BA (Hons) History of Art with Gallery and Museum Studies

Key details

BA (HONS) HISTORY OF ART WITH GALLERY AND MUSEUM STUDIES

Start Year

2023

Attendance

Full Time

Award

Degree of Bachelor of Arts

UCAS course code

V3P1

Entry Requirements

ABB

Duration (years)

Based in the world-famous Sainsbury Centre, you will study the history of art and museums across the world while exploring the central issues facing the gallery and museum sector today. As well as learning about how art is made, the artists who make it, and its meanings and cultural context, you will develop knowledge and a range of practical skills relating to various aspects of museum and gallery work.

Alongside key themes in art history, you’ll study topics central to a career in museums, galleries and the heritage sector. You’ll examine the politics and practicalities of different kinds of display across diverse collections and exhibitions, from contemporary art galleries to natural history collections, from historic houses to heritage sites, examining the varied practices of the curators, conservators and educators tasked with engaging broad audiences with art and material culture.

You’ll explore contemporary debates in art history and consider the role and relevance of galleries and museums in culture and society in the past, present and into the future.

Our BA History of Art with Gallery and Museum Studies is ranked in the top 20 for History of Art by 'The Guardian University Guide 2023'.

About

This degree programme combines art history with the study of the history, theory and practice of museums and galleries. You’ll engage with artworks from pre-history right through to the present day from across the world, exploring a wide variety of art forms. You will also examine key issues facing galleries and museums today, developing a range of professional skills relevant to the art and heritage sector.

You’ll have the opportunity to study the world-famous collection of art held in the Sainsbury Centre, encountering objects and artworks first-hand while learning about the processes and politics of collecting, reflecting on cultures of display and thinking about engaging diverse audiences. You’ll be taught by experts in a range of disciplines, who will encourage you to approach art, material culture and display from different perspectives.

In your first year, you’ll establish firm foundations for the study of art and museums. In your second and third years, you’ll select from a range of optional modules that cut across the history of art and the history, theory and practice of gallery and museum studies.

In your second year of study, you’ll have the opportunity to do a placement and apply the skills you are developing through your degree in the working world, whilst developing your knowledge of the employment sectors in which you may wish to work in the future.

All this results in a degree with incredible breadth and depth where you can cultivate key intellectual and professional skills relating to art history and gallery and museum studies.
This course is delivered by UEA’s world-leading department of Art History and World Art Studies. Staff specialisms include the art and archaeology of the climate crisis, postcolonial discourse, medieval visual cultures, artists’ photography and film, museum studies, curatorial studies, heritage studies, visual art and poetry, and contemporary art and exhibition making.

We are part of a close network of internationally-renowned centres for the study and display of art: the Sainsbury Centre, the Sainsbury Research Unit for the Arts of Africa, Oceania and the Americas, and the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures. Students benefit from these networks as well as our links with local and national museums and galleries in Norwich, London and further afield.

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Sainsbury Centre

The Sainsbury Centre is one of the most prominent university art galleries in Britain, and a major national centre for the study and presentation of art.

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Important Information

Whilst the University will make every effort to offer the courses listed, changes may sometimes be made arising from the regular review of course programmes. Where this activity leads to significant (but not minor) changes to programmes, there will normally be prior consultation of students and others. Changes may for example consist of variations to the content and method of delivery of programmes, courses and other services, to discontinue programmes, courses and other services and to merge or combine programmes or courses. The University will endeavour to keep such changes to a minimum, and will inform students.

Assessment for Year 1

You won’t sit any formal examinations. Instead, in each year you’ll be assessed on written coursework, usually in the form of essays, presentations, critiques, posters, exhibition catalogues to name only a few. Our assessment methods have been developed to measure your skills, but also to aid your learning.
In your first year, assessment will be aimed at cultivating the skills of close analysis and critical thinking you will need throughout the degree.

Structure

Your first year will lay the foundations for the study of art, galleries and museums. You’ll be introduced to art history and museum studies as disciplines and learn to engage with objects and artworks first-hand to develop visual, critical and communication skills that will be central to your degree. You’ll explore significant themes in the history of art and exhibitions and consider the history, politics and ethics of museum and gallery work.

