BA Art & History of Art

 At Reading, we have developed a distinctive approach to the subject through a combination of practice, theory and history. Our programmes enable you to emerge as a creative person, equipped with knowledge, intellectual ability and the practice-led skills you will need to make an imaginative and effective contribution to the cultural field of Art. Our special strengths lie in contemporary art that draws on historical examples of art while examining the exciting new potential of new technology to produce emerging art forms. Our courses demonstrate the full breadth of Art as an area of study without division into distinct specialisms. This approach requires you to be committed, to thrive on constructive criticism exchanged between staff and students, and to participate in discussing your own work and that of others.

Description:
Our four-year combined degrees with Art are for candidates who have identified an interest in another discipline which they wish to study alongside Art during their degree course.  You would study both subjects during the first year and make a final decision on your degree choice at the end of the year.  This flexibility gives you the chance of studying your chosen joint course, single honours Art or single honours in the other subject. This combined degree offers a critical understanding of the relationship between contemporary conceptions of art, architecture, visual artefacts and culture, and those held elsewhere in other periods, promoting a conception of history of art as a dynamic discipline encompassing divergent, sometimes conflicting, approaches and views.

There are opportunities to study abroad under the University's exchange programme. Typical destinations are Ottawa, Canada, New Jersey, USA Dijon, France and Zurich, Switzerland.

Year 1
Art
Introduction to Materials and Processes
Grounding for Independent Practical Work and Research
Contemporary Art and Theory

History of Art two of the following modules:
History of Art & Architecture Workshop
Art's Histories: A Survey
Makers and Making: Artists, Architects and their Practices

Year 2
Art
Development of an Individual Practice in Art
Introduction of a Student-Led Seminar Programme
Contemporary Art and Theory
Career Management

History of Art
Distance and Difference: Perspectives on Art, Architecture and Visual Culture
Art & Power in Renaissance Italy
Altars, Aristocrats and Guillotines
Heroes and Hero Worship

Year 3
Art
Further development of Art Practice
Consideration of the Role of Presentation
Contemporary Art and Theory

History of Art two modules from a list including:
Raphael
Art, War and Gender in the Twentieth Century
Architecture and Memory
Figuring the Female Body
Delacroix, Romanticism and French Nineteenth-century Painting

Final Year
Art
Final Exhibition

History of Art
Dissertation