Art History and Early Childhood

Art history and early childhood is an unusual combination that brings together the scholarly study of visual and material culture with the professional and academic field of early childhood education and care. Art history asks why art, design, and architecture look the way they do, exploring the historical, cultural, and institutional contexts that shape visual expression across periods and places. Early childhood studies examines how very young children develop, learn, and thrive, drawing on developmental psychology, sociology, education, and policy to understand the needs, rights, and experiences of children from birth to approximately eight years of age.

At Liverpool Hope University, this three-year programme allows you to explore both strands with genuine depth. Through art history, you will develop close visual analysis skills and the critical and contextual frameworks that allow you to examine how objects, images, and built environments have reflected and shaped human experience. The degree is ideal for those who are curious about art, design, and architecture and who enjoy engaging with the stories behind the objects on display in museums and galleries.

Through early childhood, you will study child development, play and learning, the professional practice of working with young children, and the policy and ethical dimensions of early years provision.

The programme includes a sandwich year, a year abroad, and a work placement, giving you the opportunity to develop professionally in both heritage and early years contexts, and to encounter different approaches to both art and childhood internationally.

Graduates move into careers in early years education, gallery and museum education, primary teaching (with further training), children's arts programming, heritage education, social work, and policy roles in children's services. Postgraduate study in early childhood, education, or art history is a natural route for those who wish to develop further.