Programme description

Our Art History and Visual Studies PhD programme offers the opportunity to conduct in-depth research in an area of particular interest.

Our research interests are wide-ranging. Strengths include:

• medieval Italy;
• Italian and Northern Renaissance;
• Renaissance print culture;
• history of architecture;
• art and science;
• British art in the 18th and 19th centuries;
• Romanticism and its reception;
• the history and theory of the avant-garde;
• art and sexuality;
• modernism and post-colonialism;
• art and psychoanalysis;
• poststructuralism;
• history and theory of photography;
• experimental art-writing;
• contemporary Chinese art
• post-conceptual contemporary art
• modern art in India.

You will prepare your thesis under the guidance of two supervisors. Progress is monitored at regular meetings of your research panel (two supervisors plus an independent reviewer). The aim of the programme is to support you in becoming an independent research. We encourage you to disseminate your work at seminars and conferences, and in recognised journals or equivalents publications.

The programme culminates in the submission of an 80,000-word dissertation that makes an original contribution to art historical knowledge.

As a post-graduate researcher in the department of Art History and Cultural Practices, you will join a vibrant community with access to exciting research seminars and other events, such the Visiting Pilkington Professor series and the Whitworth Studies series.

Coursework and assessment

The award of your PhD follows three years of successful supervised research. The maximum length of the PhD thesis is 80,000 words.

Career opportunities

A research degree in Art History enhances employment opportunities in many fields connected with the visual arts, architecture and material culture.

These include art galleries, the art trade and auction houses, the heritage industry, architectural conservation, publishing, art criticism and aspects of arts administration, as well as university and higher education.

In recent years our doctoral graduates have gone on to prestigious post-doctoral positions at the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Freud Museum, the British Museum, and the National Gallery as well as obtaining positions at universities such as North Carolina, Imperial College London, and the Manchester School of Architecture. Some graduate have gone into related fields in arts consultancy, publishing, and film production.