Teaching and Learning

You’ll be taught by leading scholars in the field of art history and will learn through a combination of lectures, seminars and field trips.
Throughout this degree your learning activities will involve a combination of lectures, small group seminars and tutorials combined with independent learning. A representative week will consist of 15-20% class time, 40% work on assessments and 40% on independent learning.

Your seminar groups will very rarely have more than 18 students. This allows for plenty of dialogue between tutors and students. Teaching methods vary but most sessions are organised around investigation of particular topics supported by close analysis of artworks and texts. As you progress through your course you will expand your knowledge, skills and understanding as you become familiar with different art practices and techniques and become accustomed to reading diverse historical sources and art historical and critical texts.
In lecture modules, you’ll engage with a range of art-historical problems and methods. Your lectures will be delivered by members of staff from art history, anthropology, and archaeology, plus specialist guest speakers.
In your first year, you’ll be guided to prepare material for classes, which you will often later use as a starting point for an assessment. You will also be given the opportunity to engage with a diverse range of relevant presentation styles such as catalogue entries and exhibition reviews.

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Open Days

Assessment for Year 1

Compulsory Modules

LEARNING ON SITE: THE SAINSBURY CENTRE FOR VISUAL ARTS

Code AMAA4007A

Credits 20

In this module, you will discover the art and architecture that makes up our department’s home in the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts (SCVA). Designed by Lord Norman Foster and opened in 1978, this building and the Robert and Lisa Sainsbury Collection have shaped the study of Art History and World Art Studies at UEA. Through readings, group discussions, and the close study of objects in the SCVA, you will be encouraged to challenge assumptions and preconceptions about different kinds of art – from around the world, and from prehistory to the 20th century. This module will also develop your abilities in library research and academic referencing.

ENVIRONMENT, ART AND CULTURE

Code AMAA4004B

Credits 20

Most works of art – whether objects, buildings, or performances – are designed to serve a set of purposes. How their forms and functions relate may be straightforward and practical, or complex and elusive. Through a range of case studies, presented in lectures by our staff in Art History and World Art Studies, you will examine the connections between the uses, meanings, and appearances of art, culture, space, and landscape. You will also consider how these connections may change over time, especially in the context of cross-cultural contact. The opportunity to analyze texts on your own and in discussion groups will help you understand different points of view and construct an argument supported by evidence.

INTRODUCTION TO ART HISTORY

Code AMAA4001A

Credits 20

This module introduces you to the study of art history. You will discover what makes art history distinct as an academic discipline. By learning about the themes art historians have explored over time, and some of the methods they use to study art, you will start to understand the subject better – and to appreciate how it fits into your degree. As a seminar, this module also gives you the chance to experience the small-group discussions that are central to our teaching.

MAKERS AND MAKING

Code AMAA4002A

Credits 20

Making works of art – from objects to performances, bodies to buildings – involves a range of materials, activities and ideas. On this module, you’ll learn about the physical and technical properties of different materials as well as their social, economic and symbolic significance. You’ll hear from a range of experts in a series of lectures by our staff in Art History and World Art Studies. You will gain a wider perspective on how people at different times, in different cultures, have designed, crafted and created works of art - challenging narrow ideas about what (and who) an artist is. You will also develop the skills you need to write effective essays at university.

PORTRAITURE AND IDENTITY

Code AMAA4025B

Credits 20

How do you represent a person? On this module, you will explore the genre of portraiture as it has been practiced by visual artists from the ancient world to the present day. You will develop the skill of visual analysis as you consider issues such as 'likeness'; the face; the self-portrait; portraiture as the embodiment of political, social and aesthetic power; the ways in which portraiture has variously reinforced and challenged concepts of class, race and gender; the photographic portrait, and the role of portraiture in contemporary art and culture. You will also continue to develop your writing skills, as we analyze works of art alongside histories and concepts of the individual self – perhaps the supreme artefact of all.

GALLERIES & MUSEUMS: HISTORIES/POLITICS/ETHICS

Code AMAA4010B

Credits 20

This module will introduce you to some of the key concepts underpinning art galleries and museums. You’ll learn about the history of museums and their impact on society. You’ll consider how museums and galleries today use not only their displays but also a range of activities to attract, educate, and inspire visitors. You will also have a chance to study galleries and museums from around the world.

