Reddit reviews Philosophy of Art: A Contemporary Introduction (Routledge Contemporary Introductions to Philosophy)

A few reading suggestions:

• Keep on with Noel Carroll. He's written a good introduction to the philosophy of art.
  
  
• You might like to try the Lamarque/Olsen anthology of analytic aesthetics. Don't worry at the moment about getting the recently published and therefore expensive 2nd edition - the 2003 edition will give you the kind of overview you are looking for.
  
  
• You might want to look at Philip Kitcher's work. He belies your committee's caricature of the analytic philosopher; he's written on philosophy of science, science in society, James Joyce, Wagner, and Thomas Mann.
  
  
• Try these entries and discussion from the Crooked Timber blog. I think you'll find them relevant to your concerns:
  
  http://crookedtimber.org/2009/06/09/philosophy-mind-and-manners/
  
  http://crookedtimber.org/2009/06/11/philosophy-ethos-and-argument/
  
  I have some familiarity with both American Studies and philosophy in academia. Some philosophers do exhibit that unfortunate tendency to believe their memories of undergrad gen. ed. literature courses would equip them to teach an introductory literature course, but that faculty lounge philistinism is by no means universal or even widespread. On the other hand, I'm afraid that the ignorance and arrogance exemplified by your committee's remarks on analytic philosophy are all too common in American Studies and Literature departments. Consequently, if you find yourself drawn to analytic approaches, you should think carefully about your choice of advisor and committee members.

Depends on what the talk will be on. If it is analytic philosophy of art, which traditionally has focused a whole lot on theories of art, something like this would be fine. I also would suggest this, which I really enjoyed. If the focus on more on other aspects of the philosophy of art, then you might be better off looking in a different direction.