Extended Major Overview

Description

The major in Art History and Curatorial Studies is the first and only of its kind offered in Western Australia. By combining art historical knowledge with curatorial methods and techniques, this major equips students with a variety of career pathways, including arts management, museum and gallery curation, as well as art criticism and analysis. Students will gain foundational knowledge in the history and evolution of curation and examine an array of curatorial approaches, ranging from the Gesamtkunstwerk, to institutional critique, and museum decolonisation. Though focused on Art History and its curatorial applications, this course also cultivates transferrable skills in visual and spatial analysis, critical thought, and oral and written communication. Offering distinct opportunities for foreign study, industry placements, and object-based learning, this major activates Art History through hands-on experience in the field and engagement with exhibitions and curatorial institutions.

Outcomes

Students are able to:

  1. Analyse a range of images, texts, and objects and situate them within their historical, cultural, and/or geographical context
  2. Apply the key concepts, theories, and methodologies of the discipline of Art History to the study, interpretation and curation of objects
  3. Critically communicate the significance and relationship among objects through written texts, oral presentation, and exhibition design
  4. Develop an understanding of curatorial practices in art museums, galleries, government and/or community arts programmes
  5. Demonstrate sound research skills through written and oral communication
  6. Demonstrate a critical understanding of the processes associated with object management across a variety of cultural and curatorial contexts.
Broadening guidelines
All students studying towards a Bachelor's Degree at UWA are required to Broaden their studies by completing a minimum of four units (24 points) of study outside their degree specific major. Broadening is your opportunity to explore other areas of interest, investigate new disciplines and knowledge paradigms and to shape your degree to suit your own aspirations and interests. Many of you will be able to undertake more than this minimum amount of broadening study and we encourage you to do so and to pursue as many areas of interest as you can during your course of study. At the same time, we k now that many of you value the University's guidance and assistance in planning your enrolment throughout your course, so we offer the following suggestions for your consideration as possible avenues to broaden your degree. Do always remember, however, that there is no wrong way to broaden your studies as long as you complete at least four units not associated with your Degree Specific Major.
Suggested Minors to broaden you study area, are:
(1) MNR-SCCOM Science Communication
(2) MNR-CCCOM Cross Cultural Communication
(3) MNR-FILMS Minor in Film Studies
(4) MNR-CRWRS Creative Writing Studies
(5) MNR-DCREA Digital Creativity
Incompatibilities

MJD-HYART History of Art

Courses

Art History and Curatorial Studies can only be taken as a degree-specific major in the following degree courses:

No study plans found for this major. See study plans for more information.

Units

Key to availability of units:
S1
Semester 1
S2
Semester 2
N/A
not available in 2025 – may be available in 2026 or 2027
NS
non-standard teaching period

Level 1

Degree-specific major units

Take all units (12 points):

Availability Unit code Unit name unit requirements
S1 HART1000 Ways of Making: The Creative Process and Material History of Art
Incompatibility
Successful completion of
level 1 6 points Unit(s) HART1000 Great Moments in Art
S2 HART1003 Ways of Seeing: Themes and Theories in Art None
Degree-specific major units

Take unit(s) to the value of 12 points:

Availability Unit code Unit name unit requirements
S1 ARTF1054 Drawing Foundations
Incompatibility
VISA1054 Art of Drawing
S2 COMM1002 Cultures, New Media and Communications
Incompatibility
COMM2202 Culture, New Media and Communications
S2 INDG1160 Boodjar Moort Katitjin: Introduction to Indigenous Heritage and Knowledge None
S2 LACH1020 The Culture of Nature None

Level 2

Degree-specific major units

Take all units (12 points):

Availability Unit code Unit name unit requirements
S1 ARTF2000 Curatorial Practices in Contemporary Arts
Prerequisites
Successful completion of
one level 1 Unit(s) in your chosen degree
Incompatibility
VISA2051 Curatorial Practices
S2 HART2274 Introduction to Museum and Curatorial Studies
Prerequisites
HART1000 Great Moments in Art (formerly VISA1000)
or HART1003 Ways of Seeing: Themes and Theories in Art
Incompatibility
VISA2274 Introduction to Museum and Curatorial Studies
Degree-specific major units

