In addition to our highly successful undergraduate and masters level taught courses we also supervise research students (MPhil and PhD) in the same way as at other universities - on a face to face basis. We accept part-time and full-time registration for these degrees.
The Open University graduate student community forms an important part of the university’s research culture. Students participate in the full range of on-campus research and are seen as valued members of the department. The Open University Research School offers a year-round programme of workshops, seminars and training for postgraduate students.
The art history department welcomes applications from suitably qualified candidates. Look at the staff pages to find out more about the research we do and to identify potential supervisors. The principal areas of research in the department are:
All of our PhD students are provided with one or more supervisors for the duration of their studies. They will meet with you regularly and act as your academic advisors. They will provide guidance on your research topic, on the skills you will need to successfully complete your studies, on planning your research and on writing your thesis. They will read all your work and discuss it with you, helping you to develop your ideas and to think critically and independently about your topic. They will encourage you in your studies and give advice if things are not working according to plan.
If you wish to work towards a research degree, you will need to satisfy the department that
(a) you have a viable research proposal (advice on preparing a proposal is available here)
(b) you are likely to be able to complete a research degree in Art History successfully;
(c) and you are strongly motivated.
The department will also need to be satisfied that it will be possible to provide you with good support and supervision.
If it looks as if these conditions can be met, you will be asked to attend for an interview with two members of the department, one of whom is likely, should you be accepted, to be your internal supervisor.
For detailed information on how to make an application, together with details of fees, requirements and so on, please visit the Research Degrees Prospectus website.
Nick Baker – ‘The Marketing of Contemporary British Art, 1975-1990’
Mandy Bentley – ‘Florine and the Marcel Wave: Femininity and Radicalism in the work of Florine Stettheimer, 1913-1941’
Laura Bolick – ‘Culture, Humanism and Intellect: Cardinal Bessarion as Patron of the Arts’
Marjorie Corner – ‘The Work of William Giles (1830-1913): his Paintings and Photographs’
Antonio Fiore - ‘The Artist as an Instrument of Propaganda: Giulio Rosso and the Decorative Arts in Italy during the Fascist Ventennio’
Nick Garrard - ‘Ecclestiastical Art of the Fifteenth to Seventeenth Centuries from a Contextural/Liturgical Perspective’
Jill Harrison – ‘Giotto’s Enterprise : Art, Avarice and Ambition in Trecento Italy’
Jan Harthoorn – ‘A group of 15th/16th century Netherlandish illuminated manuscripts in Alnick Castle’
Jill Howitt – ‘Contemporary public art in the North of England’
Jane Lamb – ‘The Commodification of the Celebrity Portrait: an analysis of photographic business practice in relation to image mass production in London , c. 1855-1865’
Siobhan McDermott – ‘Travelling Irish Artists: Orientalism and British Imperialism’
Kevin Parker – ‘Elusive Translation: Film and Video in the work of Isaac Julien, Zineb Sedira and Alia Syed’
Ben Pritchett – ‘Materialist Concepts of Abstraction and their British Reception’
Judith Stevenson – ‘Women, Art and Class in the New Deal’
Gilda Williams – ‘Modern Gothic’ (2012)
Heather Hanna – ‘Framing Hair: Serial Strategies in Contemporary' (2012)
Melody Mobus – ‘The Burford Masons, c. 1630-1730’ (2012)
Clare Taylor – ‘‘Figured Paper for Hanging Rooms’: The manufacture, design and consumption of wallpapers for English domestic interiors, c.1740-c.1800’ (2010)
Mahnaz Shah – ‘The Venice Hospital: an Investigation into its Structural Formulations’ (2010)
Stella Lewis – ‘El Greco and Colour’ (2009)
Nicolette Duckham – ‘Pride or Prejudice? Sir Herbert Baker’s Architectural Work in South Africa’ (MPhil) (2009)
Gwendolen Webster – ‘Kurt Schwitters’s Merzbau’ (2008)
Ekaterina Morozova – ‘American Art Criticism and the Crisis of Art History Writing, 1962-1967’ (2008)
Atta Kwami – ‘Modernist and Street Painting in Kumasi , 1950-2000’ (2007)
Mike Belshaw – ‘Art, Writing and Autobiography’ (2006)
Anna Green – ‘Growing up with Modernité: Representations of Childhood and Adolescence in French Painting, 1848-1886’ (2003)
Juan Jose Gomez Gutierrez – ‘Italian Communist Party Cultural Policies during the Post-war Period, 1944-1951’ (2003)
The Arts Faculty Postgraduate Research and Studentships page is an introduction to funding through the Faculty. The Open University offers some support for postgraduate study, information on the whole area of undertaking a Research Degree at the OU is set out within the Research Degrees website. You can consult the Research Degrees Prospectus online from the link at the bottom of this page.
The principal external funder of UK arts-based studentship is the Arts and Humanities Research Council. Their Funding Opportunities page includes a range of guidance on sources of funding.
Enquiries before making a formal application: Arts-ArtHistory-Gen-Enquiries@open.ac.uk