Art History & Visual Culture and Film & Television Studies BA

Program Overview

This three-year BA in Art History & Visual Culture and Film & Television Studies equips students with a profound understanding of visual imagery within historical and contemporary contexts. Through a combination of lectures, seminars, and field studies, students explore the techniques, media, and theories surrounding artistic production, preparing them for a wide range of careers in the arts and beyond. The program emphasizes critical engagement with art and visual works within their historical and theoretical contexts, fostering analytical, research, and creative skills.

Program Outline

The program emphasizes critical engagement with artistic and visual works within their historical and theoretical contexts.

Outline:

The program is structured over three years, with the option to include a placement year in Year 3.

Year 1:

• Compulsory Modules:
• Art History & Visual Culture:
30 credits
• AHV1011: Questions and Methods in Art History and Visual Culture
• Film Studies:
60 credits
• EAF1501: Major Debates in Film Theory
• EAF1506: Interrogating Screens
• Optional Modules: 30 credits
• Students must choose either AHV1012 (30 credits) or AHV1005 and AHV1009 (15 credits each).
• Available options include:
• AHV1006: Visual Media
• AHV1008: Topics in Art History and Visual Culture I
• MLM1010: China of the Senses: Approaching Chinese Culture and Environments
• AHV1005: Inside the Museum
• AHV1009: Topics in Art History and Visual Culture II
• MLF1121: French Visual History

Year 2:

• Compulsory Modules:
• Art History & Visual Culture:
30 credits
• AHV2015: Art History and Visual Culture Field Study for Blended Learning
• Optional Modules: 90 credits
• Students must choose 0-30 credits from the list of optional Art History & Visual Culture modules, including HUM2000 and HUM2001 Humanities in the Workplace.
• Available options include:
• AHV2002: Debates and Contestations in Art History
• AHV2013: Photography and Evidence
• AHV2018: Comics Studies: Histories, Methodologies, Genres
• AHV2021: American Photographs
• AHV2022: Animals in Nineteenth-century Art and Visual Culture
• AHV2208: Ideal Cities?
Urban Cultures of Renaissance Italy
• AHV2007: Contemporary Visual Practices
• AHV2009: The New York Avant-Garde 1955-1980
• AHV2012: Revolutions: Art and Society in France, 1770-1848
• AHV2019: Common Threads: Art, Craft and Activism
• AHV2020: Deconstructing the Dutch Golden Age: Nationalism, Exceptionalism and Decline
• MLF2066: Intimate Spaces of the French Enlightenment
• MLM2003: Chinoiserie and Europeenerie: Artistic and cultural exchanges between China and Europe
• Students must choose 30-60 credits from the list of optional Film Studies modules, including HUM2000 and HUM2001 Humanities in the Workplace.
• Available options include:
• EAF2500: European Cinemas: Art, Industry, Entertainment
• EAF2502: Shots in the Dark
• EAF2508: Cinescapes: Time, Space and Identity
• EAF2511: Television: Times, Trends and Technologies
• EAF2512: European Cinemas: Art, Industry, Entertainment
• HUM2000: Humanities in the Workplace
• HUM2001: Humanities in the Workplace

Year 3 (Placement Year):

• Students who choose the placement year option will typically complete it in Year 3.

Final Year:

