BA (Hons) History of Art
This degree encourages you to develop an independent critical approach to interpreting works of art, to examine changing historical conceptions of art and the artist, and to explore the visual arts in their wider cultural and political contexts.
Jasmin Barrowclough, BA History of Art
3 years full-time.
V350.
ABB or equivalent; see entrance requirements for alternative qualifications.
You can take advantage of the many galleries and art spaces, museums, cultural facilities, and specialist libraries of Central London, including the National Art Library at the Victoria and Albert Museum. The library at Goldsmiths has an extensive collection of art history and visual culture materials, and you also have access to a range of introductory and advanced courses in IT.
Visual, critical and analytical skills; the ability to express ideas clearly; expertise in gathering insights from a range of subjects; IT skills; communication skills.
Art historian/theoretician; journalism and the media; arts administration; museums and galleries; the civil service; teaching and research.
Please see Undergraduate tuition fees.
Visual Cultures
Focusing on the broadest range of visual culture from the modern and contemporary periods, including the moving image and electronic arts, this programme introduces you to a range of critical theories that will complement the study of contemporary art practice from around the world. Goldsmiths is ideally located for a first-hand study of art, and visits to many of the Capital's internationally renowned galleries and museums are an integral part of our teaching.
What you Study
In the first year, you are introduced to the history of art, and familiarised with visual art and culture – by this we mean not only the kinds of artefacts you might see in museums and art galleries, but also those that make up our everyday environment: architecture, city and landscapes, advertisements, television and film, websites, the body, and street style, for example. You'll also focus on the issue of modernity, considering how things like inner city living and the emergence of photography have contributed to the evolution of this continuing phenomenon.
A compulsory course in the second year considers the convergence of theory and practice in modern and contemporary art. In addition, you choose a selection of art history option courses – those currently available enable you to investigate: the exhibition space of the museum, and how the institution can become a centre for ideological questions; the cultural space of a city in relation to architectural and urban history; and the key developments in the emergence of film, and its relationship with processes of social and cultural change. You also have the chance to pick a related study option.
In the third year you take several art history special subjects. You might decide to cover: the significant changes in architecture, design and the built environment since the mid-1930s; postcolonial issues in contemporary visual culture; the relationship between painting and philosophy; how curators discover, select, arrange and present expressions of knowledge; or the way that artworks, exhibitions, monuments, films, novels and theoretical texts have informed emerging research on memory. You may also take an option course. A dissertation on an aspect of art history or visual culture that you're particularly interested in will complete your studies.
Assessment
Formal written papers (some related studies only), coursework, long essays, research files, creative journals.Application enquiries
Please see how to apply for information on applying to this programme.
Equivalent GCE A-level qualifications
| BTEC National Diploma |
Access courses |
Scottish qualifications |
European Baccalaureate |
International Baccalaureate |
Other requirements |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DDM
You need to show an interest in and aptitude for Art History |
60 Credits
including 45 at level 3 (with Merits in relevant subjects) |
AABBB (Higher)
ABB (Advanced Higher) |
75%
You need to show an interest in and aptitude for Art History |
6, 6, 6 at HL
You need to show an interest in and aptitude for Art History |
- |