History of art
Gain a global perspective of the History of Art with a part-time course
Our part-time qualifications in the history of art recognise the globally diverse range of users, makers, and viewers, offering you the chance to join a group of peers eager to learn more about visual cultures, voices, and experiences. Discover the latest debates in the history of art, through flexible learning and visits to Oxford’s world-leading museums and collections.
What can you gain?
- Get up to speed with the latest debates and methods to interpret works of art, particularly in the areas of politics, society, gender and identity, material culture and decolonising practices.
- Exchange ideas and develop questions with a group of like-minded peers.
- Gain practical knowledge and develop your interpretative skills through museum and gallery visits in Oxford and London.
- Fit study around your commitments and responsibilities by combining online digital learning with in-person teaching.
Short courses for adult learners
Explore a new topic or revisit a favourite subject over the course of a few days, a few weeks or a term. Our short courses run in person or online, with some offered in both formats – so you can choose the best study option.
Upcoming courses
Summer schools • Short courses
Examine the major revolution in the arts that took place during the period known as the Italian Renaissance, by looking at works by key artists from Cennini to Michelangelo. The course will encompass architecture, sculpture and paintings.
- Sun 13 Jul 2025 – 19 Jul 2025
Online - flexible • Short courses
From Paris to Moscow, Glasgow to Barcelona, this course examines the richness and variety of European art nouveau.
- Mon 15 Sep 2025 – 28 Nov 2025
Online - flexible • Short courses
This course will seek to provide guidelines about how to look at modern art in an open-minded, critical and analytical way.
- Mon 15 Sep 2025 – 28 Nov 2025
Online - flexible • Short courses
This course offers you the opportunity to learn how to study and analyse paintings, drawings and prints, and learn the 'language of looking'.
- Mon 15 Sep 2025 – 28 Nov 2025
Online - flexible • Short courses
The work of northern Renaissance artists is often incredibly beautiful, with marvellous colours and textures. But there is much more to their work than simple aesthetics, for it evolved from an intriguing range of religious and cultural beliefs.
- Mon 15 Sep 2025 – 28 Nov 2025
Online - flexible • Short courses
Beginning with the vital structural innovations of the late Victorian era, this course traces the rise and spread of modernism in European and American architecture, and concludes by examining contemporary architecture and future possibilities.
- Wed 17 Sep 2025 – 28 Nov 2025
History of art award programmes
Part-time undergraduate awards and postgraduate degrees in the history of art and design.Undergraduate Certificate in the History of Art
The part-time Certificate in the History of Art teaches students about the production and provenance of works of art in museums, as well as key skills such as how to view and describe works of art.Undergraduate Diploma in the History of Art
A two-year part-time course in which you study two modules from a choice of four, each of which allows you to immerse yourself in a specific period of art history. Taught at second-year undergraduate level.MSt in Literature and Arts
An interdisciplinary programme which encompasses literature, history, art, architectural history, political thought and the history of ideas. Designed around 3 sequential periods of British history, from Early Modern to the early 20th century.MSt in the History of Design
This two-year part-time master's degree explores how ordinary things and places created since 1851 reveal fascinating traces of historical experienc