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Undergraduate Study

BA Art History & Visual Culture and English - 2025 entry

Please note: The below is for 2025 entries. Click here for 2024 entries.
UCAS code QV33
Duration 3 years
Entry year 2025
Campus Streatham Campus
Discipline Art History & Visual Culture
Contact

Web: Enquire online
Phone: 0300 555 6060 (UK callers) 
+44 (0)1392 723044 (EU/International callers)

Typical offer

View full entry requirements

A-Level: ABB
IB: 32/655
BTEC: DDM

Contextual offers

A-Level: ACC
IB: 28/554
BTEC: DMM

Overview

  • Interpret works of art (including architecture, and design) as well as images, objects and practices in order to understand contemporary and past societies.
  • Art, history and culture embedded on campus with the Exeter Northcott Theatre, Bill Douglas Cinema Musuem, Lemon Grove and Great Hall as music venues and student theatre Roborough Studios. Exeter has also recently been awarded UNESCO City of Literature status.
  • Develop your expertise in subjects that range from early medieval to contemporary literature, film and creative writing.
  • In your final year write a dissertation in English Literature, Creative Writing or Art History & Visual Culture.

View 2024 Entry

Request a prospectus

Open Days and visiting us

How to apply

Contact

Web: Enquire online

Phone: +44 (0)1392 72 72 72

Top 10 in the UK for English

9th in The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024

Top 100 in the world for English Language and Literature

61st in the QS World University Subject Rankings 2023

Top 10 for History of Art, Architecture and Design

10th in The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024

Internationally recognised fine art, heritage and film collections on site, including the Bill Douglas Cinema Museum

The teaching is very hands on, and I always feel that I can talk to my module convenor or personal tutor when I have any queries or concerns regarding my course.

Moving away from Hong Kong was a hard decision, having spent my whole life there, however the social aspect of being at university has allowed me to become an extrovert, networking with people who share a similar interest and passion within the subject of culture and humanities.

Read more from Carrie

Carrie

BA Art History & Visual Culture and English

Entry requirements (typical offer)

Qualification Typical offer Required subjects
A-Level ABB A in English Literature or English Language and Literature
IB 32/655 HL6 in English Literature or English Language and Literature
BTEC DDM Applicants studying a BTEC Extended Diploma are also required to achieve A in A-Level English Literature or English Language and Literature
GCSE C or 4 English Language
Access to HE 24 L3 Credits at Distinction Grade and 21 L3 credits at Merit Grade. To include at least 15 L3 credits at Distinction Grade in an acceptable English subject area.
T-Level Distinction Applicants studying a T-Level will also require GCE AL English Literature or English Literature & Language grade A
Contextual Offer

A-Level: ACC
IB: 28/554
BTEC: DMM

Specific subject requirements must still be achieved where stated above. Find out more about contextual offers.

Other accepted qualifications

View other accepted qualifications

English language requirements

International students need to show they have the required level of English language to study this course. The required test scores for this course fall under Profile B2. Please visit our English language requirements page to view the required test scores and equivalencies from your country.

NB General Studies is not included in any offer.

Grades advertised on each programme webpage are the typical level at which our offers are made and provide information on any specific subjects an applicant will need to have studied in order to be considered for a place on the programme. However, if we receive a large number of applications for the programme we may not be able to make an offer to all those who are predicted to achieve/have achieved grades which are in line with our typical offer. For more information on how applications are assessed and when decisions are released, please see: After you apply

Course content

30 credits of compulsory Art History & Visual Culture modules, 30 credits of compulsory English modules, 30 credits of optional Art History & Visual Culture modules and 30 credits of optional English modules.

 

Compulsory modules

CodeModule Credits
AHV1011 Questions and Methods in Art History and Visual Culture 30
EAS1035 Beginnings: English Literature before 1800 30

Optional modules

Subject to choosing 120 credits overall for the stage, you must:

a select either AHV1005 and AHV1009, or AHV1012, selecting 30 credits in total.

b select 30 credits from this list of optional English modules.

