Offered By	ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences
Academic Contact	Professor Sasha Grishin

Art History offers a broad range of courses at undergraduate, honours and postgraduate levels, which examine aspects of the visual cultures of Australia, Europe, Asia and America. Art History has been taught at the ANU since 1977, initially as the Fine Art Program, then as the Department of Art History, and more recently, with expansion in offerings to include curatorial studies, as the Art History and Curatorship program.

Our courses are designed to introduce students to painting, sculpture, printmaking, photography, architecture, film, digital images and the decorative arts seen within their historical, social, cultural and political context. Art History is rapidly changing and our courses reflect the wide range of new approaches, methodologies and technologies found in recent critical, cultural and museum studies. They cover many aspects of art from prehistoric Australian Aboriginal art and classical antiquity through to the art of the present day, focusing on topics, which can illuminate specific trends and problems. Questions of technique are often examined in detail to assist in the study of selected monuments.

Reflecting our unique location in the national capital, many of our courses draw on the collections and staff expertise of the national cultural institutions. Some of our tutorial classes in many of our courses are held at the National Gallery of Australia, the National Library of Australia and the Australian War Memorial. Our highly successful Internship Program enables students to undertake curatorial work as part of their studies at approved art galleries or museums. Curators and directors from these institutions have frequently been invited to present guest lectures in our courses. Art History also conducts regular research seminars that deal with questions of art history, art theory and curatorial practice and bring together local, national and international expertise.

Although there are no prerequisites for Introduction to Art History ARTH1002, students are reminded that Art History is a visual discipline supported by documentation and scholarly literature. Because of the international nature of the discipline, students are encouraged to develop reading skills in foreign languages.

The BA (Art History and Curatorship) includes in its requirements a minimum of 7 courses (min 42 units) of Art History. It is available as a BA pass degree and as a BA Honours degree. See Faculty of Arts entry Undergraduate Courses.

Prerequisites

Introduction to Art History ARTH1002 and Introduction to Modern Art ARTH1003 normally form the prerequisites for later-year courses in Art History; other subjects are sometimes acceptable as prerequisites for specific courses (see individual entries for details). 

For intending students without the listed prerequisites, special permission may always be sought from the Convener. The later-year courses may be taken in any order, although not all courses will be available every year.

Requirements

The major in Art History and Curatorship consists of a minimum of 7 courses chosen from the courses in Art History, with no more than 2 courses at first-year level. For example, Introduction to Art History ARTH1002 and Introduction to Modern Art ARTH1003, together with a minimum of five later-year courses, including one course from Group A and one course from Group B to form a major in Art History and Curatorship.

 

The following disciplines are particularly suitable for combination with an Art History and Curatorship major: Film Studies; Classical and Modern European Languages; English; Gender, Sexuality and Culture; History; Philosophy; Archaeology and Anthropology.

Assessment

Assessment may include a mixture of essay, tutorial and/or seminar presentations, together with visual tests, the balance of marks to be determined at the beginning of each course after discussion with students. Art History and Curatorship Honours IV will normally be assessed on a thesis, and on seminar presentations and the resultant papers.

 

For information on Honours in Art History and Curatorship click here.

The information published on the Study at ANU 2009 website applies to the 2009 academic year only. All information provided on this website replaces the information contained in the Study at ANU 2008 website.