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Open Days

Important Information

Whilst the University will make every effort to offer the modules listed, changes may sometimes be made arising from the annual monitoring and review of modules. Where this activity leads to significant change to a programme and modules, the University will endeavour to consult with affected students. The University may not be able to offer a module for reasons outside of its control, such as the illness of a member of staff. Availability of optional modules may be restricted owing to timetabling, lack of demand, or limited places. Where this is the case, you will be asked to make alternative module choices and you will be supported during this process.

Assessment for Year 2

In your second year, you will have more autonomy over the way you respond to your assessment prompts, devising your own essay topics and further developing your perspective as an art historian as well as your practical skills in the working world of galleries and museums.

Compulsory Modules

THE LIVES OF OBJECTS

Code AMAA5089A

Credits 20

Your main objective in this module will be to develop your critical skills as they pertain to thinking, reading, writing and looking. To enable this, the module will fall into two main sections. In the first section, you’ll focus on one particular methodology – object biographies – used in archaeology, anthropology, museum studies and art history. You’ll examine this methodology in detail, breaking it down into its component sections. You’ll then consider its strengths and its weaknesses, as we subject it to a thorough critical evaluation. In the second half of the module, you will study a range of theories and methodologies used in the study of material culture. In this part of the module, you will focus more broadly on what critical thinking is, both in general and within each of the four disciplines taught in the Department of Art History and World Art Studies. You’ll be taught through a combination of two weekly lectures and one discussion seminar. The lectures will offer you an introduction to the relevant topic, and will end with an opportunity to discuss/debate the issues raised. During the discussion seminars, you’ll consider key issues raised in preceding lectures and the weekly class readings which accompany them.

ART IN THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD

Code AMAA5090B

Credits 20

Art is a resource which can be used both positively and critically to affect the contemporary world around us. It may be exploited, most obviously for its economic value, but also for broader social or political gain. You will explore these different uses of art by addressing the factors that condition our contemporary reception of art works and visual culture. You will begin by examining some of the key methodologies for interpreting art’s contemporary functions, including its capacity to create contemporary identities and world-views. You will then turn to focus on the museum and gallery as spaces for these contemporary issues to emerge, before considering the same ideas at work in more quotidian ways. And, finally, you will conclude with a reflection on your own position as art historians, anthropologists, and archeologists working with art in the contemporary world.

ARTISTS/MUSEUMS

Code AMAA5106A

Credits 20

You will examine how contemporary artists have explored the way in which contemporary galleries and museums function. Since the 1960s artists have adopted the museum as both subject and medium in their artworks. These seminars will examine how such projects impact on our idea of what galleries and museums are, how they operate, and what role they have in public life today. Throughout, key ideas regarding aesthetics, politics, memory, and audience participation will be approached by way of specific artworks and exhibitions. These sessions will be supplemented by workshops exploring art criticism, as well as a study trip to London.

Optional A Modules

(20 credits)

MATERIAL WORLDS

Code AMAA5009A

Credits 20

We live our lives surrounded by material objects. In many ways, our lives are dictated by the consumption of goods. How then, should we understand our relation to materiality? In this module, you'll learn about contemporary archaeological and anthropological perspectives in the study of material culture. Questions that come up include: why the Summer Solstice is celebrated at Stonehenge; how houses differ across cultures; why we give each other gifts and wrap them; and how clothing gives us identity? Studying human-object relations from a range of perspectives, this module equips you to understand the role of materiality in your life and to think in nuanced ways on our consumer society.

MEDIEVAL BODIES

Code AMAA5086A

Credits 20

Born, bathed, dressed, worshipped, sexed, cut, bruised, ripped, split, buried: the human body offer historians a gateway onto understanding the cultures of the past. On this course you will examine several groups of objects from the visual culture of medieval Europe and the Middle East through this contemporary theoretical lens, building up a body of medieval artistic practice piece by bodily piece, and examining how the techniques and society of the medieval craftsman at once idolised and distorted the medieval body's forms. In previous years this course has also featured a study trip to museums and galleries in London to meet with curators and handle objects.

