Ma History of Art

MA HISTORY OF ART

The MA History of Art programme at Birkbeck College, University of London, seeks to develop historical and critical skills in the study of selected aspects of art, architecture, design and theory. It places a strong emphasis on historiographical awareness and debate.By the end of the programme, students have a sound grasp of arthistorical methodologies and are capable of undertaking independent research. In addition to developing critical skills with written and visual texts, the course offers opportunities to practice oral presentation.

The programme is available both as a one-year full time course, and as a two-year part-time course. It is taught entirely in the evenings, so that students can continue with prior daytime commitments whilst studying towards their degree. People who apply to the programme normally have aBA honours degree, ideally in the history of art, or in a related field. However, we do take relevant experience into account. For students who do not have a relevant undergraduate degree, the Graduate Certificate in History of Art may be used as a conversion course.

Many of our graduates go on to start or develop careers in arts related fields; in museum and gallery administration, in auction houses, as curators, researchers or journalists. Many progress to further postgraduate work. Others take this course purely for personal reasons, seeking the intellectual challenge and a more sophisticated understanding of the history of art.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Overview of the Course

The MA History of Art consists of five modules: the Core Course; two Option Modules; a research project; and a dissertation.

Part-time mode

Year 1

Core Course: in the Autumn term of your first year, you will study the Core Course, taught by a number of members of staff from the department. It is designed to explore methodologies and issues involved in the current study of the discipline, and introduces you to the range of approaches adopted by various tutors in their own research. Topics covered have included exhibition and reception; vision, visuality and visual culture; memory and the museum space; photography: histories and theories.

In addition, in this term, you will follow a five-week module on Research Skills and Methods. This is intended to give guidance on writing at Masters level, to introduce useful archives and collections, and to discuss the two main research components of the programme: the research project and the dissertation.

Option Module 1: in the Spring term of your first year, you will choose an Option Module from a range of topics on offer. Emphasis in the Option Modules is placed on the critical debates and problems of interpretation surrounding the material explored.

We ensure that the subjects available cover as wide an array of periods and topics as possible. For example, the Option Modules on offer in 2009-10 were: Fashioning the Body; Gothic in England: Architecture, Liturgy and Identity 1170-1360; Italian Art c.1300: Evidence and Interpretation; Museums and Memory; Inventing the Victorians; Rome and Memorialization; Architecture and Spectacle in Late Medieval Europe; Museums and the Art of Remembering in the Twentieth Century; Gender, Modernity and the City.

You may elect to take an Option Module from another Masters programme, such as the MA History of Film and Visual Media or the MA Renaissance Studies. Priority is given to students selecting courses on their primary MA programme.

Research Project: the remainder of your first year will be spent working on your Research Project, of up to 6,000 words. This provides the opportunity to pursue applied research based on first-hand investigation of a topic of your choice, subject to discussion and approval. It might be related to your work/employment experience. It might deal with some aspect of the activity of an art exhibition or institution; education policy; an IT based application, organisation of an exhibition, sales in auction houses etc. Crucially, it is principally concerned with the processes of research, and with problems, methods and lessons encountered.

Year 2

Option Module 2: in the Autumn term of your second year, you will choose another Option Module from a range of topics on offer.

Dissertation: in the Spring and Summer terms, you will work on a 15,000 word Dissertation of a subject of your choice, discussed with and approved by a member of staff in the department. There is also an opportunity in the summer term to discuss this work informally at work-in-progress seminars, which give students the opportunity to share ideas and experiences.

Full-time mode

Core Course: in the Autumn term, you will study the Core Course, taught by a number of members of staff from the department. It is designed to explore methodologies and issues involved in the current study of the discipline, and introduces you to the range of approaches adopted by various tutors in their own research. Topics covered have included exhibition and reception; vision, visuality and visual culture; memory and the museum space; photography: histories and theories.

Option Module 1: in the Autumn term, you will also choose an Option Module from a range of topics on offer. Emphasis in the Option Modules is placed on the critical debates and problems of interpretation surrounding the material explored.