• Compulsory Modules:
• Students must choose one module from the following:
• AHV3000: Art History and Visual Culture Dissertation
• EAF3514: Film Studies Dissertation
• EAF3516: Creative Film Dissertation
• Optional Modules: 90 credits
• Students must choose 30-60 credits from the list of optional Art History & Visual Culture modules if selecting EAF3514 or EAF3516.
• Available options include:
• AHV3003: The Face
• AHV3008: Performance Art
• HUM3015: The Place of Meaning: Gardens in Britain and China
• MLG3036: Dictatorships on Display: History Exhibitions in Germany and Austria
• EAF3515: Something to See: War and Visual Media
• EAS3245: The 21st Century Museum
• EAS3421: Picturing the Global City: Literature and Visual Culture in the 21st Century
• EAS3504: Surrealism and its Legacies
• AHV3002: Understanding Space in Renaissance Italy
• AHV3007: Global Modernisms
• AHV3009: Paris to the World: Modelling the Modern City
• AHV3012: Installation Art
• AHV3016: Conceptual Art
• AHV3017: 'Queen City of Europe': Art, Culture and Society in Renaissance Antwerp, c.1500-70
• Students must choose 30-60 credits from the list of optional Film Studies modules if selecting AHV3000.
• Available options include:
• EAF3501: American Independent Film
• EAF3508: Beyond Sex and the City: Becoming a Woman in Western Cinema
• EAF3513: British Screens
• EAF3514: Film Studies Dissertation
• EAF3515: Something to See: War and Visual Media
• EAF3516: Creative Film Dissertation
• EAF3518: Queering British Film and Television
• EAF3520: Beyond Sex and the City: Becoming a Woman in Contemporary Western Cinema
• EAF3521: Film Audiences

Assessment:

• Students are assessed through a variety of methods, primarily through exams and coursework.
• Coursework includes essays, a dissertation, and presentation work.
• The ratio of formal exams to coursework is on average 40:60, depending on the chosen modules.
• The first year does not count towards the final degree classification, but students must pass it to progress.
• To be eligible for 'with Study Abroad' programs, students need to achieve an average of 60% or more in their first year.
• Assessments in the second year, year abroad (if applicable), and final year contribute to the final degree classification.

Teaching:

• Students are taught by internationally respected staff who are leading researchers in their specialisms.
• Teaching methods include seminars, lectures, study groups, web-based learning, and field study.
• The program integrates traditional learning and teaching with the latest approaches.
• Students learn through individual practical and project work, teamwork, and a research project, all designed to develop key skills for success throughout the degree and future career.
• All options are taught by staff with expertise in art history, architecture, film, photography, visual media, art and technology, curation and exhibition, mixed and virtual realities, performance art, and visual culture in the UK and abroad.
• Students have access to a personal tutor for advice and support throughout their studies.

Careers:

• The program equips students with a broad range of transferable skills in analysis, critique, research, and theoretical and practical creativity.
• These skills prepare graduates for a wide variety of professions.
• Graduates develop specialist knowledge of traditional art forms like architecture and sculpture, as well as contemporary visual practices like film, video, performance, and digital art.
• The program fosters engagement with collections, institutions, and art groups in the area, as well as the wider arts community in the South West and beyond.
• The program prepares graduates for postgraduate study or training in areas such as education, arts management, and journalism.
• Recent graduates have gone on to study:
• MA Publishing
• MA Multimedia Broadcast Journalism
• MA Creative Advertising
• CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst)
• MA Fine and Decorative Arts
• MA Marketing & International Management
• Graduate Diploma in Law
• MA Stage and Event Management
• The university has a dedicated Careers Service that provides careers advisors, mentors, and tools to help graduates find employment in their chosen field.
• The university offers the Exeter Award and the Exeter Leaders Award, which include employability-related workshops, skills events, volunteering, and employment opportunities.
• Art History & Visual Culture graduates are highly competitive in the employment market, with many employers targeting the university when recruiting new graduates.
• Examples of roles recent graduates are working in include:
• Art Gallery Intern
• Brand Intern in fashion industry
• Civil Service Fast Stream
• Editorial Assistant
• Events Planner
• Marketing Intern
• PR Account Executive
• Researcher
• TV Promotions Assistant

Other:

• The program is located at the Streatham Campus in Exeter.
• The campus offers a unique environment for study, with lakes, parkland, woodland, gardens, and modern and historical buildings.
• The university has internationally recognized fine art, heritage, and film collections on site, including the Bill Douglas Cinema Museum.
• The program is ranked 10th in The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024 for History of Art, Architecture, and Design.
• The program offers a variety of approaches to learning, including study in the field at galleries and museums.
• The program is ranked top 5 in the Russell Group for student satisfaction in five out of seven themes (National Student Survey 2023: Film).

UK students: £9,250 per year International students: £23,700 per year