History of Art - MA

The Department of History of Art offers a broad-based master's programme, which enables you to study a range of periods and approaches before specialising for your dissertation. The MA draws on the research strengths of all members of the department, which includes specialists in medieval, Renaissance and modern art.

We aim to help you develop an informed understanding of the main strands of art history, as practised in Europe and North America. We also offer curatorial units in collaboration with external museum partners, through which you will learn to research and catalogue museum collections and to mount exhibitions.

Our students are drawn from a variety of backgrounds. Some have undergraduate degrees in art history, others do not, and some are working artists. Studying for this MA is a chance to become part of a thriving academic community, with a sizeable and close-knit student body and a lively programme of research and social events.

Programme structure

You will study two core units and then select four optional units. Part-time students study the core units in the first year and stagger their optional units across the two years of the degree.

The research component of the programme is written over the summer and is submitted in September.

Visit our programme catalogue for full details of the structure and unit content for our MA in History of Art.

Careers

Students who completed the MA programme in History of Art have gone on to careers as journalists, art consultants, buying and marketing executives, and gallery assistants.

Visit the History of Art - MA page on the University of Bristol website for more details!