How do PhD students choose dissertation topics?
Art history: Laboriously and over a prolonged period. During your coursework you will endeavor to gain an overview of your field of specialization. As this picture becomes more complete, it will be easier to see both topics of special interest and exploitable lacunas in the present scholarship. You will need to work closely with your advisor(s) to ensure that your topic is unclaimed and makes a significant contribution to the field. The topic should be interesting enough to sustain years of attention but also manageable in the required timeframe with available archival resources.
