BA Curating

Program Overview

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Our four-year BA Curating (including foundation year), will be suitable for you if your academic qualifications do not yet meet our entrance requirements for the three-year version of this course and you want a programme that increases your subject knowledge as well as improves your academic skills in order to support your academic performance. Our five-year version of this course enables you to study abroad during your fourth year of study. This course includes a foundation year (Year Zero), followed by a further three years of study, or a further four years if you choose the five year course, including a study abroad year. During your Year Zero, you study three academic subjects relevant to your chosen course as well as a compulsory academic skills module, with additional English language for non-English speakers. After successful completion of Year Zero in our Essex Pathways Department, you progress to complete your course with our School of Philosophy and Art History . Our BA Curating combines classroom-based learning with hands-on experience in museums and galleries. Within the classroom, you gain an overview of major developments in art history – something essential for any budding curator. You will also learn about the history and theory of exhibition design, with a particular emphasis on how curatorial choices shape our experiences while viewing artworks and the other objects on display in museums and galleries. The Essex Collection of Art from Latin America (ESCALA), Europe’s largest collection of Latin American art, will offer you a place to experiment with installing artworks. Besides getting your feet wet with the more tactical aspects of installing art, these experiences will open your eyes to how curatorial decisions transform the kinds of stories that artworks tell when displayed alongside others. Frequent staff-led visits to London museums and galleries will also expose you to the latest developments in curating, and you will be strongly encouraged to conduct a placement in order to gain exposure to the inner workings of a museum, auction house or gallery. Essex is the ideal choice for a BA in curatorial studies. We are 3rd in the UK for research outputs in art history (Grade Point Average, REF2021). We are one of the few leading art history programmes that offers an undergraduate course specialising in curating and you will be taught by our expert staff in your very first year—another rarity in UK art history courses. Discover Curatorial Studies at the University of Essex video Why we're great.

• We equip you with the necessary knowledge and skills to succeed at Essex and beyond.
• Guarantee a place on your chosen course upon successful completion of your foundation year.
• Small class sizes allow you to work closely with your teachers and classmates.

Study abroad

Our BA in curating offers you the chance to choose from a variety of study abroad options. The four-year version of our degree allows you to spend the fourth year studying abroad. Studying abroad allows you to experience other cultures and languages, to broaden your degree socially and academically, and to demonstrate to employers that you are mature, adaptable and organised. We have established partnerships across Europe, the United States, Latin America and Asia, including with world-renowned institutions such as:

• École du Louvre in France
• University of Freiburg in Germany
• University of Bologna in Italy

Many of our partnerships are subject to language requirements and are recommended for students on joint degrees with languages. Even if you don’t have (or don't want to study) another language though, there are plenty of Anglophone destinations. If you spend a full year abroad you'll only pay 15% of your usual tuition fee to Essex for that year. You won't pay any tuition fees to your host university

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Our expert staff

We are a dynamic group of art historians who investigate the production and reception of images and built environment, across cultures and media, from the late medieval period to the present day. Our staff’s research interests include activist art, modernist art and totalitarianism, the relationship between art and science, the artistic status of body modification, art and the environment, critical heritage, and the visual culture of social problems. We also have significant experience in curation and public engagement. Recent projects include:

Paola Di Giuseppantonio Di Franco’s UKRI Future Leaders-funded research project, REPLACE

Matt Lodder’s Painted People: Humanity in 21 Tattoos (HarperCollins, 2022)

Diana Bullen Presciutti’s Saints, Miracles, and Social Problems in Italian Renaissance Art (Cambridge, 2023)

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Specialist facilities

At Essex, you have the best of both worlds: on the one hand, you are part of a tight-knit, campus community with close ties to several small but excellent museums in the nearby town of Colchester; on the other hand, you can travel from campus to London in an hour, which puts the world’s best museums and galleries at your fingertips. By studying within our Essex Pathways Department for your foundation year, you will have access to all of the facilities that the University of Essex has to offer, as well as those provided by our department to support you:

• We provide computer labs for internet research; classrooms with access to PowerPoint facilities for student presentations; AV facilities for teaching and access to web-based learning materials.
• Our Student Services Hub will support you and provide information for all your needs as a student
• Our social space is stocked with hot magazines and newspapers, and provides an informal setting to meet with your lecturers, tutors and friends.

