BA (Hons) Art History

Our Art History students have tremendous opportunities to gain the knowledge and skills necessary for employment in a variety of work settings. Our methods of teaching and learning throughout this course will provide you with the topical skills and experience that you can apply to the wide range of career options open to art history graduates.

Where could an art history degree take you?

• Benefit from assessment by coursework, with no written exams.
• Take advantage of our small class sizes and one-to-one teaching from staff who are leading experts in their field.
• Cover a wide range of art from the Renaissance period to the present, from 14th-century fresco painting in Italy to artistic responses to the atomic bomb.
• Learn from the latest research we are working on. In the last national Research Excellence Framework (REF 2014) ‘Art and Design: History, Theory and Practice’ at Plymouth scored 100 per cent for its ‘world-leading’ and ‘internationally excellent’ research environment, and 90 per cent for the international impact of its research case studies. This makes our unit a top five performer among University of Plymouth's research groups overall.
• Prepare for your future career by participating in an internship. Our students have successfully interned at Tate Britain, Sotheby’s, the National Trust, Plymouth Arts Centre, The Arts Institute and the Wallace Collection. 
• Gain experience in museum studies with our museum fieldwork classes.
• Be inspired by regular visits to major UK galleries and museums, including the National Gallery, Tate Britain, Tate Modern, Tate St Ives, The Arts Institute Gallery and Plymouth City Museum.
  
• Expand your horizons with the international field trip module. Past destinations have included Rome, Vienna, Paris, New York City and Washington, DC. The field trip in 2020 will be to Florence, Italy.
• To complement your formal learning we offer regular PALS sessions that provide the opportunity for you to learn with and from your peers. Share knowledge, discuss ideas, and ask questions in a relaxed and friendly environment.
• In the 2019 National Student Survey 90% of students were satisfied overall; 100% of students agreed staff were good at explaining things; 90% of students agreed staff made the subject interesting; 90% of students agreed the course is intellectually stimulating and 90% of students felt the course challenged them to achieve their best work.*

• Year 1
• In your first year, we’ll introduce you to the discipline of art history. You’ll investigate the development of museums and galleries across the world, engaging in fieldwork using outstanding local examples. You’ll explore popular periods of art history, including 19th century French art and the Renaissance. To round off the year, you’ll analyse contemporary critical writings on art and develop your own critical skills.

  Core modules

  • ARHI406 Lives and Afterlives of Renaissance Artists

    This module will introduce stage one students to the major artists and themes of the Italian Renaissance through the lens of the crucial early modern source, Vasari's Lives. Designed as a primer for the higher level Renaissance modules to be taken at stage two or three, it will also ask students to think about Renaissance artists¿ changing reputations since the period.

  • ARHI411 Continuity and Change in Western Art

  • ARHI412 Image of the Artist

    To explore and critically engage with representations of artists throughout the history of art. To consider: the change in the status of the artist from 'craftsman' to 'creator'; the construction of their identity in writings and art criticism; their negotiation of the art market; the rise and fall of their reputations.

  • ARHI413 Modernisms and Modernities

    French art of the later nineteenth century has probably been more popular with the general public, in the past three or four decades, than any other kind of art. This module is designed to offer both an introduction to the art made in France between about 1855 and 1900 and an introduction to the current concerns that make the art of this period so important.

  • ARHI414 Introduction to Art History and Visual Culture

    This module provides Single Honours and Joint Honours Art History students with a comprehensive understanding of the paradigms of Art History and their methodological implications for visual culture. Basic research literacy will be developed in a number of exercises and group-based activities.

  • ARHI415 Cultural Practices in Context

    This module is geared toward fieldwork and independent study in a museum and/or gallery context. Following a Fieldtrip to public collections in London and/or the Southwest students complete an Object Report on an object of their choice seen in situ.

• Year 2
• In your second year, you’ll visit a major European city - a trip designed to complement your second year modules and give you the chance to get hands-on with fieldwork. Previous destinations include Rome, Vienna and Paris. You’ll also hone your critical skills by investigating critical art theory.
  
  
  Choose an option from our new group of modules on future societies and the environment:
  In your second year of study, you will be able to choose from modules across english and creative writing, history, and art history (ARHI516, ENGL527, HIST511) on our theme of ‘Future Societies and the Environment’. Aligned to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the modules focus on the challenges for future societies, including sustainable communities and the environment, and the ways in which the humanities can engage and make a difference.
  
  

  Optional modules

  • ARHI501 Self-Reflexivity in Western Art and Visual Culture

  • ARHI502 Collecting and Exhibiting Cultures in the 19th and 20th Centuries

    This module examines historical and contemporary cultures of collection, exhibition, and display. Artworks and objects will be considered from a range of international contexts. Specific attention will be given to the politics and ideologies of art ownership, theft, looting, and repatriation.

