Art History with Curating
Art History with Curating is a discipline that combines the scholarly study of the visual arts with the practical and professional skills involved in bringing art to audiences. Art history examines why paintings, sculptures, photographs, films, and designed objects look the way they do, situating them within the historical, social, and cultural contexts in which they were made and received. Curating extends that understanding into the professional world of museums, galleries, and public art spaces, addressing how objects are selected, researched, displayed, interpreted, and cared for.
At Birkbeck College in London, this part-time programme gives you the flexibility to study while working or managing other commitments. You will be taught by world-leading scholars using the incomparably rich art collections, monuments, and study facilities that London provides, including Birkbeck's own Peltz Gallery, which gives students hands-on experience of a working gallery environment. The curriculum covers the visual arts as a central element of human endeavour from ancient times to the contemporary, while the curating component develops the professional skills needed to participate in the curation and display of art in a range of institutional contexts.
The combination of scholarly depth and professional orientation is a particular strength of the programme.
Graduates of Art History with Curating work in museums, galleries, auction houses, arts organisations, heritage bodies, and cultural policy. Many pursue careers as curators, collection managers, education officers, arts administrators, and gallery directors, working with both public collections and private institutions. London's extraordinary density of world-class collections and cultural organisations makes it an ideal setting for this kind of education, providing constant practical extensions of the classroom.
Many graduates continue to postgraduate study in art history, museum studies, or curatorial practice, building the specialist expertise that senior positions in the field require.