History of Art and English BA, 3-4 years
Start date:
Course information
Typical offer ABB-BBB
UK/EU fee £9,250
UCAS code VQ33
International fee £17,450
Institute code L34
Taught by English
Admissions enquiries
+44 (0)116 252 5281
ahladmissions@le.ac.uk
Course enquiries
+44 (0)116 252 2620
ArtsAdmissions@le.ac.uk
Trace the interplay of the visual image and the written word through history, in the work of artists and writers in an array of different genres.
Course description
Course description
The links between art and literature are fascinating and long-standing and it is arguably impossible to fully appreciate one without understanding the other. The History of Art and English BA is designed to explore the links between literature and art because we believe you can gain the richest appreciation of art and literature by studying them side by side.
Your modules will be taught by both History of Art and Film and English. You will not only learn the genre and stylistic histories of art and literature but will also consider the countless theories and aesthetic philosophies that seek to explain their cultural, social and psychological importance.
Entry requirements
Entry requirements
- A/AS-levels: ABB-BBB at A-level including English (Language, Literature or combined). Two AS-levels considered in place of one A-Level. General Studies is accepted
- EPQ with A-levels: BBB-BBC at A-level including English (Language, Literature or combined) + EPQ at grade B
- Access to HE Diploma: Pass relevant diploma with a minimum of 45 credits at level 3, 24 of which must be at distinction. To include 12 credits at Distinction in English Level 3 Modules
- International Baccalaureate: Pass Diploma with 28 points including 6 in Higher Level English
- BTEC Nationals: Pass Diploma with DDM. Plus grade B in A-level English (Language, Literature or combined).
Other national and international qualifications considered.
Second year entry may be possible with suitable qualifications.
Selection Process
When considering your application, we will look for evidence that you will be able to fulfil the objectives of the course and achieve the standards required. We will take into account a range of factors including previous exam results.
Applicants are not normally interviewed. If you receive an offer you will be invited to visit the department.
English Language Requirements
IELTS 6.5 or equivalent. If your first language is not English, you may need to provide evidence of your English language ability. If you do not yet meet our requirements, our English Language Teaching Unit (ELTU) offers a range of courses to help you to improve your English to the necessary standard.
International Qualifications
Find your country in this list to check equivalent qualifications, scholarships and additional requirements.
Countries listFees and funding
Fees and funding
UK and EU Students
Starting in 2021
The University of Leicester has made the decision to keep fees for EU students at the same level as UK student fees for this year, despite this no longer being a UK Government requirement.
- £9,250 in your first year. Tuition fees are subject to government regulations and may change in future years
- Year Abroad: your fee will be £1,250 for that year
Find out more about scholarships and funding.
International Students
Starting in 2021
- £17,450 per year
- Year Abroad: £4,362.50, which is 25% of the full-time tuition fee
Find out more about scholarships and funding.
Careers and employability
Careers and employability
We organise annual employability workshops to help you realise your career ambitions and consider what progress you should be making towards employment at each stage of your degree.
Graduate destinations
Graduates from our History of Art degrees have gone on to work for a wide range of employers including:
- Tate gallery
- Victoria and Albert Museum
- Christie's
- Phillips auction house
- Attenborough Arts Centre
Career Development Service
Get career-ready at Leicester with guidance from our award-winning Career Development Service. We're here to give you a lifetime offer of support, even after graduation. Our team of specialist careers advisers and mentors will help you every step of the way. From supporting you with CVs and interviews, to volunteering opportunities and placements, we're here to help you reach your professional goals.
Related courses
Related courses
Sustainable Development Goals
Sustainable Development Goals
We are committed to providing skills and knowledge to help prepare you tackle global challenges. We have mapped our undergraduate degrees for learning which aligns to the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals.
This degree includes learning which relates to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals:
- Goal 5: Gender equality
- Goal 10: Reduced inequalities
- Goal 11: Sustainable cities and communities
Course structure
Year 1
Year 1
You will begin by studying a broad, sweeping history of art stretching from classical antiquity through to the present day. You will also learn the techniques of decoding and interpreting paintings according to their style and iconography, while also considering how literary descriptions of paintings affect the ways we ‘see’ them. The vocational module 'Film and Art: Academic Study and the Workplace' will introduce you to ways you might eventually apply your degree in an arts-related career, such as exhibition design and the organisation of arts events, and this will be delivered in collaboration with a local arts gallery. Your English studies will begin with an introduction to the core principles of English verse and prose.
Modules
- Introduction to the History of Art 1: Antiquity to Baroque
- Introduction to History of Art 2: Enlightenment to Contemporary
- Words and Pictures: Connoisseurship and Attribution
- Film and Art: Academic Study and the Workplace
- The Novel Around the World (double module)
- Renaissance Drama: Shakespeare and his Contemporaries (double module)
Modules shown represent choices available to current students. The range of modules available and the content of any individual module may change in future years.