CodeModule Credits
AHV Stage 1 CH Option Modules 2023-4 [See note a above]
AHV1006 Visual Media 15
AHV1008 Topics in Art History and Visual Culture I 15
MLM1010 China of the Senses: Approaching Chinese Culture and Environments 15
AHV1005 Inside the Museum 15
AHV1009 Topics in Art History and Visual Culture II 15
MLF1121 French Visual History 15
EAS CH Stage 1 Option Modules 2023-4 [See note b above]
EAS1032 Approaches to Criticism 30
EAS1034 Film Studies: An Introduction 15
EAS1037 The Novel 15
EAS1038 The Poem 15
EAS1040 Academic English 15
EAS1041 Rethinking Shakespeare 15
EAS1042 Write after Reading 30
EAS1044 Imagine This: Prompts for Creative Writing 15
EAS1045 The Essay: Form and Content 15
LIB1105 Being Human in the Modern World 30
HUM1001 Enter the Matrix: Digital Perspectives on the Humanities 15

30 credits of compulsory Art History & Visual Culture modules, 30 credits of optional Art History & Visual Culture modules and 60 credits of optional English modules.

 

Compulsory modules

CodeModule Credits
AHV2015 Art History and Visual Culture Field Study for Blended Learning 30

Optional modules

Subject to selecting 120 credits overall in the stage, you must:

c select 30 credits from this list of optional Art History & Visual Culture modules (including HUM2000 and HUM2001 Humanities in the Workplace).

d select 60 credits from this list of optional English modules (including HUM2000 and HUM2001 Humanities in the Workplace). English modules in stage 2 are divided into three groups: Group 1, modules concerned with pre-1750 literature; Group 2, modules concerned with post-1750 literature; Group 3, modules not concerned with a particular historical period. Combined Honours students may not take more than one module from each group.

CodeModule Credits
AHV Stage 2 CH Option Modules 2023-4 [See note c above]
AHV2002 Debates and Contestations in Art History 15
AHV2013 Photography and Evidence 15
AHV2018 Comics Studies: Histories, Methodologies, Genres 30
AHV2021 American Photographs 15
AHV2022 Animals in Nineteenth-century Art and Visual Culture 15
AHV2208 Ideal Cities? Urban Cultures of Renaissance Italy 15
EAS2089 Creative Industries: Their Past, Our Future 30
AHV2007 Contemporary Visual Practices 15
AHV2009 The New York Avant-Garde 1955-1980 30
AHV2012 Revolutions: Art and Society in France, 1770-1848 30
AHV2019 Common Threads: Art, Craft and Activism 15
AHV2020 Deconstructing the Dutch Golden Age: Nationalism, Exceptionalism and Decline 15
MLF2066 Intimate Spaces of the French Enlightenment 15
MLM2003 Chinoiserie and Europeenerie: Artistic and cultural exchanges between China and Europe 15
EAS Stage 2 Pre-1750 Option Modules 2023-4 [See note d above]
EAS2026 Desire and Power: English Literature 1570-1640 30
EAS2036 Theatrical Cultures in Early Modern England 30
EAS2071 Chaucer and His Contemporaries 30
EAS2080 Renaissance and Revolution 30
EAS2102 Satire and the City: English Literature 1660-1750 30
EAS Stage 2 Post-1750 Option Modules 2023-4 [See note d above]
EAF2502 Shots in the Dark 30
EAF2510 Adaptation: Text, Image, Culture 30
EAS2029 Revolutions and Evolutions 19C Writings 30
EAS2103 Modernism and Modernity: Literature 1900-1960 30
EAS2104 Crossing the Water: Transatlantic Literary Relations 30
EAS2106 Romanticism 30
EAS2116 Empire of Liberty: American Literature of the Long Nineteenth Century 30
EAF2511 Television: Times, Trends and Technologies 30
EAS Stage 2 Neutral Option Modules 2023-4 [See note d above]
EAS2031 Creative Writing: Building a Story 30
EAS2032 Creative Writing: Making a Poem 30
EAS2035 Serious Play: Creative Writing Workshop 30
EAS2089 Creative Industries: Their Past, Our Future 30
EAS2090 Humanities after the Human: Further Adventures in Critical Theory 30
EAS2113 Culture, Crisis and Ecology in a Postcolonial World 30
AHV2018 Comics Studies: Histories, Methodologies, Genres 30
HAS2004 Making a Career in Publishing 30
LIB2000 Think Tank 15
HUM HUM2000-HUM2001
HUM2000 Humanities in the Workplace 30
HUM2001 Humanities in the Workplace 15

Typically, any placement year will take place in Year 3. If you are not taking a placement year please see the Final Year modules for year 3.

