Film Studies and History of Art
Film studies and history of art is a combination that asks how images work, how they generate meaning, and how they reflect and shape the cultures that produce them. Film studies examines cinema as an artistic form, a cultural product, and an industry, developing your skills in close analysis of films and your understanding of the historical, theoretical, and social contexts in which they are made and received. History of art extends that visual literacy across the full range of art-making from antiquity to the contemporary, examining paintings, sculpture, architecture, and other media as objects that carry social and historical meaning as well as aesthetic value.
Together, the disciplines develop a sophisticated visual intelligence and an ability to interpret images in their cultural context.
The School of Oriental and African Studies offers this three-year full-time programme with a foundation year, which builds the critical, historical, and cultural knowledge you need before entering the main degree. SOAS brings a distinctive non-Western perspective to both disciplines, situating film and art within the broader cultural histories of Asia, Africa, and the Middle East as well as Europe and the Americas. The programme carries a typical entry tariff of 120 points.
You will study film theory, film history, and close textual analysis of films alongside the history of art across different periods and traditions, developing your ability to write about visual works with precision and insight.
Graduates work in the cultural and creative sectors, in roles including museum and gallery work, film programming and criticism, arts journalism, cultural policy, teaching, archiving, and publishing. The close reading and communication skills developed through the degree are also valued in media, advertising, and the heritage sector. Postgraduate study in film, art history, curating, or cultural studies is a well-travelled path for graduates who want to develop deeper expertise or pursue academic careers.