Art History - BA (Hons)

This programme provides an opportunity to undertake an internship and we offer all our students support with their CVs and personal statements. In this way, the degree offers both a strong grounding in the foundations of art historical study and an expansive approach to developing career skills.

Going abroad as part of your degree is an amazing experience and a chance to develop personally, academically and professionally.  You experience a different culture, gain a new academic perspective, establish international contacts and enhance your employability. 

All students within the Faculty of Humanities can apply to spend a term or a year abroad as part of their degree at one of our partner universities in North America, Asia or Europe. You are expected to adhere to any progression requirements including achieving a merit at Stage 1 and Stage 2 to proceed to the term or year abroad. 

The term or year abroad is assessed on a pass/fail basis and does not count towards your final degree classification. Places and destination are subject to availability, language and degree programme. To find out more, please see Go Abroad.

Knowledge and understanding

You gain knowledge and understanding of:

• particular forms of the visual arts and the way in which 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, in particular 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 techniques and processes through which artefacts are 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 develop intellectual abilities in the following:

• engaging critically with major thinkers, intellectual paradigms, scholarly literature and issues and debates within art history
• understanding the historical emergence of forms of visual culture and the discipline of art history
• undertaking informed examination of the social and historical context in which art is produced
• combining empirical and historical information with relevant concepts in articulating your knowledge and understanding of the discpline of art history
• applying your knowledge and experience to address problems within the subject
• analysing and interpreting works of art in a manner that demonstrates critical evaluation and contextual understanding
• critically reflecting upon your own work and your understanding of the subject in an open-minded and receptive manner to unfamiliar artefacts, issues and ideas
• conducting various forms of research for essays, projects, seminar assignments and dissertations involving independent inquiry
• formulating appropriate research questions and employing suitable methods and reources for exploring those questions
• drawing upon and evaluating a range of sources and the conceptual frameworks appropriate to researching in the chosen subject area
• reflecting upon the underlying cultural and epistemological assumptions that structure the understanding of the chosen subject.

Subject-specific skills

You gain subject-specific skills in the following:

• analysing and interpreting visual artefacts with an informed knowledge of the conventions of visual traditions
• critical skills of visual observation, description and analysis
• the effective deployment of terms and concepts specific to history of art
• locating and evaluating evidence from a wide range of primary and secondary sources (visual, oral or textual) and interpreting it in relation to relevant issues and inquiries
• drawing upon and bringing together ideas from different sources of knowledge, not only from the subject area but also from other academic disciplines
• articulating an understanding of visual media orally and in writing
• demonstrating 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
• evaluating a range of different methodologies and approaches within the subject.

Transferable skills

You gain transferable skills in the following:

• organising information clearly, responding to written sources, presenting information orally and adapting your style for different audiences, using images as a communication tool; presenting arguments cogently and effectively in written, spoken or other form
• IT – producing written documents, undertaking online research, communicate using email and process information using databases
• exploring your personal strengths and weaknesses, critical and analytical skills, self-discipline and self-direction, independence of thought, time management and develop specialist learning skills, such as foreign languages, seeking and utilising feedback and critically reflecting upon and improving your own performance
• working with others, in particular define and review the work of others, work co-operatively on group tasks and understand how groups function
• problem solving – identifying and defining problems, exploring alternative solutions and discriminating between them. Focusing and applying attention to detail and working diligently to fulfil briefs and deadlines and taking responsibility for your own work.