0-30 credits of compulsory Art History & Visual Culture modules, 0-30 credits of compulsory English modules, 30-60 credits of optional Art History & Visual Culture modules, and 30-60 credits of optional English modules.

Compulsory modules

Subject to choosing 120 credits for the stage overall, you must:

e select a Dissertation in either Art History & Visual Culture or English: AHV3000 or EAS3003 or EAS3122 (you cannot choose more than one module from this group).

CodeModule Credits
AHV3000 Art History and Visual Culture Dissertation [See note e above]30
EAS3003 Dissertation [See note e above]30
EAS3122 Creative Writing Dissertation [See note e above]30

Optional modules

f if selecting EAS3003 or EAS3122, select 60 credits from this list of optional Art History & Visual Culture modules.

g if selecting AHV3000, select 60 credits from this list of optional English modules.

CodeModule Credits
AHV Final Stage CH Option Modules 2023-4 [See note f above]
AHV3003 The Face 15
AHV3008 Performance Art 15
HUM3015 The Place of Meaning: Gardens in Britain and China 15
MLG3036 Dictatorships on Display: History Exhibitions in Germany and Austria 15
EAF3515 Something to See: War and Visual Media 30
EAS3245 The 21st Century Museum 30
EAS3421 Picturing the Global City: Literature and Visual Culture in the 21st Century 30
EAS3504 Surrealism and its Legacies 30
AHV3002 Understanding Space in Renaissance Italy 15
AHV3007 Global Modernisms 15
AHV3009 Paris to the World: Modelling the Modern City 15
AHV3012 Installation Art 15
AHV3016 Conceptual Art 15
AHV3017 'Queen City of Europe': Art, Culture and Society in Renaissance Antwerp, c.1500-70 15
EAS Final Stage Option Modules 2023-4 [See note g above]
EAS3128 Writing the Short Film 30
EAS3131 Advanced Critical Theory 30
EAS3167 James Joyce's Ulysses 30
EAS3181 Visual and Literary Cultures of Realism 30
EAS3182 Encountering the Other in Medieval Literature 30
EAS3191 Writing for Children and Young Adults 30
EAS3198 The Death of the Novel 30
EAS3219 Virginia Woolf: Fiction, Feeling, Form 30
EAS3225 'Reader, I Married Him': The Evolution of Romance Fiction from 1740 to the Present 30
EAS3235 American Modern 30
EAS3237 The Rise of Science 30
EAS3241 Harlem and After: African American Literature 1925-present 30
EAS3245 The 21st Century Museum 30
EAS3252 Poison, Filth, Trash: Modernism, Censorship and Resistance 30
EAS3311 Piracy in Early Modern Literature, 1570-1730 30
EAS3408 Poetry and Politics 30
EAS3414 Jane Austen: In and Out of Context 30
EAS3415 The Development of British Childrens Literature 30
EAS3416 Feeling Bodies: Emotions in Early Modern Literature and Culture, 1500-1700 30
EAS3417 Sex, Scandal and Sensation in Victorian Literature 30
EAS3419 Writing South Asia 30
EAS3420 Staging Space: Dramatic Geography and Audience Experience 30
EAS3421 Picturing the Global City: Literature and Visual Culture in the 21st Century 30
EAS3502 Shakespeare and Crisis 30
EAS3503 Migration, Literature and Culture 30
EAS3501 Fiction Matters 30
EAS3100 Hardy and Women Who Did: the Coming of Modernity 30
EAS3507 Writing Song Lyrics 30
EAS3500 American Counterculture in Literature 30
EAS3152 Heroes and Exiles: English Poetry of the Age of Beowulf 30
EAS3504 Surrealism and its Legacies 30
EAS3246 Food and Literature in Early Modern England 30
HUM3016 Book Publishing: Principles of Book Commissioning, Editing and Design 30

Course variants

UCAS code: QV34

Our four-year ‘with Study Abroad’ degree, offers you the possibility of spending your third year abroad, studying with one of our many partner universities.