Optional B Modules

(40 credits)

ART AND ARCHITECTURE IN VENICE

Code AMAA5093B

Credits 20

Positioned at the hub of trade routes which spanned out across the known world, the city of Venice was a major commercial and political power during the medieval, renaissance, and early modern periods. It also grew to be one of Europe's most important centres of artistic production, with Venetian painters, sculptors, glassmakers, and architects channelling their city's diverse multiculturalism into a vast range of influential artworks. You will examine the development of art and architecture in the city from its earliest foundations through to the present day, tracing the aesthetic and urban history of what its inhabitants came to call 'La Serenissima,' the most serene city on earth. In previous years this module has featured a study trip to Venice.

ARCHAEOLOGIES OF THE MEDITERRANEAN WORLD

Code AMAA5098B

Credits 20

Using a range of case studies from the Mediterranean World, this module introduces students to some of the most significant themes and debates in the archaeology of the Mediterranean and archaeology more generally. Case studies will be drawn from a range of time periods and will address ‘the big themes’ in archaeology, such as cultural transmission, cultural development, societal collapse, trade and exchange, conflict, migration, empire and expansion, the emergence of urban societies, climate and society and ritual and religion. Often more than one theme will be included in a case study and the aim will be to understand how they relate to each other. For example, how does conflict or climate change contribute to migration or societal collapse?

ACTION / ABSTRACTION:ART AFTER 1945

Code AMAA5103B

Credits 20

You will explore the rich history of art made after 1945, with a particular emphasis upon the problem of the relationship between the idea of art's autonomy and claims for its capacity to engage directly with social and political conditions. You will be introduced to key tendencies in art and a wide variety of artistic media made since 1945, with a (non-exclusive) focus upon Europe and North America.

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Important Information

Assessment for Year 3

You’ll also write a dissertation on a topic that has most sparked your interest, working closely with a supervisor to devise a topic and design your own independent research programme.

Compulsory Modules

DISSERTATION

Code AMAA6112B

Credits 30

On this module you will undertake a research project on a topic related to your specialised interests, in consultation with an appropriate member of ART Faculty, leading to a 9,000 word dissertation.

MUSEUM WORK: THEORY & PRACTICE

Code AMAA6144A

Credits 30

This module explores a variety of practical and conceptual aspects of museum work by focusing on specific aspects of institutional structures and practices: from building, housing and caring for collections, to designing and curating exhibitions and widening participation.

Optional A Modules

(30 credits)

MAPPING WORLDS

Code AMAA6121A

Credits 30

Mapping helps us to conceive of abstract concepts in tangible visual form. Be it geographical notions of the globe and the heavens, or more complex outlines of the body, the mind, time, even history, a map helps to bound and give features to otherwise inexplicable space and knowledge. This course uses historical maps and modern theories of cartography as the jumping-off point for an in-depth investigation of the visual and imaginative cultures of Europe and the Middle East from the prehistoric and classical eras through to the Middle Ages and Renaissance. In previous years this course has also featured a study trip to museums and galleries in London to meet with curators and handle objects.

MODERN ART AND STATES OF MIND

Code AMAA6141A

Credits 30

This module explores art’s relationship with aspects of mental and emotional life in the 20th Century. Each seminar is dedicated to a particular ‘state of mind’: anxiety, boredom, anger, joy, love, grief, or shame, for example. The module examines both the way in which inner life is subject to social, historical and technological forces, and how artworks engage such crucial dimensions of lived experience. The seminars will draw upon rich conceptual resources derived not only from art history but also from psychology, literary theory, sociology, and philosophy.

Optional B Modules

(30 credits)

EXPERIMENTAL FILM AND VIDEO ART

Code AMAA6109B

Credits 30

Since the 1960s the increased number of artists working with film and video has resulted in the moving image becoming a common feature in museums and contemporary art exhibitions. Surveying the work of a broad range of American and European film and video makers this module will explore how they have sought to develop a mode of practice that distinguishes their work from more conventional forms of cinema and television. This module will examine in detail how the work of experimental film and video artists relates to established histories of avant-garde art, performance, and sculpture. It will also ask how the relationship between their peculiar production and exhibition methods informs a critical engagement with both the spectator and the institutions that present their work.

