BA (Hons) Art History

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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

  • Lives and Afterlives of Renaissance Artists (ARHI406)

    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.

  • Image of the Artist (ARHI412)

    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.

  • Modernisms and Modernities (ARHI413)

    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.

  • Introduction to Art History and Visual Culture (ARHI414)

    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.

  • Cultural Practices in Context (ARHI415)

    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.

  • History and Heritage (HIST412)

    This module introduces students to the field of heritage studies. It directs attention to how historians do heritage (and history) for an external audience. It aims to explore the materials and methods used and how they apply to how we understand, interpret and shape how we live with the past today. Students will study a specific topic in history and heritage individually and/or in small groups through problem based learning with an assessment geared towards public engagement.

• 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.
  
  

  Core modules

  • Victorian Values (ARHI507)

    This module examines the visual culture of the Victorian age, Pre-Raphaelitism, Aestheticism and British Impressionism, say, to question modern stereotypes about Victorian Values both moral and cultural. We will not only consider the definitive role of social principles in the art of this period, but also debates about art and beauty as independent realms of meaning and value.

  • Questions in Contemporary Art History (ARHI508)

    The module introduces and examines selected questions raised in the last three decades concerning the methodologies and aims of contemporary art history. Case studies drawn from art history, critical and cultural theory, and where appropriate related disciplines, will be examined.

  • Power, Patronage and Ideology: Aspects of Renaissance Art (ARHI515)

    This module offers historically based study in the art and culture of Europe c.1300 - 1600. It uses focused treatments of particular periods/regions/groupings to analyse the relationship between power, patronage and ideology. Attention will be paid especially to closely focused studies of selected historical instances of art practice and/or historiographical and methodological issues of relevance.

  • Decolonizing Modernism: Art 1890-1940 (ARHI518)

    This module aims to explore the history of the beginnings of modern art across Europe and/or the United States, incorporating its theory, practice and reception, through an analysis of the development of selected moments, schools and individuals central to the Modernist tradition. The module also addresses the impact of colonial structures on the creation, distribution and consumption of art.

  Optional modules

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

    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.

  • International Field Trip (ARHI506)

    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.

  • Heritage and Public History (HIST511)

    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

  • Dissertation 1: Theories and Methods (ARHI605)

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

  • Victorian Values (ARHI607)

    This module examines the visual culture of the Victorian age, Pre-Raphaelitism, Aestheticism and British Impressionism, say, to question modern stereotypes about Victorian Values both moral and cultural. We will not only consider the definitive role of social principles in the art of this period, but also debates about art and beauty as independent realms of meaning and value.

  • Dissertation 2 (ARHI608)

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

  • Working with Culture: Professional Development Project (ARHI616)

    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.

  • Questions in Contemporary Art History (ARHI620)

    The module introduces and examines selected questions raised in the last three decades concerning the methodologies and aims of contemporary art history. Case studies drawn from art history, critical and cultural theory, and where appropriate related disciplines, will be examined.

  • Decolonizing Modernism: Art 1890-1940 (ARHI623)

    This module aims to explore the history of the beginnings of modern art across Europe and/or the United States, incorporating its theory, practice and reception, through an analysis of the development of selected moments, schools and individuals central to the Modernist tradition. The module also addresses the impact of colonial structures on the creation, distribution and consumption of art.

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.