MA Art History
The MA Art History program aims to extend a student’s knowledge and experience of the entire discipline of Art History. The teaching offers training in research methodologies, provides a combination of applied research and vocational training, and stimulates vigorous intellectual inquiry. The MA Art History (PPM) comprises the following modules: Art and Visual Culture B (30 credits), Research Project (60 credits), Undergraduate or Research Training Modules (30 credits), and Dissertation (60 credits). Vocational training takes place through the Research Project module in which students undertake art historical research involving applied skills such as software applications, education work, archive and oral history projects, or the curation of exhibitions.
The RPM version of MA Art History has the same structure as the PPM scheme, but is supplemented by seminars and tutorials on Academic Writing and Research Skills for which students submit a Presentation Paper and a Research Proposal with Bibliography. For the RPM version of the Research Project module, students train as Research Assistants with discipline-specific training embedded in the student-supervisor meetings.
Through the Art and Visual Culture module, students examine art and art criticism within the broader context of contemporary visual culture. The module examines the expansion and redefinition of the theoretical and historical contexts of the discipline over the last three decades. Key topics include the concepts of visual culture, material culture, personal and national identity, production and consumption, new technology, and institutional structures.
After working closely with a supervisor who guides them on every aspect of their research, all students submit a 15,000-word dissertation.