No prior study of Art History or special requirements are required to take Art History modules at First Year. The only requirements are enthusiasm and a readiness to work hard at this stimulating subject. The First Year modules provide a solid foundation from which to build your knowledge. In lectures you are encouraged to keep your ears and, most of all, your eyes open. In tutorials and on field trips you are encouraged to 'find your own voice' and use the time to clarify issues, ask questions and venture opinions.
Undergraduate programmes
The School of Art History and Cultural Policy offers a dynamic programme as part of the BA Joint Honours (DN520) and the BA Humanities (DN530) degrees. Students can also study Art History as a minor with either Archaeology or Sociology as part of the BSc Social Sciences degree.
Art History is a stimulating, ever-changing subject that is intrinsically inter-disciplinary in nature. It analyses the complex relationship that exists between visual art and society both across the centuries and in the contemporary moment. Art History enables us to understand the environments we inhabit, including how and why they have been constructed and what cultural meanings are embedded in them or have accrued in them over time. The School nurtures an understanding of the role and value of visual art and architecture in cultural life, both past and present. It offers a varied and diverse curriculum that includes the study of Irish, European, American and non-Western art and architecture, in addition to a wide range of media such as painting, sculpture, printmaking, photography, architecture, video and performance.
Our teaching programme seeks to foster original thought, interpretative and analytical skills, critical enquiry, and visual acuity.We encourage our students to examine artworks critically and understand the conditions of their making, meaning and influences, as well as to consider the process of looking itself. Students are enabled to interpret and assess the meaning, development, context and quality of works of art of different ages using a range of methodologies and approaches including conceptual and historical analysis.The programme teaches students to learn from images and patterns; to consider formalist aspects such as composition, style and iconography as well as technical material. In order to teach these skills, the programme uses a diverse range of teaching and learning methods such as lectures, small group teaching, web-based learning, field trips and site visits.
Stage 1/ First Year Art History offers four stimulating courses that collectively provide an analysis of the key movements, artists, artistic traditions and issues that have resonated and evolved throughout European art from Antiquity to the early 20th century, and a foundation for the theories that underpin Art History as a discipline.
Students who intend to take Art History as a Joint Major in their BA degree must take AH10160 and at least one of the remaining three Stage 1 modules. Students are strongly advised to take as many of the Stage 1 modules as possible to give them a solid foundation for the further study of Art History. Further information can be found in the 2023/34 Stage 1 Booklet.
| (AH10160) | Art History in the Making | (course information to follow) |
| (AH10260) | An Introduction to European Art 1: Antiquity to High Renaissance | (course information to follow) |
| (AH10270) | An Introduction to European Art 2: Late Renaissance to Romanticism | (course information to follow) |
| (AH10150) | The Modern World 1848-1914 | (course information to follow) |
Curricular information is subject to change.
For students continuing their Art History studies from First Year the Stage 2 offerings, which include survey modules and more specialised modules, will expand upon their understanding of the various epochs of art-making, the key debates and issues that have resonated throughout the history of art from antiquity to the present day, and add greater depth to their study of Art History.
| (AH20200) | From the Modern to the Contemporary (Core) | (course information (opens in a new window)Click here >>>) |
| (AH20230) | European Architecture 1300-1900 (Core) | (course information (opens in a new window)Click here >>>) |
| (AH20250) | Early Islamic Art & Architecture | (course information (opens in a new window)Click here >>>) |
| (AH20280) | Queer Art Histories | (course information Click here >>>) |
| (AH20220) | History of Photography | (course information to follow) |
| (AH20300) | Medieval Art & Architecture | (course information to follow) |
| (AH20310) | Art History Field Trip | (course information to follow) |
| (AH20320) | Age of Titian | (course information to follow) |
Curricular information is subject to change.
The aim of the Stage 3 (Degree) Art History modules is to build upon the knowledge acquired thus far at a deeper level as students will delve into complex issues of art historiography and enjoy challenging modules on specialised subjects.
Field trips and site visits are a feature of many of the modules and a high level of attendance and participation is expected.
| (AH30010) | Writings on Art (5-credit Core) | (course information (opens in a new window)Click here >>>) |
| (AH30590) | Women & Modern Architecture (10-credit seminar) | (course information Click here >>>) |
| (AH30600) | From Constantinople to Istanbul: Art, Faith, Politics (10-credit seminar) | (course information (opens in a new window)Click here >>>) |
| (AH30630) | Genre in the Age of Vermeer (10-credit seminar) | (course information (opens in a new window)Click here >>>) |
| (AH30650) | Art/Resistance/Activism (10-credit seminar) | (course information Click here >>>) |
| (AH30540) | Georgian Dublin (5-credit) | (course information to follow) |
| (AH30080) | Dissertation (5-credit) | (course information (opens in a new window)Click here >>>) |
Curricular information is subject to change.
BA Humanities: Classics, Art History & Archaeology - This programme provides students with an in-depth grounding in three cognate subject areas: Classics, Art History, and Archaeology. Students who take this course will benefit from the inter-disciplinary study of the visual arts, archaeology, and material culture from antiquity to the present day. The first three years of the programme focus on training and building expertise and skills in the three disciplinary areas.
In Art History students will learn the skills of visual analysis and learn how to read images in their social and cultural context, in Archaeology they will move from the ‘big stories’ to methods and material culture analysis, and in Classics they will use literary and historical analysis along with the visual and material evidence to reconstruct the lost worlds of the Greek and Roman past. It is expected that on completion of the third year students will have accumulated 45 credits in each subject area. Interdisciplinarity will be emphasized in Stage 3, with a core seminar on a key theme (e.g. text and image, memory, environment and culture) and a summer fieldwork project in Glendalough. The focus of the final year will be the dissertation.
- For information on this programme (opens in a new window)Click here >>>.
Contact details
- Pathway coordinator: Dr Jo Day ((opens in a new window)joanna.day@ucd.ie)
- Programme manager: Amy Smith ((opens in a new window)amy.smith@ucd.ie / + 01 7168423)
BA Humanities: Creative & Cultural Industries - If you are interested in the performing arts, television and film, fashion, music, festivals, media, visual arts and museums — or aspire to work creatively in business, the public sector, and digital technology — this course is for you. Combining project-based work with high-level career mentorship, this four-year course prepares students for careers in the cultural and creative industries.
- For information on this programme (opens in a new window)Click here >>>.