About us
Art History & Visual Culture at Exeter gives you the opportunity to study a wide range of topics: from the old masters to contemporary practitioners, from the traditional arts to new media and technologies and from elite production to popular culture. The programme draws on established, internationally recognised research activity and top-quality research-led teaching.
Our research
Our research in Art History & Visual Culture draws upon the expertise of our core art historians and also of colleagues from across disciplines with research interests in Visual Culture. Our diverse research specialisms include historic and contemporary arts practices, museology and curatorship, art and technology, photography, performance, popular culture, visual representations of ethnicity, gender and sexuality, and visual cultures from the classical era to the present.
Undergraduate study
Art History & Visual Culture at the University of Exeter is an exciting area of study which explores both the history of art and more recent ideas of the visual, extending the analysis of visual forms from the historical right through to modern and contemporary practices. Studying one of our Single or Combined Honours undergraduate degrees gives students an excellent grounding in both traditional fine arts such as painting, sculpture, architecture or printmaking, and contemporary visual practices and media like video, installation, performance, or digital art. Students will gain a thorough understanding of the principles underpinning the histories of art and visual culture, and of their cultural, political and social contexts.
Postgraduate study
Our MPhil/PhD in Art History & Visual Culture provides an opportunity for you to study with leading academics who are specialists in this field. We offer PhD supervision on a range of topics; from the old masters to contemporary practitioners, from the traditional arts to new media and technologies and from elite production to popular culture. The programme draws on established, internationally recognised research activity and top-quality research-led teaching.
Arts and Culture
The Art History & Visual Culture BA builds on strong regional, national and international partnerships. As well as working actively with the key museums and galleries in the SW region, our partners include Tate and the Bibliothèque Nationale de France. Members of staff curate exhibitions and contribute to arts and literature conferences and festivals locally, nationally and internationally.
The University’s art collections and the The Bill Douglas Cinema Museum provide valuable resources on campus. In the city, we work closely with the Royal Albert Memorial Museum, one of the most important regional museums in the UK. We have strong associations with Tate St Ives and with other regional arts organisations.
Resources
Art History & Visual Culture at Exeter benefits from a wealth of internationally recognised buildings, artworks and collections, including the £275 million Forum project. The university’s Special Collections constitute an incomparable resource for teaching and research, while a rolling series of exhibitions throughout the year draws upon the riches of the Fine Art collection. The Streatham campus also houses a further, unique resource, the The Bill Douglas Cinema Museum.