Increased combined knowledge for broad expertise Developing an understanding of the exhibition, the museum’s most fundamental component, provides tools for working with cultural memory and learning. On completing the course, you will have deeper knowledge and understanding of exhibitions and other forms of display as historical and contemporary phenomena. You will also have broadened your understanding of the interpretation and changeability of central concepts in art history, such as “preservation”, “authenticity” and “value”. After studying Art History, you are prepared for work in the arts and culture sector. Potential workplaces include museums, art galleries, or institutions. Other careers include writing, art criticism, publishing or curating art exhibitions. You can combine studying Art History with other subjects to broaden your competence. You can also choose to continue studying at Master’s level, then doctoral level and work in research or as a teacher in higher education. After studying Art History you will have good academic writing skills, as well as having trained your ability to read and analyse critically, and to review advanced research literature. You will have practiced quickly writing and structuring text, managing sources and scholarly formalities. Outside of your working life, you also benefit from your knowledge of art, historic and contemporary. You will have the knowledge and ability to understand the general debate in aesthetics, thanks to your ability to critically interpret texts and images. What are former students doing now? Former students have generally followed two routes: some towards higher academic studies, at Master’s and doctoral levels, some towards work in the arts and culture sector. Former students now work in various roles in the arts world, including at galleries, museums and other cultural institutions. Others work as art critics or at publishers.

Increased knowledge and understanding of the effects of display The course is right for you if you already have 90 credits in Art History and want to advance your knowledge of issues relating to display, museum history and exhibition analysis. Direct contact with selected examples provides knowledge of “behind the scenes” work on exhibitions, in addition to that which is visible through the display itself. The course also provides an introduction to the field of gender history. You will discuss and reflect on the subject’s importance for our perspectives on and understanding of history. You will study theoretical texts and read about the development of gender history from the 1970s to the present day. There is a specific focus on how gender can be linked to other orders of power, such as class, ethnicity and sexuality. Compared to undergraduate level, this Master’s course places higher demands on independent study. Course design Teaching is primarily conducted as lectures and seminars, along with some guest lectures and study visits. Examination is through compulsory attendance and active participation in seminars and study visits, and through oral and written assignments. There are about two face to face meetings each week. The course has around 10-15 places.

Are you interested in art, images and visual phenomena? At Södertörn University, Art History is integrated with multicultural perspectives and aspects of gender and class. You will look in-depth at the history of art, and to examine art from a contemporary and modern perspective. The subject has a theoretical foundation, giving you expertise in contemporary and modern Art History. Theory is intertwined with practical elements. Studying Art History involves work with various themes linked to concepts, narratives, questions and methods. Classical Art History is combined with studies of visual cultures. It includes everything from works of art to mass-produced images, architecture and design. You will also analyse Leonardo’s “Mona Lisa” and reflect on the concept of a masterpiece. Art History as a subject offers interaction with external actors. Meetings with professionals in arts and culture during your studies provide broad insight into the sector. You will meet artists, experts and museum directors.