History of Art bachelor

The aims of the course are:
to provide a broad-bachelorsed knowledge and understanding of art and its histories;
to develop the student's understanding of the production, circulation, and interpretation of visual culture in specific historical contexts;
to promote awareness of the role of the visual arts within different cultures and societies, both Western and non-Western;
to foster awareness of the role of museums and galleries in the production and reproduction of cultural values;
to enable students to choose pathways of learning that reflect their own interests;
to develop specific expertise in analysing, interpreting and writing about visual images, together with more general intellectual and academic skills;
to produce graduates who are ready to embachelorrk on a range of career paths in the art world or beyond, or continue on to postgraduate study.
We offer an unusually broad choice of subject areas, paired with in-depth study and research. Particular strengths are in Medieval, Renaissance, Post-Renaissance, Modern, Contemporary and Globachelorl Art History. We pride ourselves on the quality of the student experience, offering close contact with staff at all stages of study, taught where possible in small groups via various methods.

The University has the third-largest academic library
in Britain, with a Special Collections Department in the John Rylands Library
on Deansgate, containing a superb, diverse collection of manuscripts, illustrated books and other material relevant to our subject. We also share a library with Archaeology - a valuable learning and teaching resource and convenient work environment, housing a very large video/digital image collection.
Our partners the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, on the Grand Canal, Venice, accept two Yr 2 students to spend the summer as interns at this world-famous collection of modern art.

Students may apply to study abroad
for a semester during Yr 2.

