History of Art

The History of Art MA at UCL draws on the world-leading research and teaching expertise within the department, and is designed to enable students to acquire specialised knowledge pertaining to the field of art history and to develop independent research skills.

Students develop skills for engaging with visual materials and gain historical knowledge, enabling them to interpret artefacts in relation to their social and cultural contexts. They are introduced to current methodological debates in the field and encouraged to define their own position through reasoned historical and theoretical arguments.

Students undertake modules to the value of 180 credits.

The programme consists of a core module (30 credits), two optional modules (60 credits) and a research dissertation (90 credits).

Core modules

• Methods, Debates and Sources in History of Art

Optional modules

Options may include the following:

• Human and Non-Human in Medieval Art
• Cannibalism and the Early Modern Image
• Vision, Tourism, Imperialism: Art and Travel in the British Empire, 1760-1870
• American Media: Publicity and the Logics of Surveillance
• Politics of the Image: Germany 1890-1945
• Art as Theory: The Writing of Art
• Art and Technology in Nineteenth-Century France
• Photographic Cultures: Photography's Publics and the Production of Politics
• On Sex and Violence
• Race/Place: Exotic/Erotic
• Tracing the Body: Technologies of Representation in 18th and 19th-Century France

Dissertation/report

All MA students undertake an independent research project which culminates in a dissertation of approximately 13,000 words.

Teaching and learning

The programme is delivered through a combination of lectures, seminars, tutorials, as well as gallery and museum visits. Assessment is by two essays for each of the taught courses (six essays in all), the dissertation and a viva.

A minimum of an upper second-class Bachelor's degree in a relevant discipline from a UK university or an overseas qualification of an equivalent standard.

Want to improve your English level for admission?

Prepare for the program requirements with English Online by the British Council.

• ✔️ Flexible study schedule
• ✔️ Experienced teachers
• ✔️ Certificate upon completion

📘 Recommended for students with an IELTS level of 6.0 or below.

Enroll in the course