Take unit(s) to the value of 18 points:

Availability Unit code Unit name unit requirements
S2 ANTH2902 Entangled Objects
Prerequisites
Successful completion of
level 1 24 points Unit(s)
Incompatibility
ANTH2224 Aboriginal Art: Production of Meaning
N/A HART2001 Curating First Nations Art
Prerequisites
Successful completion of
HART1000 Great Moments in Art
or HART1003 Ways of Seeing: Themes and Theories in Art
or INDG1150 Aboriginal Encounters: Strangers in our Backyard
or INDG1160 Boodjar Moort Katitjin: Introduction to Indigenous Heritage and Knowledge
Incompatibility
HART3001 Curating First Nations Art
S2 HART2020 Digital Approaches to Art History and Curation
Prerequisites
Successful completion of
HART1000 Great Moments in Art
or HART1003 Ways of Seeing: Themes and Theories in Art
S1 HART2040 The Lives and Deaths of Objects
Prerequisites
Successful completion of
HART1000 Great Moments in Art
or HART1003 Ways of Seeing: Themes and Theories in Art
N/A HART2041 The Art of Photography
Prerequisites
HART1000 Great Moments in Art (formerly VISA1000)
or HART1003 Ways of Seeing: Themes and Theories in Art
N/A HART2043 Zen to Manga: A Survey of Japanese Art
Prerequisites
HART1000 Great Moments in Art (formerly VISA1000)
or HART1003 Ways of Seeing: Themes and Theories in Art
N/A HART2044 Contemporary Art and Tradition in China
Prerequisites
HART1000 Great Moments in Art
or HART1003 Ways of Seeing: Themes and Theories in Art
Incompatibility
HART3044 Chinese Art: Contemporary and Traditional
N/A HART2045 Making the Modern Body: Art and the Human Form
Prerequisites
Successful completion of
HART1000 Great Moments in Art
or HART1003 Ways of Seeing: Themes and Theories in Art
N/A HART2201 Art and Urban Experience
Prerequisites
HART1000 Great Moments in Art (formerly VISA1000)
or HART1003 Ways of Seeing: Themes and Theories in Art
N/A HART2203 (Inter)national History of Art Study Tour
Prerequisites
Completion of 1 of the following units: HART1000 Great Moments in Art (formerly VISA1000), HART1003 Ways of Seeing: Themes and Theories in Art, ARCT1010 Drawing History, ARCT1001 Art, Technology and Society (formerly HART1001)
or LACH1020 The Culture of Nature
Incompatibility
Students may not be able to complete this unit if they have already completed HART2042/3042 Living Paris: Experiencing and Representing the Modern City and/or HART2283/3282 Rome.
N/A HART2207 Caravaggio and the Baroque
Prerequisites
HART1000 Great Moments in Art (formerly VISA1000)
or HART1003 Ways of Seeing: Themes and Theories in Art
Incompatibility
VISA2207 Art of the Counter-Reformation
S1 HART2222 Contemporary Art
Prerequisites
HART1000 Great Moments in Art (formerly VISA1000)
or HART1003 Ways of Seeing: Themes and Theories in Art
Incompatibility
VISA2222 Contemporary Art
N/A HART2223 Global Modernisms: New York to Senegal
Prerequisites
HART1000 Great Moments in Art (formerly VISA1000)
or HART1003 Ways of Seeing: Themes and Theories in Art
Incompatibility
VISA2223 Modernism and the Visual Arts
N/A HART2275 Italian Renaissance Art Now
Prerequisites
HART1000 Great Moments in Art (formerly VISA1000)
or HART1003 Ways of Seeing: Themes and Theories in Art
Incompatibility
VISA2275 Italian Renaissance Art and Architecture
N/A HART2370 Global Art Histories
Prerequisites
HART1000 Great Moments in Art
or HART1003 Ways of Seeing: Themes and Theories in Art
NS INDG2600 Indigenous Representation: Cultural Heritage and The Museum
Prerequisites
Successful completion of
any level 1 Unit(s) from the Indigenous Knowledge, History and Heritage major
or HIST1100 Aboriginal History
Incompatibility
Successful completion of
VISA2051 Curatorial Practices
or INDG3500 Image, Representation and Appropriation

