History or Art History?

Which has more employment opportunities, a PhD in art history or a PhD in history (general)? I love history, but have a definite appreciation for art history. I would like to either be a professor in one of the two, or work in a museum, or perhaps another non-traditional route using skills obtained in one of the two.





I would think History might be in more demand, but at the same time there is probably more supply in History than in Art History, right? I would think more people probably major in History than in Art History.





Any enrollment numbers, job demand statistics, etc... would be great. The statistics should be differentiating between the two areas - I've already found stats that list all social science professors in one category - not very helpful.

History or Art History?
Ah, I personally think art history is more interesting.
Reply:I rarely rephrase a questioner's question, but in your case, I must make an exception. If your decision for either is going to be based on future job prospects, then you probably shouldn't be making the decision. There are more history Ph.D's and more positions for them in colleges and jr. colleges, but art history would have more application in related fields in the private sector - the "art" industry is much larger than the "history" industry. Both are underfunded, but welcome to the humanities. Both would give you the skills necessary to become a really good librarian, while an ABD in history would at least let you be a high school teacher with a little additional training but there is always appraisal...but never mind all that.





You don't get a Ph.D. in the humanities because of the bright future job prospects. Those future job prospects come because you are able to complete the Ph.D. and your are considered capable of adding to the body of knowledge in your chosen field. In order to complete the Ph.D. and show that you can add to the body of knowledge, you must complete a dissertation. And you won't be completing that dissertation unless you feel a bit of passion about the subject matter. Enough passion to produce a question that will lead you into libraries, archives, halls of records, private collections, and back to your laptop to find an answer while consuming a few hundred or couple thousand hours of your life.





Spin off sections of that dissertation into journal articles or maybe a book and your job prospects as a professor will be fine. Without the drive, you will end up asking a question like "Is it worth it?" half way through the dissertation and the answer will most likely be "No it is not. There aren't many jobs that will pay off my loans," and you will withdraw with an ABD.





My guess is that you should do Art History if that is the area that interests you (and the field of history that you mention by name as well). In any case, damn those torpedos and enroll if you have the desire to master either subject.
Reply:history