History of Art (Graduate Diploma) (2022 Entry)
Our Graduate Diploma is specifically designed for students whose background may not be in art history, but who wish to study the subject at postgraduate level.
The Graduate Diploma provides an ideal bridge to further postgraduate study and is designed to prepare students for the MA, providing a strong foundation in history of art as a discipline. When the opportunity arises seminars will be taken out of the classroom and artworks will be studied in situ. The independent research project will enable you to work closely with your supervisor on a one to-one basis to research and write on a topic of your choice.
Skills from this degree
- The ability to exercise initiative and personal responsibility, to take decisions in complex and unpredictable situations, and to learn independently
- Deal with complex issues both systematically and creatively, make sound judgements in the absence of complete data, and communicate conclusions clearly to specialist and non-specialist audiences
- Demonstrate self-direction and originality in tackling and solving problems, and act autonomously in planning and implementing tasks at a professional or equivalent level
- Continue to advance knowledge and understanding, and to develop new skills to a high level
2:i undergraduate degree (or equivalent).
English Language requirements header
- Band B
- IELTS overall score of 7.0, minimum component scores of two at 6.0/6.5 and the rest at 7.0 or above.
International requirements header
Additional requirements header
There are no additional entry requirements for this course.
Practices of Art History
This module will introduce you to the ways in which art history has developed as an academic discipline, illustrating the manifold ways in which it has been practiced by scholars from its beginnings in the 19th century to the present.
Academic Preparation for Art Historians
This module (which is not taken for credit) will help you to develop the academic skills you need for graduate study in History of Art. It will facilitate the transition from undergraduate to postgraduate study, as well as helping you to engage with History of Art as a new discipline.
Independent Research Project
The Independent Research Project is an extended essay of 8,000 words in length about a topic that you select, with the support of your supervisor. It allows you to pursue your interests in much greater detail than is possible in course work and results in a significant piece of research, which could lay the groundwork for further postgraduate study.
Optional module header
- Art of the Baroque
- The Renaissance: North and South
- Art and Disruption, 1900-today
- East meets West: The Visual Arts in Colonial and Post-colonial India
- Reality After Film
- Leonardo: Art and Science
- Colour and its Meaning
The Practices of Art History module provides you with an introduction to the discipline and helps you understand the ways in which the history of art can be studied. You can develop your interests by choosing other modules ranging in focus from the Middle Ages to Contemporary Art and Architecture.
Teaching takes place in small group seminars where you are encouraged to reflect upon and discuss works of art and the ways in which these have been interpreted. When the opportunity arises, seminars are taken out of the classroom and artworks are studied in situ.
Your studies culminate in the independent research project (8,000 words), in which you will work closely with your supervisor on a one-to-one basis, to research and write on a topic of your devising.
Class size header
Class sizes will naturally vary, however this course comprises between 10 to 15 students.
Contact hours header
You will have between six and ten hours on average per week of classes.
Assessment header
Modules are assessed via a mixture of written assessments, slide tests, formal examinations, presentations and project work.
Reading lists
Most departments have reading lists available through Warwick Library. Explore our Warwick Library web pages.
Your timetable
Your personalised timetable will be complete when you are registered for all modules, compulsory and optional, and you have been allocated to your lectures, seminars and other small group classes. Your compulsory modules will be registered for you and you will be able to choose your optional modules when you join us.