The University of Essex MA Art History and Theory is ideal for students interested in working in academia, the art world or any other field in which visual, written and analytical skills are essential.

At Essex, students have the freedom to study what most interests them. Some of the topics students may choose to explore include Early Modern art and architecture; the history of photography; modern and contemporary art; curatorial practice and exhibition design; as well as more vernacular forms of visual culture, such as body art and activist placards.

Regardless of the topics students pursue, Essex is committed to research-based teaching, with a particular emphasis on bringing the approaches of art history into contact with other disciplines and discourses. In so doing, they seek to facilitate a critical engagement with artworks and forms of visual culture, both within and beyond the traditional canons of art history.