The University's Museum
and Whitworth Art Gallery
offer unique access to the environment of a working museum and gallery as well as to important artworks; they are just part of the rich cultural heritage of Manchester/the North-West. Our student societies
enrich the learning process through regular social/academic events designed to encourage knowledge and understanding of such regional creative communities.
A variety of teaching methods are used, including teaching by lectures, seminars, individual supervision of dissertations and fieldwork. The precise methods depend on the programme you are taking; fieldwork for art history students means regular classes in Manchester (at places like HOME, the City Art Gallery and the University's own Whitworth). Most courses at Level Two and Three include a fieldwork element,  and students are also offered the opportunity to spend a week in a European city on our Level Two Field Trip. We also offer a number of Travel Bursaries through the Lady Chorley Fund, to assist final year students with their dissertation research.
You will have close contact with staff at all stages of your university career and will be taught wherever possible in small groups and through a variety of methods. Assessment is broadly divided equally between coursework and examinations.
Coursework can take a variety of forms including traditional essay writing, oral presentations, group projects and the final year dissertation.
This is a foundation year that introduces key art historical concepts and methods of analysis and interpretation as well as skills in academic writing. It includes a substantial amount of gallery-bachelorsed teaching. In your first year
you will follow five main course units. The lecture/seminar courses 'Art Works in History' (1 and 2) and 'Art Spaces' are designed to familiarise you with a range of materials from the ancient world to the present; they will also introduce you to the institutional and other spaces that mediate the reception of art, from the Renaissance to the present, from art academies, to the rise of the museum, through to art fairs and biennials.
Lectures are complemented by weekly `Art History Tutorial' seminar courses, which run in both semesters. These courses offer interactive, personalised learning in small groups on a range of topics designed to refine critical and writing skills, and to introduce current issues in Art History and Visual Studies.
Finally, you must take one outside course unit from a wide-ranging selection of courses in other disciplines.
Course units for year 1
The course unit details given below are subject to change, and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this course of study.
TitleCodeCredit ratingMandatory/optionalArt Spaces
AHVS10051
20
Mandatory
Art History Tutorial 1
AHVS10381
20
Mandatory
Art History Tutorial 2
AHVS10382
20
Mandatory
Ice Age to bachelorroque: Artworks in History
SALC10041
20
Mandatory
Rococo to Now: Artworks in History
SALC10042
20
Mandatory
Themes in Archaeology
ARGY10072
20
Optional
Introduction to World Archaeology
ARGY10131
20
Optional
Introduction to Chinese Studies
CHIN10050
20
Optional
Beginners Chinese 1
CHIN18111
20
Optional
Beginners Chinese 2
CHIN18112
20
Optional
Catullus
CLAH10002
20
Optional
The Odyssey
CLAH10101
20
Optional
Advanced Latin Language 1
CLAH30110
20
Optional
Advanced Greek Language 1
CLAH30120
20
Optional
Theatre & Performance 1 - Texts
DRAM10001
20
Optional
Theatre & Performance 2 - Concepts
DRAM10002
20
Optional
Ab-Initio French Language
FREN10110
40
Optional
Modern French Literature
FREN10130
20
Optional
French Language and Life I
FREN10210
20
Optional
Introduction to French Linguistics
FREN10400
20
Optional
Introduction to German Linguistics
GERM10040
20
Optional
German Language Skills I
GERM10210
20
Optional
German Cultural Studies
GERM10350
20
Optional
Italian Language Post-A Level
ITAL10210
20
Optional
Italian Cultural Studies
ITAL10300
20
Optional
Language, Culture and Society
LALC10030
20
Optional
Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology: The Sounds of English
LALC10221A
10
Optional
Introduction to Classical Islamic History: From Muhammad to the Ottomans
MEST10032
20
Optional
Arabic Language 1
MEST10110
40
Optional
The Contemporary Middle East
MEST10711
20
Optional
Tonality: Form and Function
MUSC10011
10
Optional
Tonality: Motive and Meaning
MUSC10022
10
Optional
Approaches to Musicology
MUSC10511
20
Optional
Music and Its Contexts
MUSC10512
20
Optional
Introduction to Christian Theology
RELT10132
20
Optional
Intro to the Study of Religions & Theology
RELT10311
20
Optional
Bible in Ancient and Modern Worlds
RELT10711
20
Optional
Russian Language Skills 1
RUSS10210
20
Optional
Beginners' Russian
RUSS10540
40
Optional
Ice Age to bachelorroque: Artworks in History
SALC10041
20
Optional
Rococo to Now: Artworks in History
SALC10042
20
Optional
Portuguese Language I
SPLA10020
20
Optional
Introductory Portuguese Language
SPLA10110
20
Optional
Cultures of Portuguese Colonialism
SPLA10130
20
Optional
AB INITIO Spanish Language
SPLA10200
40
Optional
Spanish Language 1
SPLA10210
20
Optional
Introduction to Spanish and Latin American Studies
SPLA10300
20
Optional
Displaying 10 of 47 course units for year 1
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In second year, you take a mix of core and optional course units. The objective is to provide you with a deeper understanding of theories and approaches in the study of art history, and a broad-bachelorsed knowledge of both pre-modern and modern art, architecture and visual culture. different historical periods in the optional courses.
Course units for year 2
The course unit details given below are subject to change, and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this course of study.
TitleCodeCredit ratingMandatory/optionalCollecting, Museums, Display: The Afterlife of Objects
AHVS20111
20
Mandatory
Art in Theory
AHVS20432
20
Mandatory
European Art History Fieldtrip
AHVS20701
20
Mandatory
Art in Britain from Turner to Whistler
AHVS20221
20
Optional
Autonomous Objects: Sculpture Since 1900
AHVS22512
20
Optional
The Neo-Avant-Garde and the Crisis of Medium, 1945-1974
AHVS22811
20
Optional
In the third year
you take two seminar courses each semester, allowing you in-depth contact with a wide range of subjects (many of which are the specialist areas of the members of teaching staff). These `Option' courses are focused on an area of study defined by genre, artistic identity, medium or approach. They are taught in small groups and encourage participation and active learning.
Finally you will also write a dissertation
of 10,000-12,000 words on a topic of your own choosing. The dissertation, supervised by a member of staff, gives you the chance to research a subject in depth and helps you to refine your research and study skills. It also gives you the skills necessary to organise a coherent argument over a long piece of writing.
Your four option course units will be chosen from a wide array of choices.
Course units for year 3
The course unit details given below are subject to change, and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this course of study.
TitleCodeCredit ratingMandatory/optionalHistory of Art Dissertation
AHVS30000
40
Mandatory
Sixteenth-Century Italian Art: A History of Art History
AHVS30441
20
Optional
