History of Art with Curating with Foundation Year BA (Hons)

Birkbeck, University of London

Are you interested in a career in galleries and museums, arts policy and education, or in the broader cultural and heritage sectors? On our BA History of Art with Curating with Foundation Year you will learn to research the social and historical contexts in which visual art has been produced, and write confidently and analytically about texts and images. At the same time, you will be introduced to current curatorial approaches and debates, and given opportunities to put your knowledge and ideas into practice in a supportive and collaborative environment.

Before proceeding to the main degree, you will spend your Foundation Year preparing yourself for a degree in the arts by improving your study and research skills and gaining arts-related knowledge and understanding. You will also have the opportunity to take a language module as part of the Foundation Year.

Upon successful completion of the Foundation Year, you can automatically progress on to our three-year, full-time, evening study BA History of Art with Curating.

We also offer part-time Foundation Year degrees which allow you to spread out your Foundation Year studies over two years. As the 'Foundation Year' is made up of 120 credits, as a part-time student you can take 60 credits in each of your first and second years before starting the main four-year BA History of Art with Curating. This means that you can take six years to complete the part-time degree with Foundation Year.

Highlights

• Our Foundation Year programmes will fully prepare you for undergraduate study. They are ideal if you are returning to study after a gap, if you have not previously studied the relevant subjects, or if you did not achieve the grades you needed for a place on your chosen undergraduate degree.

• Established almost half a century ago, Birkbeck's Department of History of Art is an internationally respected centre for research and teaching. Keep up to date with our activities on the Birkbeck History of Art blog. We offer information evenings for prospective students interested in our History of Art programmes throughout the year. As well as regular gallery and museum visits, we offer an exciting study trip abroad every spring.

• In the most recent Research Excellence Framework (REF), Art and Design at Birkbeck achieved 100% for a research environment supporting world-leading or internationally excellent research.

• We have a state-of-the-art cinema and exhibition spaces, all housed in a historic building that was a former home to key members of the Bloomsbury Group, including the author Virginia Woolf and the artist Vanessa Bell. See a video about our home in Gordon Square.

• Students are encouraged to become involved in the lively research culture of the Department through the Centre for Museum Cultures, the History and Theory of Photography Research Centre, the Architecture, Space and Society Centre and the Vasari Research Centre, which has pioneered the field of digital art history.

• The School of Arts is an official partner of the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) in London. Opportunities for students have included a year’s free membership of the ICA, private views, discounts on all talks and events, free members' screenings and £3 cinema tickets on Tuesdays, up to 25% off ICA Artists' Editions and a monthly e-newsletter.