Doing Art History (V4000)

15 credits, Level 4

Autumn teaching

On this module, you’ll explore the diverse range of primary sources central to the study of Art History. You’ll engage with primary sources, such as:

• artworks
• fashion
• manuscripts
• letters
• photography
• material culture
• design.

You’ll develop confidence in navigating different contexts and locations relevant to the discipline, including:

• archives
• libraries
• institutional collections
• digital repositories.

By the end of the module, you’ll understand how art historians work with a wide range of primary evidence.

Taught through seminars, including sessions held at locations such as The Keep, you’ll gain hands-on experience in working with objects and images. You’ll build key academic and study skills required at undergraduate level, with a focus on:

• visual analysis
• effective primary and secondary research
• sourcing academically appropriate materials.

Contact hours and workload

This module is approximately 150 hours of work. This breaks down into about 33 hours of contact time and about 117 hours of independent study. The University may make minor variations to the contact hours for operational reasons, including timetabling requirements.

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We’re planning to run these modules in the academic year 2026/27. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to feedback, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum.

We’ll make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.

Courses

This module is offered on the following courses:

• Art History (with a professional placement year) BA
• Art History BA