Why Study Abroad?

Living and studying in a different country is an exciting experience that broadens your academic and cultural horizons, as well as giving you the opportunity to widen your circle of friends. Students who have studied abroad demonstrate initiative, independence, motivation and, depending on where they stay, may also have gained a working knowledge of another language – all key qualities that employers are looking for in today’s competitive employment environment.

Where can I Study Abroad?

We have partnership arrangements with many prestigious institutions across the globe. Exactly where you can apply to study will depend on the subjects you are studying at Exeter. For a full list please visit the Study Abroad website.

Does it count towards my degree?

Credit for academic work during your year abroad is arranged by agreement between the University of Exeter and the host institution. These marks are then translated back into your degree at Exeter. If you are Studying Abroad for a semester or full year, your time abroad will count toward your final degree. Please refer to your College Study Abroad co-ordinator for further details.

How does it affect my tuition fee and funding?

For the year that you spend studying abroad you will pay a significantly reduced tuition fee to Exeter, but nothing to your host university – for more information visit our fees pages. If you were previously eligible, you will continue to receive a maintenance loan whilst on your Study Abroad year.

UCAS code: QV32

Our four-year ‘with Employment Experience’ degree, offers you the possibility of spending your third year carrying out a graduate-level work placement or placements within the UK as part of your degree.

Why choose to include Employment Experience?

Undertaking graduate-level work during your degree unlocks a world of experience that allows you to develop essential employability and interpersonal skills that relate to your degree and future career. A work placement will dramatically boost your confidence, enhance your CV and develop graduate level skills and competencies that employers are looking for.

Where will I do my work placement?

The sector you choose to work within is very much your choice as you will be responsible for finding and organising your placement. We will provide plenty of guidance and support during your first and second years which will prepare you to research and apply for placements. Ultimately, the university will give final approval to your placement to make sure you have a valuable experience.

How does it affect my tuition fees and funding?

For your ‘Year In Industry’ you will pay a significantly reduced tuition fee to Exeter – for more information visit our fees pages. If you were previously eligible, you will continue to receive a maintenance loan whilst on your year of work placement/s.

Find out more

Visit our website to learn more about employment experience opportunities. 

UCAS code: QV35

Our four-year ‘with Employment Experience Abroad’ degree, offers you the possibility of spending your third year abroad, carrying out a graduate-level work placement or placements as part of your degree.

Why choose to include Employment Experience Abroad?

Spending up to a year living and working in a different country is an exciting experience that broadens your academic and cultural horizons, as well as giving you the opportunity to widen your circle of friends. By carrying out a graduate-level work placement or placements abroad you can demonstrate to employers your adaptability, cultural awareness, independence and resourcefulness and, depending on where you stay, may also have gained a working knowledge of another language.

Where will I do my work placement?

The sector and country you choose to work within is very much your choice as you will be responsible for finding and organising your placement. We will provide plenty of guidance and support during your first and second years which will prepare you to research and apply for placements. Ultimately, the university will give final approval to your placement to make sure you have a valuable experience.

How does it affect my tuition fee?

For your ‘Year In Industry’ you will pay a significantly reduced tuition fee to Exeter – for more information visit our fees pages. If you were previously eligible, you will continue to receive a maintenance loan whilst on your year of work placement/s.

Is the placement paid?

You will be paid in accordance with the rules of the country you work in and there may be visa restrictions or requirements which you need to consider when applying.

Find out more

Visit our website to learn more about employment experience opportunities. 

Fees

Tuition fees for 2024 entry

UK students: £9,250 per year
International students: £23,700 per year

Scholarships

The University of Exeter has many different scholarships available to support your education, including £5 million in scholarships for international students, such as our Global Excellence Scholarships*. Financial support is also available for students from disadvantaged backgrounds, lower income households and other under-represented groups to help them access, succeed and progress through higher education.

* Terms and conditions apply. See online for details.