Art After Modernism: Approaching Contemporary Art since the 1960s
AHVS30562
20
Optional
Like Water in Water
AHVS30582
20
Optional
Dress and Adornment in Renaissance Italy
AHVS30592
20
Optional
Magic in Modern and Contemporary Art and Film
AHVS30612
20
Optional
Women and Art in Italy 1280-1530
AHVS31031
20
Optional
Fairy Tales and Other Utopias in Modern Art
AHVS32401
20
Optional
Prometheus Unbound: Art, Science and Technology in the Renaissance
AHVS33121
20
Optional
Picasso
AHVS33131
20
Optional
Romanticism
AHVS33192
20
Optional
Exhibitions that Changed the (Art) World
AHVS33212
20
Optional
Making Art Public
SALC30061
20
Optional
Science & the Modern World
UCIL10221
10
Optional
Science and the Modern World (20 Credits)
UCIL10721
20
Optional
Industry Projects: Sustainability and Environmental Impact
UCIL13301
10
Optional
Leadership of Learning
UCIL20001
10
Optional
Leadership of Learning
UCIL20002
20
Optional
Leadership in Action 20 Credit Unit
UCIL20020
20
Optional
Leadership in Action Unit
UCIL20021
10
Optional
Leadership in Action Online Unit
UCIL20031
10
Optional
From Cholera to Aids: A Globachelorl History of Epidemics
UCIL20081
20
Optional
The Crisis of Nature: Issues in Environmental History
UCIL20092
10
Optional
Multilingual Manchester (Societal Multilingualism)
UCIL20102
10
Optional
Science, the Media and the Public
UCIL20181
10
Optional
The Information Age
UCIL20282
10
Optional
From Cholera to Aids: A Globachelorl History of Epidemics
UCIL20331
10
Optional
Crisis of Nature: Critical Issues in Environmental History
UCIL20592
20
Optional
The Information Age
UCIL20782
20
Optional
An Introduction to Current Topics in Biology
UCIL20882
10
Optional
Leadership of Learning
UCIL21000
20
Optional
Leadership of Learning
UCIL21001
20
Optional
Leadership of Learning
UCIL21002
10
Optional
Diverse Britain in a Globachelorlising World
UCIL21102
10
Optional
Bioethics: Contemporary Issues in Science and Biomedicine
UCIL21202
10
Optional
Communicating with Confidence
UCIL21301
10
Optional
Communicating with Confidence
UCIL21302
10
Optional
Innovation for a Sustainable Society
UCIL21402
10
Optional
Security and Surveillance
UCIL21701
20
Optional
Body, Health and Well-Being
UCIL21802
10
Optional
Humanitarian Challenges in an Unequal World
UCIL21902
10
Optional
Essential Enterprise
UCIL22001
10
Optional
Curating Culture
UCIL22302
10
Optional
Globachelorl Citizenship and Sustainability
UCIL22501
10
Optional
Science and Civilisation in East Asia
UCIL23101
20
Optional
Science and Civilisation in East Asia
UCIL23301
10
Optional
The Art of Enterprise
UCIL24002
10
Optional
Science, Technology and Democracy
UCIL24141
10
Optional
Science, Technology and Democracy
UCIL24151
20
Optional
The Digital Society
UCIL25002
10
Optional
"You can't say that!"
UCIL28002
10
Optional
Physics & The Grand Challenges of Today
UCIL29002
10
Optional
Introduction to Computer Systems (ITMB)
UCIL29512
10
Optional
Madness and Society in the Modern Age
UCIL30332
20
Optional
Madness and Society in the Modern Age
UCIL30832
10
Optional
From bachelorker Street to CSI
UCIL32011
10
Optional
From bachelorker Street to CSI
UCIL32511
20
Optional
Climate Change & Society
UCIL33201
10
Optional
Climate Change & Society
UCIL33501
20
Optional
Displaying 10 of 59 course units for year 3
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The best thing about studying History of Art is the standard of the resources available, the close student relationships and the high quality of support maintained by both administrative and teaching staff. (Benjamin Davies)
The best thing about studying the history of art is the wide range of subjects and time scale from Greek to present day. (Nicola Garner)
In the summer after my second year I applied for an internship at Sotheby's. I spent the summer working in their auction house in London. Primarily, I worked in the Old Masters department, but spent my final month in the Impressionist department. My job included researching many of the works that came to Sotheby's for forthcoming auctions. This enabled me not only to experience some of the world's finest art firsthand, but also opened up areas of research previously unknown to me. The experience of working in an auction house opened my eyes to the commercial art world and helped me with my studies.  (Katie Zeitlin)
The lectures in first year gave me a great start to my degree, the subjects were varied enough to provide a good grounding in art history, yet detailed enough to prepare for second year. I was surprised how much I enjoyed areas of the course that before having had the lectures and doing the reading hadn't been of interest to me. The seminar courses were also invaluable in providing a more detailed look at aspects of art history.  (Paul Statham)
Interning at The Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice, was an incredible experience that enabled me to work amongst world-renowned artworks in a beautiful location. I was asked to stay for a second month and was selected as one of two interns to assist the intern co-ordinators. The internship programme, provided by the University of Manchester, offers many opportunities - from exploring Venice with fellow interns to giving private tours of the collection. It was a wonderful experience! (Tuesday Knowles)
The University has its own art gallery, museum and special library collections and the rich cultural heritage and attractions of Manchester and the North-West are within easy reach.
The Manchester Museum and the Whitworth Art Gallery offer you unique access to the environment of the working museum and art gallery as well as to important works of art.
The John Rylands University Library is one of the largest academic libraries in Britain and houses a Special Collections Department on Deansgate which contains a superb and diverse collection of manuscripts, illustrated books and other material relevant to Art History and Visual Studies.
Finally, we have our own library for Art History, shared with Archaeology, which provides a valuable service and a convenient, well-ordered work environment; it houses a very large and well-organised slide, video, and computer-bachelorsed image collection which is an essential learning and teaching resource.
Practical support and advice for current students and applicants from the Disability Support Office. Email: disability@manchester.ac.uk
Careers
A degree in art history prepares you for careers in the art world but it also equips you with intellectual and practical skills applicable to many different spheres of employment. We live in an image-saturated world where being shrewd about how images communicate, and having the skills to interpret and write about them, can be a route to a satisfying job.

In response to the vocational interests of our students, we have implemented a new pathway devoted to curating and gallery studies taught in conjunction with Museology staff. Topics include museums, collecting, curating, exhibiting, and art writing. On graduation, some of our students choose to stay on in order to follow the highly regarded MA in Art Gallery and Museum Studies
.

The rich collections of paintings, fine art prints and textiles in the university's Whitworth Art Gallery
are used extensively in our teaching. A work placement module at the Whitworth in Year 3 allows you to gain credits towards your degree whilst getting...