ART HISTORY & VISUAL STUDIES NEWSLETTER MAY 2015
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Welcome to Art History and Visual Studies at the University of Manchester. We are one of Manchester’s best-established subject areas, with a group of highly distinguished lecturers, researchers and research fellows. I’m pleased to inform you that we have a superb record for teaching, research and employment. Our teaching consistently scores over 90% approval in the National Student Survey (NSS). Our research (books, articles, exhibitions and catalogues) was ranked third in the last government research exercise (REF 2014), which examined more tan 140 UK universities. Over 70% of our graduates are in professional and managerial positions within six months of graduation. We continue to develop rich resources for teaching. For instance, two new courses, Romanticism and Modern Sculpture, will be introduced for 2015-2016. Very few UK universities can match our undergraduate provision, which covers many topics and periods: Graeco-Roman art and culture, Asian cultures and contexts, Medieval painting, sculpture, architecture and print, Renaissance and Baroque painting, sculpture, architecture and print, Academic and Neo-Classical art, Impressionism and Post-Impressionism, Modernism, photography and modern society, film studies, Surrealism and its legacies, modern and contemporary architecture, contemporary art and art theory, museum studies and exhibition histories. Few Art History departments can rival the outstanding cultural and artistic resources at Manchester. The Whitworth Art Gallery reopened in February 2015 following a £15 development. This internationally important gallery is a brilliant environment for collection-based teaching and offers wonderful opportunities for volunteering and hands-on knowledge of the world of curating. The Rylands Library, Deansgate, is a spectacular neo-Gothic building housing one of the world’s greatest collections of medieval illuminated manuscripts and rare books. AHVS staff intend to develop their teaching with the Rylands, which has a brilliant collection of prints by American, British, European and Japanese artists and designers. More broadly, we are partnering with the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice, to send two students to spend the summer as interns at this world-famous collection of modern art located on the Grand Canal. Finally, you will be glad to know that our two student societies (MAG and MALAG) are organising exciting workshops, exhibitions, social events and outings for 2015-2016.
1 CONTENTS Our Undergraduate Courses
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Career Options
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Department News and Events
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Contact Us
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OUR UNDERGRADUATE COURSES BA (Hons) History of Art and Visual Studies As a student in Art History and Visual Studies you will be taught by acknowledged trendsetters in the academic world. Breadth of coverage – from Art and Architecture in Ancient Greece to AvantGarde Moves – is the hallmark of our innovative and exciting degree. Our teaching has a strong cross-disciplinary emphasis, with courses on art and literature, art and myth, art and religion, art and film, art and photography, art and cultural history, and architectural history. You have the opportunity to examine a wide range of areas of topics, mainly in European, North American and Asian art and visual culture. We aim to provide a sound, broad-based training in art history as a whole and deepen your interest in particular areas of your choice. The implementation of a museums and curating pathway is a distinctive feature of the degree affording insight into one of the main career avenues. We have staff with expertise in Ancient, Classical, Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, Romantic, Victorian, modern and contemporary art, as well as architectural history and theory. The course is concerned with ways of thinking about and contextualising works of art and visual culture. You will learn how to look at and engage with a vast range of objects, from paintings, prints, sculptures, films, photographs, buildings – and forms of criticism and literature.
3 Year 1 will act as the foundation, where you develop a broadbased knowledge of art history and the skills of describing and analysing art works. In the first semester of Year 2, all our students go on a five-day trip accompanied by members of staff to a European city. The Field Trip course unit combines guided tours and talks with independent research, and culminates in an extended essay once students have returned from the trip. In addition, students have the opportunity to study abroad during the second semester of Year 2 in Europe, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore or the USA, through the Worldwide Exchange Scheme. In Year 3 you will choose four single-semester course units as well as undertaking intensive research on a topic of your choice leading to a dissertation, supervised by an expert member of staff in your selected field of interest. At each level, you are permitted to take up to 30 credits outside art history while still graduating with a single honours degree. In this way, you can take advantage not only of the extraordinary wealth of subjects offered in a large multi-discipline university like Manchester, but also the increasing number of course units aimed at nonspecialists being offered under the umbrella of the University College.
4 BA (Hons) History of Art with a Modern Language At Manchester you can study History of Art and Visual Studies alongside French, German, Spanish, Italian, Russian and Portuguese. There are flexible arrangements for each of these configurations. In Year 1 study is divided 50%-50%, but Years 2-4 allow 40%-60% division. In Year 3 you can enrich your language skills abroad at one of our prestigious partner universities. At each level, it is possible to choose subjects offered by the University College.
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Study Abroad Programme Students may apply to spend one semester studying abroad during the second year of their degree. Exchange partners are offered through the Erasmus Exchange scheme (in Europe) and the Worldwide Exchange scheme (eg. USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Singapore). Find more information about the Study Abroad Programme here.
Tahitian Landscape , Paul Gauguin —courtesy of the Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester
6 Career Options Manchester has a top-notch careers service and a strong employment record for its graduates. The Art History department continues to play a major role in this success story. Over 70% of our graduates are in professional and managerial positions within six months of graduation, and many of our former students go on to work in the art world, television and the media, journalism and creative writing, the civil service, advertising, marketing and PR. Our degree equips you with intellectual and practical skills applicable to many spheres of employment. You will find a few of their stories showcased on our website. In response to the vocational interests of our students, we have implemented a new pathway devoted to curating and gallery studies taught in conjunction with Museology staff. Topics include the history of particular museums and art galleries, and forms of collecting, curating, exhibiting and art writing. On graduation, some of our students choose to stay on in order to follow the highly regarded MA in Art Gallery and Museum Studies.
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Albrecht Dßrer—courtesy of the Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester
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8 DEPARTMENT NEWS AND EVENTS We are busy developing ideas, programmes and platforms for MAG and MALAG, our dynamic student societies. In 2015-2016 we hope to collaborate with a number of leading art galleries to explore matters relating to Romanticism, the Art and Crafts Movement and the Contemporary Arts. We intend to invite our Guggenheim students to give a public talk to all new First Years in September 2016 on the subject of the fabulous teaching and learning opportunities at the Peggy Guggenheim Foundation, Venice. Finally, if you are in Manchester during May, then please feel free to drop into one of our research seminars, which are described in detail on our webpage.
Ancient of Days, William Blake — courtesy of the Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester
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CONTACT US jamie.clark@manchester.ac.uk Undergraduate Admissions Office School of Arts, Languages and Cultures Room A19, Samuel Alexander Building The University of Manchester Oxford Road Manchester M13 9PT United Kingdom Tel: +44 (0)161 275 3348