History of Art, BA (Hons)

Course summary

This degree encourages you to develop an independent critical involvement with works of art and visual culture, to examine changing historical conceptions of art and the artist, and to explore the visual arts in their wider cultural and political contexts.Why study BA History of Art at Goldsmiths

• You'll investigate modern and contemporary art, art theory and visual culture from around the world, approaching the subject from a fresh perspective which puts an emphasis on key areas of debate rather than chronology.

• We'll explore visual culture in all forms to broaden your outlook. You’ll not only examine the kinds of artefacts you might see in museums and art galleries, but also those that make up our everyday environment: like architecture, city and landscapes, adverts, TV and film, websites, the body, and street style.

• You’ll study at one of the world's best universities for art and design (QS World University Rankings by Subject 2022) based in vibrant South-East London, where you’ll discover everything from art spaces and studios to foodie pop-ups and markets.

• Our London location means you can take advantage of the many galleries, art spaces, museums, cultural facilities and specialist libraries the city has to offer.

• You’ll have the chance to put theory into practice with our work placement module, so you have the chance to gain experience at a public institution such as the V&A Museum, Hackney Museum or The Live Art Development Agency

• You'll develop key communication and presentation skills, and the ability to think creatively and critically.

• We encourage you to get involved in student-led activities and personal development projects

• Many of our recent graduates are now working as curators and exhibition managers with employers including Tate Modern, the V&A Museum and Edinburgh Castle, while others enter creative fields such as journalism and marketing.

Year 1 (credit level 4) On the BA History of Art you will develop an independent critical involvement with works of art and visual culture. Our first-year modules enable you to examine changing conceptions of art and the artist, historically and also in terms of context, ideas, and kinds of practice. It will introduce you to history of art as a discipline and engage you in discussion of key aspects of contemporary visual culture – including not just artefacts in museums and art galleries, but also architecture, cityscape and landscape, adverts, TV and film, websites, the body, and street style. Each of our first-year modules is taught by a team of four or five different teachers from the permanent faculty. Our approach to learning, teaching and research is exploratory, innovative and rigorous. In this way, first-year students soon get to know many of the Department’s core academic staff. You will therefore begin your second year with both rich insights from and a comprehensive overview of Department life as a whole. In the first year, you study the following compulsory modules: Modernities Seeing and Showing Space and Time Beyond Boundaries The second and third year modules are also thematic in content, and the themes relate to five pathways running through the programme: Art and ideas Space and place The Curatorial Sound and image Embodiment Individual modules are identified with one or more of these pathways, to help you in defining your special areas of interest as you proceed. Year 2 (credit level 5) In your second year, you study the following compulsory module: Contemporaneities You then study option Modules to the value of 90 credits from an approved list available annually from the Department of Visual Cultures. This currently includes: Beckett and Aesthetics Cohabitations/Inhabitations Art and Technologies of the Image The Fact of Blackness Fashion as a Dialectical image Ornamentation and Materiality Museums, Galleries, Exhibitions Popular Modernism Patterns of Perception Postmodernities Radical Imagination & Speculative Voyages Your fourth option module could be a History of Art module or a Related Study module from another department within Goldsmiths. Year 3 (credit level 6) You take two History of Art special subjects and a third module which may be a further History of Art special subject or an option module or a Related Study. You also write an 8,000 – 10,000-word Dissertation on a topic of your own choice supervised by a tutor. Special Subjects include: Animating Architecture Archive and Spectacle Film Fables Documentary Lives Philosophy and... Sexual Poetics The Truth in Painting Counter Forensics Research Architecture Placements Link your studies to one of the many interesting public institutions through our 'Visual Cultures as Public Practice' module. Your research project could be based at the V&A, The Live Art Development Agency, Iniva, Hackney Museum, the Zoo, amongst many others. Please note that due to staff research commitments not all of the modules may be available every year.