Study the history of art online
Short online courses in the history of art
Our short online courses in the history of art include weekly classes, day schools, lecture series and self-paced online courses.
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.
Upcoming courses
Online - flexible • Short courses
This course is for anyone interested in understanding Islamic art and culture, and examines the relationship between faith and art forms.
- Mon 20 Jan 2025 – 04 Apr 2025
Online - live • Short courses • Lecture series • Hybrid - in person or online
This lecture series will chart the broad history of painting and sculpture in Britain, from the Industrial Revolution to the 1930s: from the idyllic rural landscapes of Constable to the hard-edged Modernist abstractions of Hepworth and Moore.
- Wed 22 Jan 2025 – 26 Feb 2025
- 2:00 – 3:15pm
Online - live • Short courses • Lecture series • Hybrid - in person or online
This lecture will explore the contrasting approaches to landscape painting taken by Constable and Turner. Were the gentle Suffolk landscapes of Constable as idyllic as they at first appear? And what drove Turner’s fascination with the immensity of nature?
- Wed 22 Jan 2025
- 2:00 – 3:15pm
Online - flexible • Short courses
From Bellini and Botticelli to tapestry and tableware, the material culture of the Italian Renaissance continues to fascinate us to this day. This course is an opportunity to explore this unique period.
- Mon 27 Jan 2025 – 11 Apr 2025
Online - live • Short courses • Lecture series • Hybrid - in person or online
Investigate the complex relationship between the established academic arts of the mid-19th century, and the innovations of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Artists whose work will feature include Millais, Rossetti and Hunt. Join in Oxford or watch online.
- Wed 29 Jan 2025
- 2:00 – 3:15pm
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 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 experiencMSt 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.