(BA) Bachelor of Arts
Art History and History (Including Year Abroad)
Current
University of Essex
University of Essex
Philosophical, Historical and Interdisciplinary Studies (School of)
Colchester Campus
Honours Degree
Full-time
History of Art, Architecture and Design
History
BA VV3C
19/03/2014
Details
Professional accreditation
None
Admission criteria
A-levels: ABB-BBB
IB: 32-30 points
BTEC Extended Diploma: DDM (in relevant subject)
IELTS (International English Language Testing System) code
English language requirements for applicants whose first language is not English: IELTS 6.0 overall. (Different requirements apply for second year entry.)
If you are an international student requiring a Tier 4 visa to study in the UK please see our immigration webpages for the latest Home Office guidance on English language qualifications.
Other English language qualifications may be acceptable so please contact us for further details. If we accept the English component of an international qualification then it will be included in the information given about the academic levels required. Please note that date restrictions may apply to some English language qualifications.
Course qualifiers
A course qualifier is a bracketed addition to your course title to denote a specialisation or pathway that you have achieved via the completion of specific modules during your course. The
specific module requirements for each qualifier title are noted below. Eligibility for any selected qualifier will be determined by the department and confirmed by the final year Board of
Examiners. If the required modules are not successfully completed, your course title will remain as described above without any bracketed addition. Selection of a course qualifier is
optional and student can register preferences or opt-out via Online Module Enrolment (eNROL).
None
Rules of assessment
Rules of assessment are the rules, principles and frameworks which the University uses to calculate your course progression and final results.
Additional notes
None
External examiners
Prof Michael John White
Reader
The University of York
External Examiners provide an independent overview of our courses, offering their expertise and help towards our continual improvement of course content, teaching, learning, and assessment.
External Examiners are normally academics from other higher education institutions, but may be from the industry, business or the profession as appropriate for the course.
They comment on how well courses align with national standards, and on how well the teaching, learning and assessment methods allow students to develop and demonstrate the relevant knowledge and skills needed to achieve their awards.
External Examiners who are responsible for awards are key members of Boards of Examiners. These boards make decisions about student progression within their course and about whether students can receive their final award.
Programme aims
To offer a varied, flexible and distinctive curriculum across the field of history of art and history.
To provide the opportunity for an understanding of both artistic and historical events within a political, social, economic and cultural context.
To enable students to understand the relationship between the past and the present and to enable consideration of the ways in which this is documented visually.
To encourage both critical engagement with and enjoyment of the visual arts, particularly through first-hand observation.
To develop skills of research analysis and argument which bring the disciplines of history and art history together and to enable students to understand and to appreciate the relationship between them with a degree of critical awareness.
To enable students to undertake independent study in a dissertation on a topic of their choice.
To provide the knowledge and skills (critical inquiry and argument, imaginative understanding, written, spoken and visual interpretation, communication and presentation) that will not only stand students in good stead for more specialised academic careers, but will also enhance their opportunities for employment in a wide range of other careers.
The outcomes listed below represent the minimum that might be expected of a graduate of the School of Philosophy and Art History and the Department of History of the University of Essex.
It is the intention of the Department that the vast majority of graduates will achieve significantly more.
Details of the different standards expected for the various classes of degree can be found in the Student Handbook produced annually by the Department.
Learning outcomes and learning, teaching and assessment methods
On successful completion of the programme a graduate should demonstrate knowledge and skills as follows:
A: Knowledge and understanding
A1: Knowledge and understanding of History and History of Art from C14th - C21st (based on a choice of module options from each discipline.
A2: Knowledge and understanding of the ways in which the visual is related to the broader historical and cultural context and vice versa.
A3: Knowledge and understanding of description, comparative analysis and interpretation of primary and secondary source material.
A4: Knowledge and understanding of some of the debates, concepts and values which inform study and practice within the fields of history and art history.
A5: Knowledge and understanding of the ways in which the disciplines of history and art history can be inter-related and considered with relevance to one another and in order to enable the study of one through the other (and by means of the other) and vice versa.
A6: Some of the concepts, values and debates that inform study and practice in the field.
Learning methods
The degree is based on progression from introductory topics in the first year to a more specialised set of modules in the second and third years.
