History of Photography MLitt

The modules in this programme have varying methods of delivery and assessment. For more details of each module, including weekly contact hours, teaching methods and assessment, please see the latest module catalogue which is for the 2018–2019 academic year; some elements may be subject to change for 2019 entry.

Complusory

• Issues in Photographic Criticism: provides an introduction to key writings and debates in the history of photographic criticism from the 1830s to the present day.

History of Photography students choose three postgraduate-level course modules, with the option of one of those modules being selected from the undergraduate-level Honours programme. Optional modules are subject to change each year and require a minimum number of participants to be offered; some may only allow limited numbers of students (see the University’s position on curriculum development).

• The Documentary Impulse
• Imperial Lens: Readings in Nineteenth-Century Asian Photography
• The ‘New Vision’ in Twentieth-Century European Photography
• The University of St Andrews Photographic Collection

Students also have the option to select the undergraduate Honours module, Histories of Photography, 1835-1905, and also select one module from among the optional modules offered by the Art History MLitt programme.

• Art and Technology
• The Book as Object and Idea
• The Classical Tradition
• The Image of the Artist
• Representation and the Body
• Themes in Art History
• Writing on the Visual

The final three months of your course will be focused on writing the final assessment piece, a 15,000-word dissertation. Across the two semesters, students participate in a series of skills workshops designed in part to help prepare for the dissertation element. Student dissertations will be supervised by members of the teaching staff who will advise on the choice of subject and provide guidance throughout the research process. The completed dissertation must be submitted by a date specified in August.

If students choose not to complete the dissertation requirement for the MLitt, there are exit awards available that allow suitably qualified candidates to receive a Postgraduate Diploma. By choosing an exit award, you will finish your degree at the end of the second semester of study and receive a PGDip instead of a MLitt.