BA in Classical Studies and History of Art

UCAS code: QV83

Summary of programme aims

The course aims to provide a through degree level education in Classical and Art Historical Studies. In Classics it aims to produce graduates who have experience of literary, thematic and genre-based approaches to the cultures of antiquity. The History of Art element gives students a broad perspective on Western art and architecture since the Middle Ages, as well the ability to acquire specialist knowledge of chosen periods. The programme will provide a basis for interpreting primary and secondary sources of evidence, and understanding methods of analysis, appreciate the changing nature of each discipline's priorities and approaches, and will promote a critical understanding of the relationship between contemporary conceptions of art and architecture and those of the past. All this will be achieved through structured progression from Parts 1 to 3.

Course content

The course is divided into 3 Parts (years). You must take 120 credits in each Part.

In Part 1, Classical Studies and History of Art are disciplines which lend themselves to critical judgement and problem-solving, both through personal engagement with issues and through dialogue and group discussion.

Part 2 allows the collection, collation and analysis of substantial quantities of material and its communication and presentation. Students will become skilled at visual analysis, learning how to describe evidence from visual sources in oral and written forms. Both fields of study also prompt an awareness of numeracy through chronology, periodisation, and basic quantification. Career Management Skills provides 5 credits at part 2.

Part 3 allows the use of powerful tools of research, analysis and presentation associated with information technology is developed in several ways, such as in the location and retrieval of bibliographic and source material, the production and presentation of student work, and, where appropriate, the use of more sophisticated databases and exploitation of the internet.

For a full description of this degree course with the required compulsory and optional modules, please download the programme specification. You are advised to read the programme specification for the current year.

http://www.info.reading.ac.uk/progspecs/prog-index.asp

Career prospects

In recent years students who have gained degrees in Classical Studies and History of Art have gone into a wide variety of jobs, including teaching, publishing, journalism, the media, management, administration, and public relations. As such, they are eagerly sought after by employers, with career prospects being extended to museums and galleries. They are given specific vocational training and orientation through a second year Career Management Scheme run by the School in conjunction with the Careers Advisory Service. Graduates have also gone on to postgraduate courses within the field of the Classics, History and related fields at Reading and elsewhere.

The visual skills developed in the degree make graduates attractive to the advertising industry. A number of graduates each year go on to further academic study and research.

Opportunities for study abroad

The Departments of Classics and History of Art have various links under the Socrates scheme through which students can spend a period of study abroad (normally during Part 2) or in the Fall Semester at the University of Calgary's Department of Greek and Latin (applications need to be made to the Classics Department in the Spring term of Year 1).
The Department also has an ERASMUS link with the University of Crete. Students are encouraged to study also at the British School in Athens and the British School in Rome