We ensure that subjects available cover as wide an array of periods and topics as possible. For example, the Option Modules on offer in 2009-10 were: Fashioning the Body; Gothic in England: Architecture, Liturgy and Identity 1170-1360; Italian Art c.1300: Evidence and Interpretation; Museums and Memory; Inventing the Victorians; Rome and Memorialization; Architecture and Spectacle in Late Medieval Europe; Museums and the Art of Remembering in the Twentieth Century; Gender, Modernity and the City.

Option Module 2: in the Spring term, you will choose a second Option Module from a range of subjects on offer.

Research Project: in the Spring term, you will also work on your Research Project, of up to 6,000 words. This provides the opportunity to pursue applied research based on first-hand investigation of a topic of your choice, subject to discussion and approval. It might be related to your work/employment experience. It might deal with some aspect of the activity of an art exhibition or institution; education policy; an IT based application, organisation of an exhibition, sales in auction houses etc. Crucially, it is principally concerned with the processes of research, and with problems, methods and lessons encountered.

Dissertation: in the Summer term, you will work on a 15,000 word Dissertation of a subject of your choice, discussed with and approved by a member of staff in the department. There is also an opportunity to discuss this work informally at work-in-progress seminars, which give students the opportunity to share ideas and experiences.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Frequently asked questions

Who will I be taught by?

Our courses are of the highest academic calibre. All members of academic staff are scholars who produce work of an international standard. In the last Research Assessment Exercise, this department was awarded 5. We are also committed to providing the best possible educational experience for all who come here, reflected in our being awarded the maximum score in the last Teaching Quality Assessment Exercise.For further information about staff research interests, please see our staff pages.

In addition, MA students attend research presentations by outside speakers each term.

Does it matter if I've not studied History of Art before?

Many of our MA History of Art students have a first degree in the discipline, and are seeking to further their knowledge and understanding at postgraduate level. A considerable number have an undergraduate degree in another humanities subject, such as, for example, History, English or Classics. In these cases, the admissions process is intended to ascertain that candidates have sufficient critical awareness of the History of Art to enable them to undertake a Masters programme in the subject. The Graduate Certificate in History of Art can act as a conversion course for those who do not have a relevant undergraduate degree.

As we take a number of factors into account into the admissions process, it is well worth contacting the Admissions Tutor, Dr Kate Retford () to discuss the best programme to suit your experience and interests.

Where will my classes be held?

Most classes are held at Gordon Square with a few taking place in the main Birkbeck building in nearby Malet Street. The building in Gordon Square was formerly owned by members of the Bloomsbury Group, including Virginia Woolf and the economist John Maynard Keynes, and is a listed building.

When will I study?

All the teaching takes place between 6pm and 9pm in the evenings, Monday to Friday. MA classes are usually held between 6pm and 7.30pm,butone or two may be held between 7.40pm and 9pm.The Core Course and Research Skills classesare taught on Mondays and Thursdays in the Autumn term. Some Research Skills classes continue to be held on some Mondays in the Spring Term.The Option modules are taught on weekday evenings in the Autumn and Spring terms.

Terms are eleven weeks long and run from October to the beginning of July, with breaks at Christmas and Easter. In addition, there is a reading week in the middle of each term, intended to allow students to focus on their research and writing.

How is the course structured?

This depends on whether you elect to study as a part-time or full-time student. Below is a summary of the structure of the course, but please see ‘Overview of the Course’ for fuller details.

Part-time mode

In the Autumn term of the first year, part-time students study the Core Course, designed to explore methodologies and issues involved in the current study of the discipline, and follow a five-week module on Research Skills and Methods. In the Spring term, they go on to choose an Option Module from a range of topics on offer. Emphasis in the Option Modules is placed on the critical debates and problems of interpretation surrounding the material explored. The remainder of the first year is spent working on the Research Project, which provides the opportunity to pursue applied research based on first-hand investigation of a topic of choice.

In the Autumn term of the second year, part-time students choose another Option Module. In the Spring and Summer terms, they work on a 15,000 word Dissertation on a subject of their own choosing, in consultation with an appointed supervisor.

Full-time mode

In the Autumn term, full-time students study the Core Course, designed to explore methodologies and issues involved in the current study of the discipline, and follow a five-week module on Research Skills and Methods. They also choose an Option Module from a range of topics on offer. Emphasis in the Option Modules is placed on the critical debates and problems of interpretation surrounding the material explored.