Our other facilities enable you to gain curatorial experience and engage in object-based learning, a cornerstone of our approach when teaching the history of art and its modes of display:

• Our Essex Collection of Art from Latin America (ESCALA) is the most comprehensive Latin American art research resource in the UK and has a state-of-the-art teaching and research space. Many of our students gain work and research experience through our collection
• Our onsite gallery Art Exchange runs an ongoing programme of contemporary art exhibitions and talks by curators and artists, as well as exhibitions organised by our postgraduate curatorial students
• Colchester’s iconic Firstsite gallery features an exciting programme of contemporary art exhibitions, film screenings and talks, and exhibitions organised by our curatorial students
• Our Centre for Curatorial Studies is home to staff who specialise in the history of exhibition design and curate high profile exhibitions

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Your future

The visual arts and culture industries have become an increasingly significant part of the national and international economy, and our graduates leave Essex with the skills to take advantage of this growing opportunity. The sectors with jobs best suited for students with a BA in curating include museums, galleries and auction houses. Within these sectors, you can pursue a career in curation, museum education, programming, or sales and marketing. Our degree also equips you with foundational skills to run your own gallery, to work as a PR agent, or to work in the fields of fashion, publishing or events management. To help our students acquire the particular skills they need to gain employment in the museum and gallery sector – the single-most important area in which our students will seek jobs – we offer numerous modules dedicated to the histories, theories and practices of museums, exhibitions and galleries. Additionally, we give you the chance to think creatively and proactively about life after university through our curatorial employability module. We also work with the university's Student Development Team to help you find out about further work experience, internships, placements, and voluntary opportunities.

Program Outline

Course structure

We offer a flexible course structure with a mixture of core/compulsory modules, and optional modules chosen from lists. Our research-led teaching is continually evolving to address the latest challenges and breakthroughs in the field, therefore all modules listed are subject to change. Your course structure could differ based on the modules you choose. To view the compulsory modules and full list of optional modules currently on offer, please view the programme specification via the link below. We understand that deciding where and what to study is a very important decision for you. We’ll make all reasonable efforts to provide you with the courses, services and facilities as described on our website. However, if we need to make material changes, for example due to significant disruption, or in response to COVID-19, we’ll let our applicants and students know as soon as possible.

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Components

Components are the blocks of study that make up your course. A component may have a set module which you must study, or a number of modules from which you can choose. Each component has a status and carries a certain number of credits towards your qualification.

Status	What this means
Core	You must take the set module for this component and you must pass. No failure can be permitted.
Core with Options	You can choose which module to study from the available options for this component but you must pass. No failure can be permitted.
Compulsory	You must take the set module for this component. There may be limited opportunities to continue on the course/be eligible for the qualification if you fail.
Compulsory with Options	You can choose which module to study from the available options for this component. There may be limited opportunities to continue on the course/be eligible for the qualification if you fail.
Optional	You can choose which module to study from the available options for this component. There may be limited opportunities to continue on the course/be eligible for the qualification if you fail.

The modules that are available for you to choose for each component will depend on several factors, including which modules you have chosen for other components, which modules you have completed in previous years of your course, and which term the module is taught in.

