Art History and Italian - BA (Hons)

You have the opportunity to spend a year studying or working in Italy, where you can improve your language skills and experience Italian art forms and culture first-hand.  With the option of a dissertation in the final year, you may choose to focus on both Art History and Italian by writing about art forms observed during the year abroad.

Knowledge and understanding

You gain knowledge and understanding of:

• particular forms of the visual arts and the way they can be interpreted
• the historical evolution of visual traditions, artistic movements, media and genres of art
• the works of a range of significant artists, with particular emphasis on the period from the Renaissance to the present day
• the cultural, social and historical contexts in which works of art are produced and the uses to which they are put
• the technique and processes through which artefacts are made and constructed in the cultures studied
• modes, formal conventions and styles of representation in the fine arts, photography and related visual media
• critical tools, theories and concepts that have evolved for interpreting works of art
• methodologies and approaches to the study of visual arts, including the terminology used in art history
• substantive areas of current research in history of art.

Intellectual skills

You gain the intellectual abilitiy to:

• engage critically with major thinkers, intellectual paradigms, scholarly literature and issues and debates within art history
• understand the historical emergence of forms of visual culture and the discipline of art history
• undertake informed examination of the social and historical context in which art is produced
• blend empirical and historical information with relevant concepts in the articulation of your knowledge and understanding of the discipline of art history
• apply knowledge and experience to address problems within the subject
• analyse and interpret works of art in a manner that demonstrates critical evaluation and contextual understanding
• critically reflect upon your own work, and your understanding of the subject, in a manner that is open-minded and receptive to unfamiliar artefacts, issues and ideas
• conduct various forms of research for essays, projects, seminar assignments and dissertations involving independent enquiry
• formulate appropriate research questions and employ appropriate methods and resources for exploring those questions
• draw upon, and evaluate, a range of sources and the conceptual frameworks appropriate to researching the chosen subject area
• reflect upon the underlying cultural and epistemological assumptions that structure the understanding of the chosen subject.

Subject-specific skills

You gain subject-specific skills that enable you to:

• analyse and interpret visual artefacts with an informed knowledge of their conventions of visual traditions
• use critical skills of visual observation, description and analysis
• the effective deployment of terms and concepts specific to the history of art
• locate and evaluate evidence from a wide range of primary and secondary sources (visual, oral or textual) and interpret this in relation to relevant issues and enquiries
• draw upon, and bring together, ideas from different sources of knowledge from not only the subject area but also from other academic disciplines
• articulate an understanding of visual media orally and in writing
• demonstrate the ability to marshal an argument, summarise and defend or critique a particular interpretation or analysis supported by relevant visual, textual or other evidence as appropriate
• evaluate different methodologies and approaches within the subject.

Transferable skills

You gain the following transferable skills:

• communication – the ability to organise information clearly, respond to written sources, present information orally, adapt your style for different audiences, use images as a communication tool, and present arguments cogently and effectively in written, spoken or other forms, with the appropriate use of visual aids
• information technology – the ability to produce written documents, undertake online research, communicate using email and process information using databases
• the ability to improve your own learning, including exploring personal strengths and weaknesses, critical and analytical skills, time management, development of specialist learning skills, such as foreign languages, enhanced listening and discussion, self-discipline, self-direction and independence of thought, update knowledge and skills, seek and use feedback, and critically reflect upon and improve performance
• working with others – define and review the work of others, work co-operatively on group tasks and understand how groups function
• problem solving – identify and define problems, explore alternative solutions and discriminate between them, focus and apply attention to detail, work diligently, to fulfil briefs and deadlines, and take responsibility for your own work, gather, organise and deploy ideas to formulate arguments cogently and express them effectively orally and in written form.