In the Spring term, they choose a second Option Module and work on the Research Project. This provides the opportunity to pursue applied research based on first-hand investigation of a topic of choice. The remainder of the degree is spent working on a 15,000 word Dissertation on a subject of their own choosing, in consultation with an appointed supervisor.

How many students will be in a class?

The core course is taught to the year group as a whole, which is normally in the region of 40 students. The Option Modules are taught in much smaller groups, usually of around 8-12 students. Whilst working on the Research Project and Dissertation, you receive supervision from a member of the department.

Will I go on field trips?

The school runs an annual trip in the Easter vacation to cities such as Florence, Barcelona, Venice and Florence. This is open to everyone within the School. On these visits, members of staff organise and lead gallery and museum visits, but students are responsible for organising their own travel and accommodation arrangements.

In addition, Option Modules are often accompanied by visits, which usually take place on Saturdays.

How will I be assessed?

The Core Course and the two Option Modules are all assessed by coursework essays, of not more than 5,000 words each. These three essays together with the Research Project (of not more than 6,000 words) are worth 50% of the degree. The other 50% consists of the Dissertation.

You are also required to do oral presentations as part of the Option Modules.

What study resources are available?

You will have access to the Birkbeck Library and an in-house slide library and self-access centre. In addition, our location in Bloomsbury offers excellent access to specialist libraries in the University of London. These include the University of London Library, the Institute of Historical Research, the Warburg Institute, the School of Oriental and African Studies, together with the major national resource of the British Library.

You will also have easy access to specialist art libraries not far from Birkbeck, including the library of the Courtauld Institute of Art, the British Architectural Library and the National Art Library at the Victoria and Albert Museum. The great visual resources of the British Museum, the National Gallery, the National Portrait Gallery, Tate Gallery and the V&A, commercial galleries and salesrooms, and temporary exhibition galleries like the Barbican Gallery, the Institute of Contemporary Arts, the Hayward Gallery and the Royal Academy also make London a particularly good place in which to undertake research.

What can I go on to do?

English isn’t my first language. What are your requirements?

Birkbeck’s standard English requirements for applicants who do not have English as a first language, or who have not previously studied in English, are as follows:

IETLS: overall grade of 7.0, with minimum 6.0 in the subtests

TOEFL – internet based: score of 100

TOEFL – paper based: score of 600, plus 5 in test of written English

If you have taken the Cambridge Certificate of Proficiency in English, our standard requirement is a pass at grade B. If you have taken the Cambridge Certificate in Advanced English, our standard requirement is a pass at grade A.

However, if you do not have these results, it is still worth making an application to the course. In some cases, we can be satisfied with English proficiency based on the application form, admissions exercise and performance at interview, and waive the standard requirements. In other cases, we can still process the application and make an offer of a place on the course, conditional on meeting a stated requirement. For example, if you have not previously taken one of these tests, we might ask you to do so before the start of the course, and make the offer of a place conditional on your achieving our required scores. Alternatively, we might offer you a place, conditional on taking one of our pre-sessional English for Academic Purposes courses.

You may also like to consider one of these pre-sessional courses if you are anxious about your language skills - even if you meet our requirements and/or are made an unconditional offer of a place on the programme. We do advise early registration, as they get

booked up fairly quickly.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

How to apply

We assess applicants on the basis of application forms, admissions exercises, and interviews.

Applicants are advised that there is a limited number of places available on the MA History of Art course and that admission is very competitive.We begin the admissions process in January, and you are advised to apply as early as possible. We run interviews every month, and aim to let candidates know the result shortly afterwards.

As mature students have such varied backgrounds and differing experiences of the history of art, we ask all applicants to submit a piece of written work so that we have a common basis for discussion at the interview.As you will see, this takes the form of a critical appraisal, in not more than 1,000 words, of a recent exhibition in a major public or commercial gallery. You are asked to consider any critical or historical themes to the exhibition; to assess how it contributed to your historical and critical understanding of the subject; to reflect on your response to the works exhibited and on how the display helped to condition that response; and to analyse any underlying assumptions about the nature of the history of art implicit in the exhibition. There is no single approach to this exercise, and lack of familiarity with this kind of writing should not be a source of anxiety.