Tanja Trška
DOTTORATO ALL’ITALIANA – POSTGRADUATE STUDIES THE ITALIAN WAY
The implementation of the Bologna process to the Italian higher education system has not
been without controversy and opposition, both within the ranks of students and university
professors. Although many argue that the “Bologna effect” has taken its toll on the quality of
our profession’s “final product”, i. e. a university degree art historian and therefore a potential
doctoral candidate, the new system does not seem to have affected the very structure of the
postgraduate (doctoral) study of art history in Italy. What steps mark the way of our Italian
colleagues towards their PhD title, and is there room for doubt regarding the new three-cycle
higher education system?
According to the new higher education programme applied since the academic year
2001/2002, new art historians enrol at postgraduate doctoral studies on one of the numerous
Italian universities immediately upon completing their graduate studies. The selection
preferences of each candidate are usually influenced by the university’s prestige, namely its
professors and lecturers involved in didactic activities, or acting as tutors and thesis
supervisors, but most of all by the benefits offered by the selected university. These include
mainly scholarships designated to a closed number of best candidates, which cover not only
tuition fees but also provide a “monthly salary” to postgraduate students. Such a way of
organizing doctoral studies is a reflection of a different attitude towards future young
scholars, which sees postgraduate studies not only as the last step of the educational pyramid,
but also as an employer-employee relationship of its kind, in which a PhD candidate has the
freedom of dedicating all of his time to research in order to complete his or her postgraduate
studies, since his basic existential needs are satisfied. In ideal cases, a postgraduate student is
treated as a researcher of his university, in accordance with the general title of his studies:
dottorato di ricerca, and is often involved in research activities (usually related to exhibitions
and participation in conferences and seminars), as well as didactic activities within the
undergraduate and graduate studies programme. However, the number of available
postgraduate studies posts with scholarships or grants is usually smaller than the total number
of available posts, normally varying from three to five, depending on the financial
possibilities of each university (whereas the total number of available posts is often less than
ten in each academic year). Accordingly, candidates who win their place at the postgraduate
studies programme without financial aid of the university, i. e. the Italian Ministry of Higher
Education, are required to cover the tuition expenses of their three-year studies themselves.
Such candidates, similar to all postgraduate students in Croatia, work their way through
postgraduate studies, which often means sacrificing their free time in order to complete the
PhD thesis.
Winning a PhD in art history on an Italian university, let alone with a scholarship, is
not an easy task. Future PhD candidates are required to pass an entrance exam, conducted
similarly in most Italian universities: upon application, accompanied by a curriculum vitae, a
copy of the graduation thesis, reference letters, university transcripts and a postgraduate
research proposal, the candidates take a written exam consisting of an essay on one of three
proposed topics (usually related to the field of study they are applying for). Candidates who
pass the written exam are admitted to oral examination, usually consisting of a foreign
language exam and an interview with the examination committee during which they elaborate
their research proposal, or, if the research proposal is summarized only within the applicant’s
field of study, the committee enquires the candidate about his graduate thesis and further
fields of interest. PhD candidates are selected according to a set system of credits, based on
their earlier achievements (graduation thesis, university exams and earlier scholarships if
applicable - the so-called selezione in base dei titoli), and according to their entrance exam
results.
The structure of the postgraduate studies programmes in Italy has not been affected by
the implementation of the new “Bologna process” system of art history studies: it remained a
five-year course study, the only difference being that the postgraduate studies now start
without achieving an MA title or finishing a scuola di specializzazione as an alternative to
MA studies. Consequently, the candidates start their postgraduate studies at the age of 24
(since high school in Italy lasts for five years), naturally if the university studies are
completed in due course. By setting the applicants’ age limit to 30 or 35 years for PhD
studies, many universities encourage completing university studies relatively early. The new
system of postgraduate studies has caused divided opinions within the Italian academic
community, instigated not by questioning the efficiency of doctoral studies, but by the level of
expertise and the amount of knowledge possessed by the candidates at the beginning of their
postgraduate studies. The accelerated rhythm of undergraduate and graduate studies, i. e. the
new dynamics of university courses and an increased number of exams, provoked numerous
polemics related to the competence of university-degree art historians and their ability to
address research problems and challenges which are necessarily brought about by a PhD
thesis. PhD studies are now seen as the final educational stage of an art historian, which
proves his or her ability to conduct individual and independent research on a certain
specialized topic, and is only then ready to address more complex scientific research tasks.