  • ARHI506 International Field Trip

    The module is an intensive 1-week period of study of painting, sculpture, architecture and environments which are not available in this country. The emphasis is upon sustained first-hand study of artefacts and buildings, through staff-led visits and group-work, introducing students to advanced fieldwork skills.

  • ARHI510 Art After 1950

  • ARHI514 Regimes and Revolutions in European Art

    This module examines the visual culture of the long eighteenth century in Europe, and the development of art in relation to the age of revolution (1750 to 1850). Focusing on Britain and France, it will explore the changes occurring in art and society in this period. It will include such topics as Neo-Classicism and Romanticism; the Academy; the rise of portraiture and the changing status of history painting; in a context of politics, war and uprising.

  • ARHI516 Imagery in Online and Offline Worlds

    This module provides Single Honours and Joint Honours Art History students with a comprehensive understanding of current approaches towards mass media and visual culture. Particular emphasis will be put on medium-specificity, content analysis and audience studies.

  • HIST511 Heritage and Public History

    The module content will examine the theory and practice of the presentation of the past to public audiences. In it, students will examine the creation, nature, use and understanding of heritage and public history, nationally and internationally. They will examine these issues in case studies of historical `sites¿ of different types, to gain a critical awareness and understanding of the theories and controversies surrounding heritage and public history. This is a work facing module, where students will consider the theory and practice of `using¿ `sites¿ of heritage and public history from the point of view of a range of stake holders.

• Final year
• In your final year, you’ll continue to prepare for your career in the arts with further training in art historical research methods, as well as giving you dedicated career guidance. You’ll have the chance to study optional modules, including power patronage and ideology and studies in 20th century European art. You’ll write a substantial dissertation on the topic of your choice, previous topics include the representation of Salome in French Symbolism, and the sculpture of Barbara Hepworth.

  Core modules

  • ARHI605 Dissertation 1: Theories and Methods

    On this module students research and write a dissertation on a topic of their own choosing, negotiated in consultation with Art History staff.

  • ARHI608 Dissertation 2

    On this module students research and write a dissertation on a topic of their own choosing, negotiated in consultation with Art History staff.

  Optional modules

  • ARHI601 Self-Reflexivity in Western Art and Visual Culture

  • ARHI612 Art After 1950

  • ARHI616 Working with Culture: Professional Development Project

    In this module students will be asked to identify a specific professional working relationship with a mentor in which they will undertake a period of first-hand work and learning experience. This initiative, chosen in consultation with a member of staff who will act as a project supervisor, should reflect the student's personal development planning aims and support their career ambitions and life-long learning.

  • ARHI618 Regimes and Revolutions: European Art 1750-1850

    This module examines the visual culture of the long eighteenth century in Europe, and the development of art in relation to the age of revolution (1750 to 1850). Focusing on Britain and France, it will explore the changes occurring in art and society in this period. It will include such topics as Neo-Classicism and Romanticism; the Academy; the rise of portraiture and the changing status of history painting; in a context of politics, war and uprising.

  • ARHI621 Imagery in Online and Offline Worlds

    This module provides Single Honours and Joint Honours Art History students with an in-depth exploration of the characteristic procedures, methods, and objects of study within contemporary visual culture. It offers a detailed and coherent understanding of current approaches towards the use of images in film, television, video games and social media. Through a combination of Lectures and Seminars, in addition to Guided Independent Study, this module ensures students gain competency in using and evaluating disciplinary knowledge to investigate contemporary virtual worlds critically and analytically. Integral to the module is the analysis of the creation and reception of visual materials in online and offline contexts. The combination of visual and anthropological tasks ensure that individual students can effectively apply interdisciplinary research procedures.

Every undergraduate taught course has a detailed programme specification document describing the course aims, the course structure, the teaching and learning methods, the learning outcomes and the rules of assessment.

The following programme specification represents the latest course structure and may be subject to change:

BA Hons Art History programme specification 0665

UCAS tariff

104 - 112

A level
Typical offer will be 104 points, minimum of 2 A levels, General Studies accepted.

International baccalaureate
26-28 points.

18 Unit BTEC National Diploma/QCF Extended Diploma
DMM.

BTEC National Diploma modules
If you hold a BTEC qualification it is vital that you provide our Admissions team with details of the exact modules you have studied as part of the BTEC. Without this information we may be unable to process your application quickly and you could experience significant delays in the progress of your application to study with us. Please explicitly state the full list of modules within your qualification at the time of application.

All access courses
Pass a named Access to Higher Education Diploma with at least 33 credits at merit and/or distinction.

GCSE
Mathematics and English language grade C/4. If you do meet this criteria please seek further advice with the admission team on admissions@plymouth.ac.uk.

Equivalent qualifications and ability may be considered.