Social History of Art

Entry requirements

A bachelor degree with a 2:1 (hons).

Months of entry

September

Course content

The study of the history of art at Leeds has an international reputation for its innovative, rigorous, diverse and critically engaged approaches, and the emphasis of this course is on social and political approaches to art history.

The MA Social History of Art builds on a legacy of dynamic and challenging scholarship, and continues to test the parameters of the discipline and shape wider debates in the field.

Around a shared commitment to understanding art as central to the production and reproduction of the social worlds we inhabit, our key research strengths lie in feminist, gender and Jewish studies, on questions of materialism and materiality, the postcolonial and the ‘non-Western’, as well as in provocations of those fields of art history considered more ‘established’, from Medieval and Renaissance up to the contemporary.

Drawing on the School’s community of researchers, and with our links to internationally important research institutions such as the Henry Moore Institute, as well as with an abundant and growing array of arts institutions in Leeds and nearby, this postgraduate course will equip you to develop your own critically informed research.

Specialist facilities

Housed within a single central campus location, the School offers a modern and well-equipped learning environment with several studio and exhibition spaces.

Project Space is the School’s multi-purpose space designed for the development of curatorial practice and visiting exhibitions.

The Brotherton Library holds a wide variety of manuscript, archive and early printed material in its Special Collections - valuable assets for your independent research.

In addition to the wide range of museums and galleries in the city and beyond, the University campus features:

• The Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery
• Treasures of the Brotherton Gallery
• Museum of the History of Science, Technology and Medicine
• Marks & Spencer Company Archive
• International Textile Collection
• Public art trail
• stage@leeds performance venue

Information for international students

English language requirements

IELTS 6.5 overall, with no less than 6.0 in any component.. For other English qualifications, read English language equivalent qualifications.

Improve your English

International students who do not meet the English language requirements for this programme may be able to study our postgraduate pre-sessional English course, to help improve your English language level.

This pre-sessional course is designed with a progression route to your degree programme and you’ll learn academic English in the context of your subject area. To find out more, read Language for Arts and Humanities (6 weeks) and Language for Social Science and Arts: Arts and Humanities (10 weeks).

If you need to study for longer than 10 weeks, read more about our postgraduate pre-sessional English course.