Level 3

Degree-specific major units

Take all units (12 points):

Availability Unit code Unit name unit requirements
N/A HART3030 Advanced Professional Skills in Curation
Prerequisites
Successful completion of
ARTF2000 Curatorial Practices
or HART2274 Introduction to Museum and Curatorial Studies
S2 HART3332 Art Object Lab: Materiality, Meaning, and Display
Prerequisites
Successful completion of
ARTF2000 Curatorial Practices
or HART2274 Introduction to Museum and Curatorial Studies
Degree-specific major units

Take unit(s) to the value of 18 points:

Availability Unit code Unit name unit requirements
N/A HART3001 Curating First Nations Art
Prerequisites
Successful completion of
one level 2 Unit(s) MJD-HYART History of Art
or INDG2300 Indigenous Knowledge: Mind, Body and Spirit
or INDG2600 Indigenous Representation
Incompatibility
HART2001 Curating First Nations Art
N/A HART3044 Contemporary Art and Tradition in China
Prerequisites
At least one Level 2 unit from the History of Art major sequence.
Incompatibility
HART2044 Chinese Art: Contemporary and Traditional
N/A HART3203 (Inter)national History of Art Study Tour
Prerequisites
At least one level 2 unit from the History of Art major sequence
or ARCT2010 Parallel Modernities in Art and Architecture
Incompatibility
Students may not be able to complete this unit if they have already completed HART2042/3042 Living Paris: Experiencing and Representing the Modern City and/or HART2283/3283 Rome.
S2 HART3204 Curatorial Studies Internship
Prerequisites
ARTF2000 Curatorial Practices
or HART2274 Introduction to Museum and Curatorial Studies
N/A HART3276 Prints from Dürer to Toulouse-Lautrec
Prerequisites
at least one Level 2 unit from the History of Art major sequence
Incompatibility
VISA2276 The Art of Printmaking: a Cultural History, HART2276 Prints from Dürer to Toulouse-Lautrec
S2 HART3301 Manet and the French Avant-Garde
Prerequisites
at least one Level 2 unit from the History of Art major
N/A HART3330 Art Writing
Prerequisites
at least one Level 2 unit from the History of Art major sequence
Incompatibility
VISA3330 Art Theory
N/A HART3333 Picturing the Self: Portraiture in Nineteenth-century Europe
Prerequisites
at least one Level 2 unit from the History of Art major sequence
Incompatibility
VISA3333 Special Unit: The Shifting Subject: Portraiture in Nineteenth-century Europe
S1 HART3361 Decolonizing the Dutch Golden Age
Prerequisites
Successful completion of
any one level 2 6 points Unit(s) MJD-HYART History of Art
Successful completion of
level 2 6 points Unit(s) MEMS2001 Classical Traditions and Transformations in Medieval and Early Modern Europe
Successful completion of
level 2 6 points Unit(s) HIST2345 Renaissance, Reformation, Revolt: Europe 1450–1650
Successful completion of
level 2 6 points Unit(s) ARCY2100 Heritage Futures
Successful completion of
level 2 6 points Unit(s) INDG2600 Indigenous Representation
Incompatibility
Successful completion of
level 3 6 points Unit(s) HART3361 The Dutch Golden Age and the Art of Exploration
S2 HART3371 The Northern Renaissance
Prerequisites
at least one Level 2 unit from the History of Art major sequence
Incompatibility
VISA2297 Special Unit: Studies in the Renaissance, VISA3371 The Northern Renaissance
N/A HART3375 Twenty-first Century Art
Prerequisites
at least one Level 2 unit from the History of Art major sequence
Incompatibility
VISA2265 Twenty-first-century Art, VISA3375 Twenty-first-century Art
S1 HART3666 Australian and Aboriginal Art
Prerequisites
at least one Level 2 unit from the History of Art major sequence
Incompatibility
VISA2266 Aboriginal Contemporary Art, VISA3300 Australian Art, HART2266 Aboriginal Contemporary Art, HART3300 Australian Art, HART2666 Australian and Aboriginal Art