History of Art

This course places particular emphasis on progression and is notable for providing the opportunity to carry out research each year.

The first year will give you a grounding in the key skills needed for a history of art degree, studying a wide range of visual and material culture. You will not only explore images in their global context, but you will also experience art locally, on the streets of Bristol. In addition, you will choose a research-oriented, small-group seminar class focusing on a particular type of art, such as painting or photography.

In the following years, you will choose from a variety of broader, thematic lecture and seminar-based units, as well as further research-oriented units. We offer a wide range of subject matter. Recent units have included: Curating the Object, Art and Empire, Global Modernism, Visual Politics, Race and Place, Sculpture and the Body, Modern European Art, Art and the Natural World, Art and Asia, Art and Fashion, Modernism and the Black Atlantic, Art of the Northern Renaissance and Queering the Early Modern.

You will undertake some independent research each year and write a dissertation on a topic of your choice in your final year. There is the option to study abroad in the second year. To find out more about studying abroad, visit the Centre for Study Abroad.

Teaching is delivered through lectures, tutorials, seminars, workshops, site visits, and one-to-one project supervision. Assessments may include presentations, essays, visual analysis, timed assessments, collaborative projects, podcasts, virtual and real exhibitions, exams and dissertations.

Our course will ensure you practise a range of skills, from critical thinking to visual and verbal communication, and from group work to project management, which will make you attractive to future employers in the globalised workplace and in the sector of your choice.