Philosophy, Politics, Art BA(Hons)

Why study with us?

• You have a unique opportunity to combine study of three interrelated disciplines in your pursuit of an innovative, exploratory and intellectually rigorous course.

• You will critically engage with artistic, political and philosophical ideas developed by individual thinkers and schools of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

• The course addresses art-historical and aesthetic themes such as formalism and realism, expression and engagement, landscape and power against a backdrop of art making including performance art, paint, collage, sculpture, installations and inventions.

• You’ll be immersed in a lively culture of artistic practice, exhibition and critique at the University of Brighton, recognised for its strengths in art-making and art theory.

• You will be taught by academics integrating their research with your learning and bringing their experience as historians, artists and curators to your study.

• You will develop important transferable skills including the management of independent research, oral and written communications, and informed decision making.

• This degree encourages you to challenge received opinions and as such is good grounding for many different industries including publishing, journalism, gallery work or even political lobbying. Many students stay for further study or research.
• Opportunities for activity outside of the curriculum include international conferences with world leading experts; publication in the student blog, and in student publications, and participation in Humanities Society events.

Year 1

You start your study with a grounding in the key disciplinary areas, learning how best to benefit from lectures, small-group seminar discussions and debates, and from individual tutorials.

Modules

• Art, Culture and Commerce

  In this module you will explore core concepts and historical phenomena, including colonialism, consumption, national identities and class constructions, which impacted on art, design and culture from the closing decades of the eighteenth century to the opening decades of the nineteenth. Through lectures and seminars, you will explore how enlightenment ideas and philosophies, as well as revolutionary upheavals and developing institutional practices, informed the conditions in which art and design was produced and consumed.

• Art, Design and Modern Life

  Through lectures and seminars, you will examine how ideas of ‘the modern’ and the contradictions of modernity are manifested in a wide range of visual and material culture including realist paintings, photography, advertising, dress, cities and international exhibitions during the long nineteenth century. The module relates practices of art, design, exhibition and dress to changing social structures and occupational patterns that informed many of the debates around art and design in the period.

• Philosophical Inquiry

  This module will introduce you to fundamental concepts and basic methodologies in critical and philosophical theory.

• Critical Approaches: Core Concepts in History of Art and Design

  This module will introduce you to core concepts and key words in the humanities (including ideology, gender, class, nationality and ethnicity) and will provide opportunities for evaluating your utility as a means of understanding art and design through your application to practices, sites and artefacts.

• Art: Philosophy and Politics of Representation

  This module is an introduction to current issues in the philosophy of art and aesthetic theory, and their relation to politics and to social and historical contexts.

• Introducing Themes in History of Art and Design

  In this module you will undertake an intensive themed study related to your individual preferences and/or programme of study. The module will introduce you to the teaching and learning methods most relevant to the investigation of a particular area of inquiry within the History of Art and Design programme.

Our courses are reviewed and enhanced on an ongoing basis in order to make sure that what you learn with us is relevant and that your course enables you to develop appropriate skills. When you apply to study with us, we will inform you of any new developments in your chosen programme through our applicant portal.

Year 2

Modules

• Modernism, Ideology and the Avant-garde in the Twentieth Century
• After Modernism: Postmodernism and Beyond
• Critical Traditions in Western Thought 1: Dare to Know – Enlightenment and Social Change for Philosophy, Politics and Art
• Modernity: Interrogation and Representation
• Art, Politics and Philosophy from Modernism to Postmodernism

Options*

• Critical Traditions in Western Thought 2: Post-enlightenment Dilemmas for Philosophy, Politics and Art
• Option module from across our humanities and arts subjects

*Option modules are indicative and may change, depending on timetabling and staff availability.

Art of Movement by Billy Cowrie

Final year

In your final year you develop your individual research project with one-to-one supervision on a topic in which you become an expert. This can take a variety of forms (academic dissertation or a catalogue of a virtual exhibition, for instance) and may involve a placement in a professional studio, gallery, exhibition or conference.

Modules

• Art, Politics, Philosophy: Representation and Engagement after Postmodernism
• Special Subject
• Project for Philosophy, Politics, Art

Options*

• Real World Research in Art and Design History
• Professional Paths in Art and Design History

*Option modules are indicative and may change, depending on timetabling and staff availability.

The Special Subject module typically enables students to explore themes like making the modern home: design, domesticity and discourse; participation, performance, politics; the limits of representation; the past in the present: retro, vintage, revival; and fashion contexts. 

Resources

• We are proud to have a world-class Design Archives based on campus
• The university's excellent art and design library is nearby
• Screen Archives South East, a moving image archive, is based on campus
• Our Dress and Textiles Teaching collection gives you the chance to closely examine and photograph historical and world fabrics and garments

The university has close relationships with local festivals and organisations such as CineCity, the Brighton Photo Biennial, Brighton Festival, Brighton Festival Fringe, Brighton Digital Festival, Fabrica and Lighthouse. These connections provide a range of opportunities for students.

Staff profiles

Tom Hickey, joint course leader

Tom is interested in aspects of political and artistic representation, and their interaction, on historiographical theory and the scientific method, on the theorisation of the contemporary world order, and on new developments in critical theory.

Dr Lara Perry, joint course leader

An international authority on British art, Lara is interested in the interactions between artists and art institutions. She is a specialist in nineteenth century England, and explores how art practice responded to its specific historical contours in terms of national identity, history and gender.

Find out about our other staff:  Harriet Atkinson, Cathy Bergin,  Thomas Bunyard,  Verity Clarkson,  Jonathan Gilhooly,  Tom Hickey, Anthony Leaker,  Yunah Lee,  Charlotte Nicklas,  Annebella Pollen,  Louise Purbrick,  Megha Rajguru,  Anna Vaughan Kett.

Dr Lara Perry

International requirements

We can help you meet our English language or academic entry requirements.

Course fees

Info

The fees listed here are for full-time courses beginning in the academic year 2019–20.

Further tuition fees are payable for each subsequent year of study and are subject to an annual increase of no more than 5% or RPI (whichever is the greater). The annual increase for UK/EU students, who are subject to regulated fees, will increase no more than the statutory maximum fee.

You can find out more about our fees in the university's student contract and tuition fee policy (pdf).

The tuition fee you have to pay depends on a number of factors including the kind of course you take, and whether you study full-time or part-time. If you are studying part-time you will normally be charged on a pro rata basis depending on the number of modules you take.

What's included in the fee?

When costs such as health or DBS checks, or use of specialist materials are incurred as a mandatory requirement of the course they are included in your tuition fee.

You may incur additional costs depending on the optional modules or activities you choose. The cost of optional activities is not included in your tuition fee and you will need to meet this cost in addition to your fees. Before you apply check with the school that provides your course using the contact details in the Find out more tab (at the end of this page) for advice about what is included and what optional costs you could face so you can budget accordingly.

See our finance pages for advice about funding and scholarships as well as further information about fees and advice on international and island fee-paying status.

Local area

Campus where this course is taught

Accommodation

Maps

Accommodation

University building

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