Art History and History

Art history and history together provide one of the most comprehensive approaches to understanding the human past, combining the study of visual culture with the analysis of events, structures, and ideas across time. Art history asks how images, buildings, and objects have been made, what they mean within their social and cultural contexts, and how the study of visual works can illuminate the societies that produced them. History examines the political, social, economic, and intellectual dimensions of the past through written sources and other evidence, developing the capacity for rigorous argument based on careful analysis of what documents and records tell us.

Together, the two disciplines enable you to move between different kinds of historical evidence and to build a richer picture of the past than either could provide alone.

At the University of Manchester, this three-year full-time programme draws on the strengths of one of the UK's leading research universities, with a distinguished art history department and a history faculty known for breadth of chronological and geographical range. You will develop visual analysis skills alongside historical research methods, engaging with the primary sources of both disciplines and with the theoretical debates that inform current scholarship in each. Manchester's museums and galleries, including the Whitworth and the Manchester Art Gallery, provide excellent resources for art historical study.

Graduates pursue careers in museums, galleries, archives, and the heritage sector, where the combination of visual and historical knowledge is directly applicable. Education, publishing, journalism, arts administration, and cultural policy are other well-established destinations, as are the civil service, law, and a range of management roles that value the research and communication skills the degree develops. Many graduates pursue postgraduate study in art history, history, curating, museum studies, or archival science, deepening their expertise before entering competitive professional fields.