Knowledge and understanding is developed via lectures, classes, coursework and examination.
Individual and group presentation work develops both A2-A5 in particular.
Regular, detailed feedback from tutors, both oral and written, enables continued and measured progression.
Regular museum, gallery and exhibition visits enable the development of knowledge and understanding within a geographical and historical framework and similarly covers A1-A6.
Compulsory study visit to Florence during the second year enables understanding as above and A1 specifically.
Assessment methods
Assessment is continual throughout each academic year and takes a formal line, viz: Coursework essays.
Group and individual presentations.
Literature reviews.
Virtual Exhibitions Viva Voce.
Examination.
Similarly, more informal but regular contact with tutors, both in classroom discussion and tutorial sessions enables continued reflection and improvement throughout the entire module.
B: Intellectual and cognitive skills
B1: To synthesise and analyse primary and secondary material and to identify significant elements and key issues within them.
B2: To formulate and answer questions relating to history and/or art history.
B3: To identify key issues which align art and histories, be they biographical, religious, social, political, economic and/or literary.
B4: To consider and solve problems using knowledge and experience
B5: To consider the ways in which histories have impacted upon art and visual culture and vice versa.
Learning methods
Intellectual and cognitive skills are introduced through background reading, class reading, in class discussion and by visual analysis of works of art in order to cover B1-B6.
Similarly all skills B1-B6 are developed with feedback from tutors and in peer groups
Assessment methods
Assessment is continual throughout each academic year and takes a formal line: Coursework essays.
Group and individual presentations.
Literature reviews.
Virtual Exhibitions Viva Voce.
Examination.
Similarly, more informal but regular contact with tutors, both in classroom discussion and tutorial sessions enables continued reflection and improvement throughout the entire module.
C: Practical skills
C6: Ability to apply the necessary organisational and cultural skills for living and working abroad.
Learning methods
Preparation for and participation in seminar discussion and group presentations develops C1-C6.
The group presentations clearly demonstrate C3 and C4 in particular, as they demand a concise presentation from each individual within the group.
The final year dissertation, compulsory for the module enables students to focus on all areas but especially C1 and C5 and as such introduces students to the demands of independent research which is a key indicator to the demands of, as well as any potential inclination towards postgraduate study.
Assessment methods
Assessment is continual throughout each academic year and takes a formal line: Coursework essays.
Group and individual presentations.
Literature reviews.
Virtual Exhibitions Viva Voce.
Examination.
Similarly, more informal but regular contact with tutors, both in classroom discussion and tutorial sessions enables continued reflection and improvement throughout the entire module.
C1 and C5 are assessed by analysis of documents and bibliographical materials.
C1, C2, C3 are assessed as part of the group project in particular.
C1, C2, C4 and C5 are assessed by coursework in particular.
The group presentation work and examination test the skills of working under pressure without notes and cover C1-C5.
D: Key skills
D1: effective communication of concepts and arguments in a range of contexts using a range of different resources; special ability to deploy visual material in a variety of mediat in the context of presentations or written work
D2: Appropriate use of IT for research and for presentation work.
D3: to analyse and explain materials and data. To manage projects. To apply knowledge in a way appropriate for judgement and to offer ideas and solutions as pertinent to various contexts
D4: Students should have the ability to: work to briefs and deadlines; take responsibility for their own work; reflect on their own learning and performance and make constructive use of feedback
Learning methods
Participation in seminar discussion, group project work and essay writing develops D1, D4 and D6 in particular.
Information technology (D2) is implicit to the module: as visual media via the use of PowerPoint and visual imagery as well as DVD, which is intended to inform students and to develop their critical awareness of it.
Students are made aware of the Key Skills On-Line resources by means of the departmental handbooks and are expected demonstrate their IT skills during their group presentation.
Assessment methods
Assessment methods Assessment is continual throughout each academic year and takes a formal line: Coursework essays.
Group and individual presentations.
Literature reviews.
Virtual Exhibitions Viva Voce.
Examination.
Similarly, more informal but regular contact with tutors, both in classroom discussion and tutorial sessions enables continued reflection and improvement throughout the entire module.