Art History and Visual Culture

Art history and visual culture is the academic discipline concerned with understanding how images, objects and built environments have been made, used and interpreted across different societies and historical periods. It asks why particular works were created, what they meant to those who made and viewed them, how they reflect the social, political and economic conditions of their time, and how our own interpretations are shaped by the distance between us and those original contexts. The field has expanded beyond the traditional canon of Western fine art to encompass photography, film, design, advertising, digital media and the visual cultures of non-Western societies.

At the University of Nottingham you will study art history and visual culture over three years of full-time study, with a foundation year available as an extended entry route that builds academic foundations before the degree content begins. You will develop skills in visual analysis and interpretation, situating artworks and objects in their historical, social and cultural contexts, and constructing evidence-based arguments about what visual material communicates and how. The programme draws on Nottingham's collections and on the wealth of visual material available in the Midlands and beyond.

The typical tariff of 120 reflects a programme that is accessible to students from a range of backgrounds who bring genuine intellectual curiosity about visual experience and its history.

Graduates of art history and visual culture programmes work in museums, galleries, auction houses, arts organisations, publishing, journalism, the heritage sector, arts education, cultural policy and the creative industries. Curatorial, education and communications roles in cultural institutions are common career destinations, and many graduates go on to postgraduate study in art history, museum studies, curatorship, heritage management or a related field. The analytical, research and communication skills developed through close study of visual material and its contexts are also valued across a wider range of roles in the creative and cultural economy.