MODERNISM AND GENDER: FRANCE AND GERMANY 1900-1939

Code AMAA6128B

Credits 30

On this module you will study some of the most important modernist artists of the first part of the twentieth century. We will explore the work of male and female artists and also consider how gender structures representation and art practice. The module provides an opportunity to reconsider key works by Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Paula Modersohn-Becker, Suzanne Valadon, Hannah Hoch and Claude Cahun, amongst others.

ART AND ARCHAEOLOGY OF ANCIENT IRAQ AND IRAN

Code AMAA6137B

Credits 30

Ancient Mesopotamia, what is now Iraq and parts of Iran, is recognisable today by two of its most impressive and powerful cultures, the Sumerians and the Assyrians. Situated between the Euphrates and the Tigris Rivers, Mesopotamia remained largely autonomous for nearly 3000 years, during which time its power and influence over neighbouring regions ebbed and waned. At the heart of Mesopotamian society was competence and skill in a broad range of arts and crafts, but it is most famous for being the world's first literate society. Along with writing, the glue of Mesopotamian society was cultic practice and religious belief, most visibly attested to in the art of temples and burials. At all periods art was fundamental to Mesopotamian culture; it coloured their rituals and beliefs, it was integral to their writing system, and was used in both politics and warfare. You will explore the significance of artistic practice in the development of Mesopotamian society.

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Important Information

Entry Requirements

A Levels

ABB If you are taking an EPQ and three A-levels, we may offer you a one grade reduction on our advertised typical offer, if you achieve an A in the EPQ.

T Levels

Not accepted

BTEC

DDM excluding BTEC Public Services, Uniformed Services and Business Administration

Scottish highers

AAABB

Scottish highers advanced

BCC

Irish leaving certificate

3 subjects at H2, 3 subjects at H3

Access course

Access to Humanities & Social Sciences pathway. Pass the Access to HE Diploma with Distinction in 30 credits at Level 3 and Merit in 15 credits at Level 3

European Baccalaureate

75%

International Baccalaureate

32 points

GCSE offer

You are required to have Mathematics and English Language at a minimum of Grade C or Grade 4 or above at GCSE. 

Additional entry requirements

UEA are committed to ensuring that Higher Education is accessible to all, regardless of their background or experiences. One of the ways we do this is through our contextual admissions schemes.

We welcome and value a wide range of alternative qualifications. If you have a qualification which is not listed here, please contact us via Admissions Enquiries.

If you do not meet the academic requirements for direct entry, you may be interested in one of our  Foundation Year programmes

Important note

Once enrolled onto your course at UEA, your progression and continuation (which may include your eligibility for study abroad, overseas experience, placement or year in industry opportunities) is contingent on meeting the assessment requirements which are relevant to the course on which you are enrolled.

International Requirements

We accept many international qualifications for entry to this course. View our International Students pages for specific information about your country.

INTO University of East Anglia

If you do not meet the academic and/or English language requirements for direct entry our partner, INTO UEA offers progression on to this undergraduate degree upon successful completion of a preparation programme. Depending on your interests, and your qualifications you can take a variety of routes to this degree:

International Foundation in Business, Economics, Society and Culture (for Year 1 entry to UEA)

International Foundation in Humanities and Law (for Year 1 entry to UEA)

Students for whom english is a foreign language

Applications from students whose first language is not English are welcome. We require evidence of proficiency in English (including writing, speaking, listening and reading): 

IELTS: 6.0 overall (minimum 5.5 in all components) for year 1 entry
IELTS: 6.5 overall (minimum 6.0 in all components) for year 2 entry

We also accept a number of other English language tests. Review our English Language Equivalencies for a list of example qualifications that we may accept to meet this requirement.

If you do not yet meet the English language requirements for this course, INTO UEA offer a variety of English language programmes which are designed to help you develop the English skills necessary for successful undergraduate study: 

Interviews

Most applicants will not be called for an interview and a decision will be made via UCAS Track. However, for some applicants an interview will be requested. Where an interview is required the Admissions Service will contact you directly to arrange a time. 

Gap year

We welcome applications from students who have already taken or intend to take a gap year.  We believe that a year between school and university can be of substantial benefit. You are advised to indicate your reason for wishing to defer entry on your UCAS application. 