Study the history of art online

Short online courses in the history of art
Our short online courses in the history of art include weekly classes, day schools, lecture series and self-paced online courses.
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.
Upcoming courses
Online - flexible • Short courses
This course will seek to provide guidelines about how to look at modern art in an open-minded, critical and analytical way.
- Wed 07 May 2025 – 18 Jul 2025
Online - flexible • Short courses
This course is designed to enable you to 'read' the architecture of the Western world in a critically informed way.
- Wed 07 May 2025 – 18 Jul 2025
Online - flexible • Short courses
This course offers you the opportunity to learn how to study and analyse paintings, drawings and prints, and learn the 'language of looking'.
- Wed 07 May 2025 – 18 Jul 2025
Online - flexible • Short courses
The work of northern Renaissance artists is often incredibly beautiful, with marvellous colours and textures. But there is much more to their work than simple aesthetics, for it evolved from an intriguing range of religious and cultural beliefs.
- Wed 07 May 2025 – 18 Jul 2025
Online - flexible • Short courses
This course is for anyone interested in understanding Islamic art and culture, and examines the relationship between faith and art forms.
- Mon 12 May 2025 – 25 Jul 2025
Online - flexible • Short courses
This course will explore the English medieval cathedral as a developing institution which survived over a thousand years of religious upheaval and historical change, focusing on the multifaceted architecture of a range of truly great churches.
- Wed 14 May 2025 – 25 Jul 2025