Art History

Art history is the study of how and why visual culture takes the forms it does, examining paintings, sculptures, architecture, photography, design, film, and other visual media as objects that carry meaning across time and place. It is a discipline that trains you to look carefully, to interpret what you see in its historical, cultural, social, and intellectual context, and to communicate your interpretations with precision and persuasion. Studying art history in London, with its unparalleled concentration of world-class galleries, museums, and architectural heritage, gives you constant access to the primary material you study.

At Birkbeck College, University of London, this three-year programme is taught by world-leading scholars and makes the most of London's extraordinary art collections, monuments and study facilities. Birkbeck's distinctive model offers flexible study options that make it accessible to students who may be working or have other commitments alongside their degree. You will engage with visual culture from ancient civilisations to contemporary practice, developing your ability to analyse works closely, situate them within broader intellectual and social histories, and write critically and persuasively about what you see.

Art history graduates find careers in galleries and museums as curatorial assistants and researchers, in auction houses, in arts journalism and criticism, in heritage and conservation, in arts administration and cultural policy, in publishing (particularly art and illustrated books), in education at secondary and higher levels, and in the broad range of creative industries where visual literacy and cultural knowledge are valued. London's concentration of the world's leading cultural institutions means that the network and professional contacts available to Birkbeck graduates are exceptional. Postgraduate study in art history, museum studies, conservation, cultural studies, or cultural policy is a common next step for those who wish to develop specialist expertise or pursue academic research.