Year 2
Year 2
Core modules
- Independent Research Project
- Documents of the History of Art
- Chaucer and Medieval Culture (double module)
- Italian Art and Architecture 1500-1700
- Modernity and Tradition
- Love Wars: Gender, Writing and Society, 1660-1789 B (double module)
Modules shown represent choices available to current students. The range of modules available and the content of any individual module may change in future years.
Year Abroad (optional)
Year Abroad (optional)
If you want to, you can spend your third year studying abroad at one of our partner institutions (eligibility is dependent on your academic performance in Years 1 and 2). Alternatively, you can opt to continue studying at the University and complete your degree in three years.
Studying abroad is not just for people who are interested in travelling and meeting new people. It is about acquiring life skills that are becoming increasingly significant for a wide range of jobs in our modern globalised society. Whether you go on to work in the private sector, the state sector, a non-governmental organisation or become self-employed you will find the experience invaluable. Find out more from our Study Abroad Unit.
Please note that a year spent abroad still incurs a tuition fee, but this is much lower than for a normal year at Leicester. See our Fees and Funding section for details.
History of Art and Film at Leicester has links with European universities, administered through the Erasmus+ scheme. If you are eligible for a loan from Student Finance you can apply for a travel grant from them. Languages courses, at both beginners and advanced level, are available through the University’s Languages at Leicester scheme.
- For the latest information on the future of the Erasmus+ scheme at UK universities please see our Brexit microsite
We have links with the following universities:
- Freie University Berlin, Germany
- University of Pisa, Italy
- University of Montpellier, France
- University of Groningen, Netherlands
Modules shown represent choices available to current students. The range of modules available and the content of any individual module may change in future years.
Final Year (History of Art Dissertation)
Final Year (History of Art Dissertation)
Core module
Option modules
Choose 3 option modules from lists labelled A, plus 2 option modules from lists labelled B. You must choose at least one of the modules marked * and at least one of the modules marked **. You cannot choose both the 'Victorians' modules or both the 'Post-War to Post-Modern' modules. Overall, at least 3 modules should be from the English lists.
History of Art A
- Art Since 1945
- Art and Design in Europe, 1890-1914
- From Drawing to Painting in the Italian Renaissance
English A
- Romanticism: Revolutionary Writing from Blake to Shelley*
- Victorians: from Oliver Twist to The Picture of Dorian Gray A*
- Victorians: from Oliver Twist to The Picture of Dorian Gray B (double module – counts as two modules)*
- Coming of Age in America: Representing Adolescence in Fiction and Film
- Forms of Modern Poetry
- Love and Death: The Novel in 19th Century Russia and France
- Feminist Fiction
- Church and State in Medieval Literature
- Writing Voices
- Criminal Women in Early Modern Literature
- English Around the World
- Classical Worlds: Translation and Reception
- English Place Names
- Detective Fiction from Sherlock Holmes to the Second World War
- Libertine Literature, 1660-1690
- Writing Prose Fiction
- On the Road Again: The Canterbury Tales After Chaucer
- Clinical Encounters? Narratives of Doctors and Patients from the Victorians to the Present Day
- The Living and the Dead in Nineteenth Century Literature and Culture
- Multilingual and Multicultural Communities
History of Art B
- Art and the Natural Environment, 1800 to present day
- Public Art and Monuments since 1918
- Italy and the North 1550-1700
- Film and Art Journalism
English B
- Modern Literature**
- Postcolonial Britain**
- Rewriting Britain (double module – counts as two modules)**
- Modern Monsters: Contemporary American Texts
- American Autobiography and American Literature
- Woman and the Feminine in Medieval and Renaissance Literature
- Late Victorian Gothic: Texts and Contexts
- Representing the Holocaust
- Modern European Fiction
- Advanced Old English Language
- Historical Fiction
- Understanding Screenplays
- Tragedy
- Green Unpleasant Land: Britain’s Colonial Countryside
- Writing for Laughs
- Language, Power and Persuasion
- Sex and Sensibility: Women, Writing, Revolution
Modules shown represent choices available to current students. The range of modules available and the content of any individual module may change in future years.
Final Year (English Dissertation)
Final Year (English Dissertation)
Core module
Option modules
Choose 4 option modules from the lists labelled A, plus 2 option modules from the lists labelled B. You must choose at least one of the modules marked * and at least one of the modules marked **. You cannot choose both the 'Victorians' modules or both the 'Post-War to Post-Modern' modules. Overall, at least 3 modules should be from the History of Art lists.
