths Pedley
Travel and Research Fund Endowment (established for
this purpose upon Prof. Pedley’s retirement in
2001). Individual awards vary, but average ca. $2,000.
Basic health insurance coverage is provided for all
IPCAA students on a continuous basis.
Q.: Do IPCAA students have the opportunity
to study for Certificates or M.A. degrees in other subjects,
alongside their work for the Ph.D. in Classical Art
& Archaeology? If so, in what fields?
A.: Yes. Virtually every IPCAA student broadens his
or her educational experience and enhances professional
qualifications by working for a Certificate or Master’s
degree, in addition to the Ph.D., and this is one of
the undoubted strengths of the Michigan program. Click
here for additional information regarding Master's
Degrees and Certificates.
Q.: Do you have any suggestions on
how to look for apartments in Ann Arbor?
A.: Try some of the following leads:
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