Art History - Chinese Studies

Art history and Chinese studies is a combination that opens one of the most culturally rich and practically valuable intellectual territories available in the contemporary world. Art history trains you to look carefully at visual objects, to understand them in their historical and cultural contexts, and to analyse the meanings and values they carry. Chinese studies gives you access to one of the world's great civilisations through its language, literature, visual culture and contemporary society.

At the University of St Andrews, where this four-year degree is taught, Chinese studies is conceived broadly, going beyond the traditional model of language and literature to encompass visual and popular cultures, giving the combination an unusual degree of coherence. A year abroad is built into the programme, typically in a Chinese-speaking country or at a partner institution with strong Chinese studies provision.

In the art history strand, you will encounter the history of art from ancient cultures through to the modern and contemporary periods, developing skills in visual analysis, iconographic interpretation and the contextual methods of art historical scholarship. The Chinese studies strand builds linguistic competence in Mandarin alongside engagement with Chinese literary, cultural and visual traditions, contemporary Chinese society and politics, and the interactions between Chinese and global cultures. The combination is particularly strong for those interested in the collecting and display of Asian art, cultural heritage, the international art market and cross-cultural exchange.

St Andrews's four-year Scottish degree structure provides breadth early and depth later.

Graduates work in museums and galleries, auction houses, cultural heritage organisations, publishing, journalism, diplomacy, international business and academic research. The intersection of visual cultural knowledge and Chinese language competence is increasingly valued in institutions and organisations that engage with Chinese cultural heritage and the global art market. Many graduates go on to postgraduate study in art history, Chinese studies or museum and gallery studies.