Art History and Modern Languages

Art history and modern languages is a combination that brings together the study of how visual and material culture has been created, used and interpreted across different societies and periods with the ability to engage directly with those cultures through their language. Art history examines paintings, sculptures, architecture, photography and design in their historical, social and cultural contexts, asking what choices artists and patrons made, what those choices meant, and how those meanings have been received and reinterpreted. A modern language provides direct access to the scholarship, literary and critical tradition of that culture in its original form.

At the University of Essex you will study art history and modern languages over four years of full-time study, combining the history and theory of art with French, German, Italian, Spanish or Portuguese. The course includes the opportunity to spend a year abroad studying at one of Essex's partner institutions, which may include the Ecole du Louvre in Paris, giving you direct engagement with some of the world's most significant collections and an immersive experience of your chosen language community. You will develop the interpretive and analytical skills of art history alongside the linguistic proficiency of your chosen language, with each informing and enriching the other.

The typical tariff of 120 reflects a programme accessible to students from a range of educational backgrounds who bring genuine engagement with visual culture and language learning.

Graduates work in museums, galleries, auction houses, art education, arts journalism, cultural policy, publishing, the civil service, international arts organisations and a wide range of roles in the creative and cultural economy. The language proficiency developed through the programme is particularly valuable in roles that involve international art markets, European cultural institutions, heritage organisations with multilingual collections, or research and publication in non-English scholarly traditions. Many graduates pursue postgraduate study in art history, museum studies, translation, curatorship or related humanities fields.