History of art
Gain a global perspective of the History of Art with a part-time course
Our part-time qualifications in the history of art recognise the globally diverse range of users, makers, and viewers, offering you the chance to join a group of peers eager to learn more about visual cultures, voices, and experiences. Discover the latest debates in the history of art, through flexible learning and visits to Oxford’s world-leading museums and collections.
What can you gain?
- Get up to speed with the latest debates and methods to interpret works of art, particularly in the areas of politics, society, gender and identity, material culture and decolonising practices.
- Exchange ideas and develop questions with a group of like-minded peers.
- Gain practical knowledge and develop your interpretative skills through museum and gallery visits in Oxford and London.
- Fit study around your commitments and responsibilities by combining online digital learning with in-person teaching.
Short courses for adult learners
Explore a new topic or revisit a favourite subject over the course of a few days, a few weeks or a term. Our short courses run in person or online, with some offered in both formats – so you can choose the best study option.
Upcoming courses
Online - live • Short courses • Hybrid - in person or online
An exploration of the artistic movement that came to embrace both art and music, looking at the major visual and musical works of the Impressionists, and tracing the roots of this aesthetic upheaval that laid the foundations for modernism in the arts.
- Sat 22 Feb 2025
- 9:45am – 5:00pm
Online - live • Short courses • Lecture series • Hybrid - in person or online
Explore British art during the interwar period. How did British artists react to the arrival of Surrealism in Britain? Featured artists include Barbara Hepworth, Paul Nash and Henry Moore. Part of the 'Art in Britain' lecture series.
- Wed 26 Feb 2025
- 2:00 – 3:15pm
In-person day/weekend • Short courses
2025 marks the centenary of the chicest international exposition of the 20th century. One of the defining events of Jazz Age visual culture, the event brought together some of the most exciting designers in Europe and gave its name to the Art Deco style.
- Sat 01 Mar 2025
- 9:45am – 5:00pm
Online - live • Short courses • Hybrid - in person or online
This is a dynamic multi-media day-school in which we will explore the evolution of popular culture from the 1950s to the present day, from the earliest stirrings of rock’n’roll youth culture, to the social media-saturated anxieties of our own time.
- Sat 08 Mar 2025
- 9:45am – 5:00pm
Short intensive • Short courses • Professional development
Do your exhibitions stink? Scent is becoming a popular feature in museums, but what makes olfactory visitor experiences effective? We will explore the theory, practice, benefits and pitfalls, with useful tips to help harness scent as an interpretive tool.
- Tue 15 Apr 2025 – 16 Apr 2025
- 9:30am – 5:00pm
Online - live • Short courses
This course examines the social, economic, religious, and political contexts under which women have always made art, but have largely been marginalised in its formal histories and markets.
- Tue 22 Apr 2025 – 24 Jun 2025
- 10 meetings
- 4:00 – 5:00pm
History of art award programmes
Part-time undergraduate awards and postgraduate degrees in the history of art and design.Undergraduate Certificate in the History of Art
The part-time Certificate in the History of Art teaches students about the production and provenance of works of art in museums, as well as key skills such as how to view and describe works of art.Undergraduate Diploma in the History of Art
A two-year part-time course in which you study two modules from a choice of four, each of which allows you to immerse yourself in a specific period of art history. Taught at second-year undergraduate level.MSt in Literature and Arts
An interdisciplinary programme which encompasses literature, history, art, architectural history, political thought and the history of ideas. Designed around 3 sequential periods of British history, from Early Modern to the early 20th century.MSt in the History of Design
This two-year part-time master's degree explores how ordinary things and places created since 1851 reveal fascinating traces of historical experienc