History of Art A
- Art Since 1945
- Art and Design in Europe, 1890-1914
- From Drawing to Painting in the Italian Renaissance
English A
- Romanticism: Revolutionary Writing from Blake to Shelley*
- Victorians: from Oliver Twist to The Picture of Dorian Gray A*
- Victorians: from Oliver Twist to The Picture of Dorian Gray B (double module – counts as two modules)*
- Coming of Age in America: Representing Adolescence in Fiction and Film
- Forms of Modern Poetry
- Love and Death: The Novel in 19th Century Russia and France
- Feminist Fiction
- Church and State in Medieval Literature
- Writing Voices
- Criminal Women in Early Modern Literature
- English Around the World
- Classical Worlds: Translation and Reception
- English Place Names
- Detective Fiction from Sherlock Holmes to the Second World War
- Libertine Literature, 1660-1690
- Writing Prose Fiction
- On the Road Again: The Canterbury Tales After Chaucer
- Clinical Encounters? Narratives of Doctors and Patients from the Victorians to the Present Day
- The Living and the Dead in Nineteenth Century Literature and Culture
- Multilingual and Multicultural Communities
History of Art B
- Art and the Natural Environment, 1800 to present day
- Public Art and Monuments since 1918
- Italy and the North 1550-1700
- Film and Art Journalism
English B
- Modern Literature**
- Postcolonial Britain**
- Rewriting Britain (double module – counts as two modules)**
- Modern Monsters: Contemporary American Texts
- American Autobiography and American Literature
- Woman and the Feminine in Medieval and Renaissance Literature
- Late Victorian Gothic: Texts and Contexts
- Representing the Holocaust
- Modern European Fiction
- Advanced Old English Language
- Historical Fiction
- Understanding Screenplays
- Tragedy
- Green Unpleasant Land: Britain’s Colonial Countryside
- Writing for Laughs
- Language, Power and Persuasion
- Sex and Sensibility: Women, Writing, Revolution
Modules shown represent choices available to current students. The range of modules available and the content of any individual module may change in future years.
Why Leicester?
The David Wilson Library has extensive collections of rare books and manuscripts plus the personal archives of two local giants of 20th century writing: Joe Orton and Sue Townsend.
Our research includes: Italian Renaissance paintings and drawings; art and exhibition culture; modern and contemporary art; public art and public monuments.
Notable authors who have spoken at the University include Carol Anne Duffy, Will Self, Amitav Ghosh, Jacqueline Wilson, Roger McGough, Fay Weldon, Linton Kwesi Johnson and Sarah Waters.
The University's award-winning Attenborough Arts Centre has a growing national reputation for courses, performances and exhibitions.
Teaching and learning
Teaching
You will be taught through a series of lectures, seminars, personal tutorials, interactive student presentations, IT training, field trips and site visits to galleries, exhibitions and museums. Lectures are designed to introduce you to important debates and contexts for understanding an author or artist's work. Weekly seminars, in which a tutor leads a small group of students in discussion, will allow you to explore a topic in depth.
Typically, each week you will have between nine and twelve contact hours. There will be plenty of reading and individual study to fill the rest of your time, as well as tutorials and personal tutor meetings.
When you study the ‘Renaissance Drama’ module in your first year, you will learn sword-fighting techniques from local theatre companies and practice them by staging the climax of Shakespeare’s 'Richard III' actually on Bosworth Battlefield itself.
Assessment
You will be assessed though a combination of essays, group work, oral presentations and exams.
You will have regular meetings with your personal tutor to discuss progress in your studies. Your personal tutor will also provide a sympathetic ear for all matters of personal concern, whether they be academic, financial, housing, career or social issues.
Independent learning
When not attending lectures, seminars or other timetabled sessions you will be expected to continue learning independently through self-study. Typically, this will involve reading journal articles and books, working on individual and group projects, undertaking research in the library, preparing coursework assignments and presentations, and preparing for exams. To help with your independent learning, you can access the Library and our social study spaces in halls of residence.
Your contact hours will depend on the option modules you select. You can see details of the contact hours on individual module pages.
Academic support
Our Student Learning Development Team provides help in the following areas:
- study and exam skills
- academic writing
- presentations
- dissertations
- numerical data skills
- referencing sources
Our AccessAbility Centre offers support and practical help for students with dyslexia or other specific learning difficulties, including physical, mental health or mobility difficulties, deafness, or visual impairment.
Teaching staff
You will be taught by an experienced teaching team whose expertise and knowledge are closely matched to the content of the modules on the course. PhD research students who have undertaken teacher training may also contribute to the teaching of seminars under the supervision of the module leader. Our teaching is informed by the research we do. You can learn more about our staff by visiting our History of Art staff profiles and English staff profiles.
Apply now
Course | Qualification | Duration | UCAS Code | Availability |
---|---|---|---|---|
Course History of Art and English | Qualification BA | Duration 3 years full-time | UCAS Code VQ33 | Availability Apply Now |
Course History of Art and English with Year Abroad | Qualification BA | Duration 4 years full-time | UCAS Code VQ33 | Availability Apply Now |