History of Art, BA (Hons)

Teaching

Teaching is provided through lectures, seminars, small-group supervisions and course trips to museums, exhibitions and notable buildings.  

In your first year, you’ll usually have up to 6 hours of departmental teaching, on-site visits and one supervision each week.

Assessment

The way you’re assessed will vary based on the papers you study. Typically, you will be assessed through a mixture of coursework assignments, written examinations and visual analysis presentations. You will also have a dissertation in your first and third years. 

Each year, the assessment methods for that year will be confirmed by the start of the academic year. 

You won't usually be able to resit any of your exams.

Year 1 (Part I)  

Your first year will give you a broad introduction to the history, making and meaning of art and architecture. 

The first term covers ancient, medieval, Renaissance and Early Modern art and architecture. 

The second term focuses on art and architecture from the 18th century onward through to modern and contemporary art. 

Examples of topics include: 

• contemporary installation and performance art 
• Chinese and Islamic ceramics 
• medieval manuscript illumination 
• Modernity and Coloniality 
• current exhibitions in Cambridge (like 'Black Atlantic' at the Fitzwilliam Museum) 

Year 1 consists of 3 core courses: 'Making of Art', 'Meaning of Art and Architecture' and 'Objects of Art History'.

The 'Making of Art' addresses aspects of how works of art and buildings are made and the wider significance of materials and techniques. It is primarily taught through a combination of lectures, seminars, field trips and supervisions.

The 'Meaning of Art and Architecture' explores the cultural, religious and political contexts of art and architecture. It is primarily taught through a combination of lectures, seminars, field trips and supervisions.

The 'Objects of Art History' focuses directly on art objects and teaches students the methods that art historians use to analyse and interpret them. It is primarily taught through site-visits to Cambridge's art collections and sites of architectural heritage.

You will typically undertake a combination of coursework, visual analysis presentations and written examinations.

You’ll also complete a 5,000 word dissertation on your choice of a work of art or architecture in or around Cambridge. 

Year 2 (Part IIA) 

You take one compulsory paper:  

• Approaches to the History of Art and Architecture. This covers the history of the discipline and its critical methodologies from antiquity to the present day. The paper is typically assessed by a single final exam at the end of the year. 

You’ll also take 4 option papers (2 per term) drawn from a range of options. These papers focus on a particular artist, subject, or period and relate to the specialisms of faculty in the department. They are typically assessed by a combination of coursework and visual analysis presentations, but may be assessed using a variety of formats such as coursework and/or examinations.

Options offered in recent years have included: 

• Imperial Art and Patronage in Early Modern China
• New York Modern: Painting, History, Abstraction, 1945-1969
• The Global Eighteenth Century
• Contemporary Art, Community and Critique
• Paris 1715-1815: the Birth of the Modern Art World
• Rubens
• Global Modernisms: Art and Decolonisation
• Saints, Sinners and the Sensuous: Art and Architecture in Renaissance Italy and Beyond

Year 3 (Part IIB) 

You take one compulsory paper: 

• The Display of Art. This compulsory paper explores the history and theories of display and collecting. The paper is typically assessed by an exam at the end of the year. 

You’ll also take 4 option papers (2 per term) from a range of options. These papers focus on a particular artist, subject, or period and relate to the specialisms of faculty in the department. They are typically assessed by a combination of coursework and visual analysis presentations, but may be assessed using a variety of formats such as coursework and/or examinations.

Options offered in recent years have included:  

• Film and Visual Culture: Histories and Theories
• Global Renaissance Sculpture
• Painting and Patronage in Imperial Russia
• The British City in its Global Context
• Encountering Jerusalem: Culture and Crusade between East and West, c.1050-1400

You’ll also complete a 9,000 word dissertation on a topic of your choice. 

For further information about this course and the papers you can take see the Department of History of Art website.

Changing course

It’s really important to think carefully about which course you want to study before you apply. 

In rare cases, it may be possible to change course once you’ve joined the University. You will usually have to get agreement from your College and the relevant departments. It’s not guaranteed that your course change will be approved.

You might also have to:

• take part in an interview
• complete an admissions test
• produce some written work
• achieve a particular grade in your current studies
• do some catch-up work
• start your new course from the beginning 

For more information visit the Department website.

You can also apply to change to:

• Management Studies at the Judge Business School

You can't apply to this course until you're at Cambridge. You would usually apply when you are in your second or third year of your original Cambridge course.

You should contact your College’s Admissions Office if you’re thinking of changing your course. They will be able to give you advice and explain how changing courses works.