This consequently affected the candidate-supervisor relationship: the supervisor’s status has
changed from the untouchable figure of a famous art historian to a position marked by a
continuous dialogue with the candidate, necessary for the achievement of his final goal. All
this is possible mostly because of the logical assignment of a set number of candidates per
supervisor, which is then necessarily reflected in quantity, but also in quality of work done.
Doctoral candidate’s obligations within his three-year studies differ depending on the chosen
university, which is mostly due to the fact that the entire organization of the postgraduate
studies, including all didactic and research activities, is entrusted to each university
independently from the Ministry of Higher Education. Up to the academic year 1999/2000,
when universities gained their autonomy, the Ministry of Higher Education issued a single
admission competition based on unique regulations valid for all doctoral programmes.
Candidates’ obligations in most cases now include two exams in the course of the first two
years (upon completion of the first and second year respectively). The examination process
usually consists of a presentation of conducted research during the elapsed academic year,
after which the examination board decides whether the candidate can be admitted to the
following year of doctoral studies. The didactic programme also differs depending on the
university: some require two courses during the first year and one during the second, while
the third year is reserved for the completion of the dissertation and therefore does not require
course frequentation. Other universities organize lecture sessions usually once a semester,
which last for a week, with lectures held by its professors and guest lecturers. Most Italian
universities do not have a separate didactic programme, but take advantage of the courses of
scuole di specializzazione or those of the graduate art history programme. The emphasis is,
therefore, set on working with the dissertation supervisor and on the candidate’s individual
research. As for the dissertation, its theme does not have to be fully defined at the beginning
of the postgraduate study. The first year presupposes consulting the basic bibliography
inherent to the field of study and a more detailed insight into works of art, monuments and
archive material related to the subject, so that the basic thesis and general structure of the
dissertation can be formed in the course of the second year. These elements have to be
presented at the above mentioned exams at the end of each year, proving that the candidate
was rightly admitted to the postgraduate study.
In accordance with the ideas of students’ and researchers’ mobility within the united
Europe, another form of postgraduate study is the so-called dottorato in co-tutela, a parallel
postgraduate study conducted on two universities in two different countries, which gives the
candidate an equally valid PhD title on both institutions. This type of study differs from
another form of PhD study with co-supervised thesis, in which the candidate is enrolled at
only one university but has two supervisors from different institutions. The dottorato in cotutela implies two equally important thesis supervisors, and the candidate is required to spend
a certain period of time on both institutions (completing his course obligations set by each
university) and then write a single thesis, usually in Italian with a summary in the language of
the co-tutela university. Agreements of dual postgraduate study in Italy are usually signed
with French universities, but also with those in Germany and United Kingdom. PhD students
who initiate this type of study can request financial support not only from their universities,
but also from the Ministry of Higher Education. The motivation for this type of international
postgraduate study usually springs not only from the desire to learn and acquire new kinds of
experience, but also from the hope of making new contacts on foreign universities which
would eventually facilitate finding a permanent position, given the substantially small
possibilities of finding work in their own country.
In trying to improve the study conditions of PhD students at Italian universities, the
Association of Italian PhD students and Doctors of Philosophy – ADI (Associazione
Dottorandi e Dottori di Ricerca Italiani) has recently requested the augmentation of
scholarships from the Italian Ministry of Higher Education (Ministero dell’Università e della
Ricerca), but also the abolition of the postgraduate studies system without financial support
for all candidates. This would change a PhD student’s status – at least from the financial point
of view – to that of a monthly-paid researcher whose working day consists of pursuing his
dissertation, which is precisely the goal of this association. Within these ideal conditions, an
art historian/PhD student can really be maximally productive in his research, and only in that
situation can be expected to gain a PhD title before 30 years of age.
Postgraduate study in art history at an Italian university is truly a unique and
remarkable experience from a (Croatian) student’s point of view. Pursuing one’s studies in a
dynamic academic community, with frequent lectures by experts from all fields of our
discipline, closeness and accessibility of Italian cultural centres, and, what is perhaps most
important, unlimited access to not only specialized but also recent publications – all this offers
immense possibilities for a young art historian. Despite certain negative characteristics of the
Italian academic community, among which is over-competitiveness, it is certain that positive
features definitely outnumber and annul the negative ones. Student-supervisor relationship as
one of the primary features of postgraduate study in Italy is the most important element in
educating a future Doctor of Philosophy, and should be promoted and treated as such. The
benefits of this new system have been recognized by the creators of the reformed postgraduate
studies of art history in Croatia, which are set on the right track according to European trends,
despite limited financial resources insufficient to match the dottorato all’italiana.