Faculty of Arts
Art history

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Faculty of Arts

1. Prerequisites
2. Requirements for a major
3. Honours entry
4. Honours requirements
    4.1. Pure honours
    4.2. Combined honours
5. Studying overseas
6. Further study
7. Career opportunities
8. For more information
Subject Lists
    First year subjects
    Second/third year subjects
    Third/fourth year subjects
    Fourth year subjects
    Subjects not offered in 2002
        First year subjects not offered in 2002
        Second/third year subjects not offered in 2002
        Third/fourth year subjects not offered in 2002
        Fourth year subjects not offered in 2002

Art history is housed in the School of Fine Arts, Classical Studies and Archaeology. The first department of its kind in Australia, it was founded in 1948. The school develops joint projects with many Australian museums including the National Gallery of Victoria and the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra. Students of art history have the opportunity to undertake fieldwork overseas. Subjects taught in Rome and New York provide unrivalled access to major art collections such as those of the Vatican museums and the Museum of Modern Art. Alliances with the Potter Institute of Conservation and Ian Potter Museum also bolster the preeminent position of the School within the academic community of the Asia-Pacific region. Students benefit directly from these close links with industry and the arts community and are able to develop a wide range of transferable skills. Graduates of the art history program occupy key curatorial, museum and administrative positions in the arts throughout Australia and overseas. Students have the opportunity to further explore their academic interests and develop specialist knowledge in art history through an articulated structure of higher degree options at the University of Melbourne.

Art history is concerned with the visual and material aspects of culture and how painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, design, photography and museums, may be interpreted. Students of art history should develop critical and historical skills about the work of art as a physical object and the representation of subject matter. Art history subjects cover a broad spectrum from ancient classical art to the art of the postmodern. The school has particular research and teaching strengths in the study of Australian culture and Aboriginal art, the Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque periods and in Asian art, including a unique course on Japanese art and architecture.

1. Prerequisites

There are no prerequisites for first year subjects in art history.

The prerequisite for a second/third year subject in art history is usually a first year subject in art history (12.5 points). Students who believe they have completed suitable alternative first year subjects are advised to consult with the school for permission to enrol. Exemptions may also be granted where second/third year subjects are taken as part of an approved interdepartmental program with its own entry requirements.

The prerequisite for a third/fourth year art history subject is usually three second/third year subjects in art history (37.5 points).

2. Requirements for a major

A major in art history usually consists of nine 12.5 point subjects, totalling 112.5 points. It comprises:

two first year subjects in art history (25 points) and;
second/third year subjects in art history (87.5 points). Two of these subjects (25 points) may be in other related areas of study in the School of Fine Arts, Classical Studies and Archaeology.

It is advisable for students to choose subjects from different periods of art history.

3. Honours entry

The prerequisites for entry to fourth year honours in art history are:

completion of all the requirements of the BA;
completion of a major in art history;
an average grade of H2B or higher over the second/third year subjects within the major.

Entry to honours must be approved by the honours coordinator of the School and the Faculty of Arts honours course adviser. Forms to be submitted to the School are available at the School Office in May and September each year.

4. Honours requirements

Honours coordinator: Dr Parshia Lee-Stecum

4.1. Pure honours

Students undertaking pure honours in art history must complete:

107-519 Art History Thesis or 107-520 Art History Thesis (MYE) (37.5 points) and;
107-400 Research Methods (12.5 points) and;
four honours subjects in art history (50 points).
With the approval of the honours coordinator, one of these subjects may be in cinema studies, or classical studies and archeology.

4.2. Combined honours

Students undertaking combined honours in art history and another area of study must complete:

107-519 Art History Thesis or 107-520 Art History Thesis (MYE) (37.5 points) and;
107-400 Research Methods (12.5 points) and;
one honours subject in art history (12.5 points) and;
three honours subjects in the combined area of study (37.5 points).

honours thesis in the combined area of study (37.5 points) and;
two honours subjects in the combined area of study (25 points) and;
107-400 Research Methods (12.5 points) and;
two honours subjects in art history (25 points).
combined honours students may replace 107-400 Research Methods with an approved research methods seminar in the other discipline.

5. Studying overseas

The School of Fine Arts, Classical Studies and Archaeology teaches a number of art history subjects in Europe and the United States as one-month intensive fieldwork programs in the Summer Semester or winter non-teaching period. See individual subject entries for details:

or, contact:
Email: enquiries@asatravinfo.com.au
Web: http://www.asatravinfo.com.au

6. Further study

A BA with a major in art history can lead to a Graduate Diploma in Arts (Art History), a Postgraduate Diploma in Arts (Art History) or Master of Art Curatorship.

An honours degree in art history can lead to MA or PhD degrees.

7. Career opportunities

Career opportunities for graduates in art history are to be found in teaching and in academic research, in the arts industry as curators, administrators, and directors of art galleries and museums, in the commercial sphere of dealerships and auction houses, and as critics, journalists and arts writers.

8. For more information

School of Fine Arts, Classical Studies and Archeology
Elisabeth Murdoch Building
The University of Melbourne
Victoria 3010
Tel: +61 3 8344 5565
Email: finearts-info@unimelb.edu.au
Web: http://www.sfca.unimelb.edu.au

First year subjects

107-018 Art History A: The Work of Art
107-019 Art History B: Artist & Audience

Second/third year subjects

103-006 Multimedia Authoring
107-023 Baroque Art
107-024 Victorian & Edwardian Art 1840-1914
107-026 Studies in Asian Art and Architecture
107-028 A Survey of Australian Art to 1950
107-030 Contemporary Aboriginal Art
107-032 Venetian Renaissance Painting
107-120 Art and Culture in Medieval North Europe
107-210 Art Since 1990

Third/fourth year subjects

103-401 Advanced Multimedia Applications
107-430 Orientalism in Visual Culture
107-449 The Representation of Architecture
107-466 Postmodern Culture: Art in New York

Fourth year subjects

107-519 Art History Thesis
107-520 Art History Thesis (MYE)
107-528 Art History Special Topics A
107-400 Research Methods
107-403 Fine Arts 4A
107-418 The History and Philosophy of Museums
107-424 Australian Artists in Europe 1880-1960
107-428 Illuminated Manuscripts
107-436 Cross-Cultural Visual Art
107-437 The Artist's Body
107-438 Women in 16th & 17th Century Italian Art
100-410 Imaging Australian Life: 1900-2000
107-506 Program of Language Study

Subjects not offered in 2002

Status:                   Official 2002
Last Modified:            Tuesday May 07 22:10
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Authorised by:            Academic Registrar
Email Enquiries:          Course_Information@registrar.unimelb.edu.au

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