Find out more about tuition fees and scholarships

Learning and teaching

Learning and teaching

You will be taught by internationally respected staff who are leading researchers in their specialisms. We use a wide variety of techniques and approaches including seminars, lectures, study groups and web-based learning, as well as valuable field study. We integrate the latest approaches with traditional learning and teaching to give you a varied and challenging programme. As you study the compulsory modules, you will learn through individual practical and project work, teamwork and a research project, all of which are designed to help you develop key skills for success throughout your degree and into your future career.

Contact time

In your first year, you will receive a minimum of 10 hours of contact with academic staff per week. You will also be expected to attend other activities such as study groups, workshop activities and film screenings. Your total workload should average about 40 hours per week during term time. The exact amount of time spent working independently varies from module to module.

Museums, galleries, and field trips

We believe it’s really important for you to gain first-hand exposure to works of art and other visual artefacts. You will profit from engaging with the museums and galleries in the region, in addition to field trips to collections in London and elsewhere. You will also can develop expertise in curation through the University’s Bill Douglas Cinema Museum.

Art History and Visual Culture field trip abroad

In the second year of the programme we offer a core module, Art History & Visual Culture Field Study, which involves an intensive study trip abroad to immerse our students in the art, architecture and visual culture of a specific location in Europe. In recent years our study abroad trip has taken place in Florence Italy*.

Research-inspired teaching

Teaching that is inspired by research ensures lectures are up-to-date and relevant: you will benefit from access to the latest thinking, equipment and resources. All options are taught by staff with expertise including art history, architecture, film, photography, visual media, art and technology, curation and exhibition, mixed and virtual realities, performance art and visual culture in the UK and abroad.

Academic support

All students have access to a personal tutor who is available for advice and support throughout your studies. There are also a number of services on campus where you can get advice and information, including the Students’ Guild Advice Unit.

Assessment

You will be assessed in a variety of ways but primarily through exams and coursework. Coursework includes essays, a dissertation and presentation work. The ratio of formal exams to coursework is on average 40:60 (depending on your choice of modules). Your first year doesn’t count towards your final degree classification, but you do have to pass it in order to progress. In order to be eligible for ‘with Study Abroad’ programmes, you will need to attain an average of 60 per cent or more in your first year. The assessments in the second year, year abroad (if applicable) and final year will contribute to your final degree classification.

*Field course destination subject to change

Optional modules outside of this course

Each year, if you have optional modules available, you can take up to 30 credits in a subject outside of your course. This can increase your employability and widen your intellectual horizons.

Proficiency in a second subject

If you complete 60 credits of modules in one of the subjects below, you may have the words 'with proficiency in [e.g. Social Data Science]' added to your degree title when you graduate.

  • A Foreign Language
  • Law
  • Social Data Science
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Leadership

Find out more about proficiency options

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Your future

Employer-valued skills this course develops

Art History and Visual Culture at the University of Exeter is a bold interdisciplinary programme, which will enable you to stand out in the job market. This programme will give you specialist knowledge of everything from traditional art forms such as architecture and sculpture, to today’s visual practices such as film, video, performance and digital art. You will develop a broad range of highly desirable skills in analysis, critique, research and theoretical and practical creativity.

Career paths

Art History & Visual Culture graduates compete very successfully in the employment market, with many employers targeting the University when recruiting new graduates.

Examples of roles recent graduates are now working as include:

  • Art Gallery Intern
  • Brand Intern in fashion industry
  • Civil Service Fast Stream
  • Collections Information Officer
  • Editorial Assistant
  • Events Planner
  • Marketing Intern
  • PR Account Executive
  • Researcher
  • TV Promotions Assistant

Further study

Every year a high proportion of Humanities graduates choose to progress to further study or professional training. The Art History and Visual Culture programme presents its graduates with opportunity to undertake further study or training in areas such as education, arts management and journalism, amongst others.

Career Zone

The services offered by the careers and employability team are complementary to the services offered by our central Career Zone, where you can participate in practical sessions to develop your skills; access paid internships and volunteering opportunities; explore postgraduate study options; meet prospective employers; get one-to-one advice and learn how to secure the right job for you.  

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