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Modules

Modules are the individual units of study for your course. Each module has its own set of learning outcomes and assessment criteria and also carries a certain number of credits. In most cases you will study one module per component, but in some cases you may need to study more than one module. For example, a 30-credit component may comprise of either one 30-credit module, or two 15-credit modules, depending on the options available. Modules may be taught at different times of the year and by a different department or school to the one your course is primarily based in. You can find this information from the module code . For example, the module code HR100-4-FY means:

HR	100	4	FY
The department or school the module will be taught by. In this example, the module would be taught by the Department of History.	The module number.	The UK academic level of the module. A standard undergraduate course will comprise of level 4, 5 and 6 modules - increasing as you progress through the course. A standard postgraduate taught course will comprise of level 7 modules. A postgraduate research degree is a level 8 qualification.	The term the module will be taught in. AU : Autumn term SP : Spring term SU : Summer term FY : Full year AP : Autumn and Spring terms PS: Spring and Summer terms AS: Autumn and Summer terms

Year 0 Year 1 Year 2 Final Year This module aims to introduce you to the history of painting, sculpture and architecture in Western Europe. We hope that through following the course you will become familiar with the way people interpret and write about art, and that you will develop your own style of discussing art. The module focuses on certain key concepts. We start by looking at Greek Civilisation and its influence, and end with the artistic revolutions in France which changed the way we look at art today. View Introduction to the History of Art in Western Europe: From Classical Greece to Impressionist France on our Module Directory This blended-learning module is designed to support students in their academic subject disciplines and to strengthen their confidence in key skills areas such as: academic writing, research, academic integrity, collaborative and reflective practices. The students are supported through the use of subject-specific materials tailored to their chosen degrees with alignment of assessments between academic subject modules and the skills module. View Research and Academic Development Skills on our Module Directory COMPONENT 03: CORE WITH OPTIONS IA118-3-FY or IA121-3-FY or IA108-3-FY or IA111-3-FY (30 CREDITS) COMPONENT 04: CORE WITH OPTIONS IA118-3-FY or IA121-3-FY or IA108-3-FY or IA111-3-FY (30 CREDITS) This module is intended as a skills-building course for first year art history students, to develop writing skills across a range of assessed and non-assessed writing types (essay, critical review, reading summary, label text, catalogue essay etc). The module will also present an introduction to research methods in art history, and a historical overview of art historical writing. View Writing and Researching Art History on our Module Directory This module offers an introduction to the history of museums and galleries. We will consider the basic human instinct to collect and the creation of the first museums. We will examine ideas about taxonomy, ordering the world and the first museum spaces of display, asking questions about privilege and power. How have museums and galleries shaped history and science? What ethical issues are there today around these spaces? Should tobacco, oil and arms companies sponsor museums? Can museums be tools of ‘urban regeneration’? Do online archives and 3D scanning make museums themselves obsolete institutions? View Collect, Curate, Display: A Short History of the Museum on our Module Directory This module tackles some of the biggest questions surrounding the history of art. You will explore some key issues of philosophical aesthetics, such as the nature of representation, by engaging critically with seminal texts, artworks, and architecture. In this module, you will develop your analytical and interpretive skills, and leave with a solid foundation for the study of the history of art. View Art and Ideas: I on our Module Directory This module provides an introductory overview to the field of heritage and museum studies and explores some of the conceptual, political and ethical issues faced by those working within and researching in the area of heritage and museums. The module defines heritage, discusses how heritage is officially recognised, and presents the instruments that are used to interpret, protect, and communicate heritage, at local, national, and international levels. It also introduces the main aspects of museum studies, explains how the definitions of museums has changed through time and how this definition affects how we preserve and present heritage today. This module will introduce you to the history of heritage and museum management and will lay the foundation of some of the conceptual, political and ethical issues of the heritage and the museum field. It defines heritage as a process in which people makes sense of the past, in the present and for the future and how the aims of heritage and museum management changes according to the heritage process and its contexts. View Introduction to Heritage and Museum Studies on our Module Directory COMPONENT 05: OPTIOL Art History option or outside option(s) (30 CREDITS) COMPONENT 