BA History of Art
| Course Title | UCAS Code | Duration | Typical Offer |
|---|---|---|---|
| BA History of Art | V308 | Three years full time (or four years with a year abroad) | ABB |
First Year
During the first semester you will take two core modules, one introducing you to the broad history of art and architecture from classical antiquity through to the eighteenth-century, the other introducing you to the different ways that art has been written about and providing a practical guide to the skills required when looking at art. You will also select a supplementary module from a wide variety of subject areas: Film Studies, American Studies, English, History, or Modern Languages for example.
In the second semester you will take two core modules, one of which continues the story of the history of art from the eighteenth century through to the present day, and the other of which introduces you to some of the key theoretical and methodological issues and difficulties that scholars face when working in the field of art and architectural history. You will also select another module from the supplementary list.
Second Year
In semester one you will again take two core modules. In the first you will get to grips with the main documents in the art historical ‘canon’ including Alberti’s On Painting, Reynolds’ Discourses and Freud’s The Uncanny, among many others. In the second semester you will focus on European Art of the period 1890-1940. You will also select a module from a list that is updated regularly but currently includes:
- From Drawing to Painting in the Italian Renaissance
- Art and Patronage in Late Medieval England
- Researching World Cinemas
- American Film and Visual Culture
In semester two you will take a core module in Italian Art and Architecture 1400-1600, and will have the option to take a four week guided study trip to Italy – Rome, Siena and Florence and elsewhere – during the Easter vacation. You will also write a 5,000 word long essay on a topic of your choice.
Optional year abroad
You will have the option of spending your third year studying abroad under the Erasmus European exchange scheme.
Final Year
In your third year (if you have not spent a year abroad) or fourth year (if you have), you will research and write a 10,000 word Dissertation, which will be completed under the one-to-one guidance of a specialist supervisor. You will also take a core module that explores the way that classical aesthetics have been adapted and challenged by more recent developments in critical art theory, especially in the 19th and 20th centuries. In addition you will select four specialist options from a list that is updated regularly but currently includes:
- British Gothic Sculpture
- Italy and the North 1550-1700
- Florentine Sculpture of the sixteenth century
- Holbein to Hilliard
- The Death and Life of Modernist Architecture
- Hollywood and Melodrama
- American Filmmakers and the Studio System
- British Cinema and Society 1930-1950
- Conceptual Art and its Aftermath
Contact
Admissions Tutor: Dr Simon Richards
0116 252 2838/2866
Fax: 0116 252 5128
gaj3@le.ac.uk
www.le.ac.uk/ha
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