History of Art with a Foundation Year

History of art is the scholarly study of visual culture across time, asking how paintings, sculptures, buildings, photographs, films, and other visual objects have been made, what they meant to the people who made and first experienced them, and how their meanings have shifted as they have passed through different cultural and historical contexts. It is a discipline that requires the ability to look carefully, to write analytically about what you see, and to place visual objects within the historical, social, and intellectual frameworks that give them their significance.

At the University of East Anglia, which has one of the strongest art history departments in the UK with particular strengths in British and European art, this four-year programme begins with a foundation year before the main degree. The foundation year is designed to prepare students who have the intellectual curiosity and potential to succeed in art history but who benefit from additional academic preparation before engaging with the full rigour of the degree. Once through the foundation year, you will study art from ancient to contemporary, developing a broad chronological and geographical knowledge alongside the ability to analyse and interpret specific works in depth.

Norwich's rich cultural environment, including the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts on the UEA campus, provides direct access to important collections.

History of art graduates move into careers in museums and galleries as curators, educators, and administrators. Others work in auction houses, art dealing and advisory, arts journalism and criticism, cultural policy, heritage, and the many fields where visual literacy and cultural knowledge are valued. The writing and analytical skills the degree develops also transfer into law, publishing, public relations, and many other professional contexts.

Postgraduate study in art history, curatorial practice, museum studies, or visual culture is a natural route for those who want to pursue specialist careers or academic research.