06: OPTIOL Art History option or outside option(s) (30 CREDITS) Learn about the major artistic trends that have emerged from Latin America, from Mexican Muralism right up to transgenic art. On this module, you’ll delve into the themes of landscape, revolution, human rights, and the environment, which reflect historical and contemporary processes shaping the region and the role Latin American art has in the wider art world. View Art in Latin America on our Module Directory How did our society decide what counts as ‘art’ and what is ‘culture’? Is there really such a thing as high vs low culture? What are the political stakes of these divisions? This module looks at the shift in ideas from ‘art history’ to visual and material cultural studies. This module will engage with these debates and teach you new methods for seeing, interpreting and understanding art, design, craft, performance, film and games. These new ways of seeing are often driven by a critical impetus, and allow us to look at culture to draw out new perspectives on social and political issues of activism and social change, sex, technology, memes, police violence, migration, austerity and crisis, state surveillance, and our relation to animals and the environment. View Art and Ideas II: More Art, More Ideas - Critique and Historiography in the History of Art on our Module Directory Digital technologies are re-defining contemporary heritage practices. Digital technologies and media are used for re-presenting, managing and disseminating information about cultural heritage as well as producing new cultural information on the web, which establishes digital heritage as a new field of study. This module will present digital heritage theories and explore how digital practices are changing the role of heritage institutions and museums as sites for the study, preservation and dissemination of cultural heritage. View Digital Heritage and Museums on our Module Directory COMPONENT 04: COMPULSORY WITH OPTIONS Art History option(s) (30 CREDITS) COMPONENT 05: COMPULSORY WITH OPTIONS Option from list (15 CREDITS) COMPONENT 06: OPTIOL Art History option (15 CREDITS) COMPONENT 07: OPTIOL CS200-5-AU or (CS712-5-FY and option from list) (15 CREDITS) The period from 1945 to 1980 marked one of the most explosive and dynamic moments in the history of art. Discover how the specter of the Holocaust and the ideological divisions of the Cold War shaped the production and reception of art in the two decades following World War II. Also learn how major political developments of the 1960s and 1970s, such as Stonewall, student protests and the feminist movement, transformed the practice, theory and history of art, ultimately providing a hyper-politicised foundation for the emergence of postmodernism. View Inventing the Future: Early Contemporary 1945-1980 on our Module Directory In this module you will produce a 4,000-word dissertation. The finished dissertation should show an all-round grasp of your subject and the ability to present your material clearly, succinctly and in the most appropriate sequence. It should also demonstrate evidence of a serious engagement with your topic, a mastery of the information currently available, and the inclusion of your own reasoned, critical judgements. A supervisor will help guide you as you begin to develop a research question, start researching the topic and write the dissertation. This is a capstone module, available to final-year art history students. View Final Year Dissertation Project on our Module Directory Thai curry for gallery-goers, and the aftermath of a monster attack – just two examples of how contemporary artists are pushing techniques, processes and media to the limit. Explore how the attitudes and approaches to art have evolved over the last 30 years, and the crucial precursors who influenced them, whilst always considering how the context in which art is made and received – be it geographical, sociological, political, or philosophical – affects its production, reception, and interpretation. View Contemporary Art: 1980 to the Present on our Module Directory COMPONENT 04: OPTIOL Art History option(s) (30 CREDITS) COMPONENT 05: OPTIOL Art History option(s) (30 CREDITS) This third art and ideas module deepens your existing thematic and historiographical knowledge building on Art and Ideas 2. We’ll be looking back at ‘the history of art history’ before the twentieth century. We’ll also look forward, to new cutting-edge theoretical approaches to arts, visual and material cultures. View Art and Ideas III on our Module Directory

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Year abroad

On your year abroad, you have the opportunity to experience other cultures and languages, to broaden your degree socially and academically, and to demonstrate to employers that you are mature, adaptable, and organised.

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Teaching

• Your teaching mainly takes the form of lectures and classes, the latter involving about 20 students
• A typical timetable includes a one-hour lecture and a one-hour class for each of your four modules every week
• Any language classes involve language laboratory sessions
• Our classes are run in small groups, so you receive a lot of individual attention

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Assessment

• Your assessed coursework will generally consist of essays, reports, in-class tests, book reviews, individual or group oral presentations, and small scale research projects