Art History

Art history at its most ambitious is not just the catalogue of who made what and when, but the investigation of art as a powerful force that shapes how people think, feel, and act. It asks why certain forms of representation become dominant, how images and objects exercise power, whose perspectives are centred and whose are marginalised, and how the meaning of a work changes as it moves across time, geography, and context. It is a discipline that takes art seriously as a form of knowledge and a form of power, not merely as aesthetic decoration.

At the University of Sussex this three-year, full-time programme approaches art history with a radically open perspective, exploring these questions with intellectual ambition and a commitment to diverse critical perspectives. You will engage with art from a wide range of periods, geographies, and traditions, developing your capacity for close visual analysis alongside critical and theoretical thinking about how art operates in the world. A foundation year is available for students who want additional preparation.

A sandwich year, a year abroad, and work placement opportunities are all built into the programme, giving you professional experience and an international dimension alongside your academic formation.

Graduates of art history work in museums, galleries, heritage organisations, auction houses, arts administration, publishing, journalism, education, and the cultural sector. Many move into curatorial roles, arts management, or the commercial art market. Others build careers in research, cultural policy, teaching, or the broad range of communications and creative roles where visual intelligence and the ability to analyse and articulate meaning are valued.

The Sussex approach, which takes seriously both canonical and non-canonical art, prepares graduates for the increasingly global and diverse character of contemporary arts institutions. Further study at postgraduate level in art history, curatorship, or museum studies is available for those who want to develop specialist expertise.