History of Art DPhil

University of Oxford

The DPhil in History of Art is an advanced research degree, awarded on the basis of successful completion of an individual research thesis and an oral examination.

The Department of History of Art, which operates as part of the Faculty of History, offers research degrees in a broad range of fields within the discipline of art history and visual culture.

History of Art at the University of Oxford draws on a long and deep tradition of teaching and studying the subject. The core academic staff work on subjects from medieval European architecture to modern Chinese art. Over fifty associated academic staff (eg in Anthropology, Classics, History, Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, and the Ruskin School of Art) include teachers and researchers across the full global and historical range of art and visual culture. This offers students exciting possibilities to develop their own interests in art history and to receive supervision on a very wide range of topics.

The DPhil programme enables you to acquire the research skills necessary to complete a substantial piece of original research. You will work under the guidance of a supervisor who is a specialist in their subject. As part of your doctoral research, you will produce a thesis of not more than 100,000 words.

Current DPhil students are writing theses on a diverse range of topics, including the print-making techniques of the eighteenth-century British artist Alexander Cozens; the role played by the political economy of silver in the invention of photography; the elite tombs of late Medieval Castile; the visual and material culture of pilgrimage in the Este courts of fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Italy; the relationship of colour and race in late nineteenth-century French painting; the erotic in Venetian popular prints made between 1550 and 1620; the work of the twentieth-century Italian photographer Ugo Mulas; illustrated books about China published in Edo Japan; the visual culture of the British railway system in Western Anatolia; the pictorial work of the nineteenth-century English polymath John Herschel; and the function and agency of religious images in late-medieval England.

All DPhil students are expected to attend and to contribute to the wide range of research seminars, conferences and workshops organised by the department and faculty. You also have access to specialist training courses offered by the Bodleian Libraries and IT Services.

Further information about studying part time

The faculty is able to offer the programme in full-time as well as part-time mode of attendance. Please note that any published statistics as regards acceptance rates are not an indication of applicants having a better chance of acceptance in part-time mode. All DPhil applications are assessed together and compared with each other, irrespective of the mode of study.

History of Art research degrees are not available by distance learning. Although there will be no requirement to reside in Oxford, part-time research students must attend the University on a regular basis in term-time: October and November, mid-January to mid-March, and late April to mid-June. Part-time students are required to attend seminars, skills training and supervision meetings in Oxford. The dates of attendance will be determined by mutual agreement with your supervisor.

We cannot sponsor student visas for part-time study as the study patterns are not compatible with Home Office regulations on attendance monitoring. However, other options may be available and you should contact the admissions office to discuss.