Modern and Contemporary Art and Theory

Award Award	Duration Duration	Start dates Start dates	Application Application
PhD (MPhil also available) PhD (MPhil also available)	Full-time: 3–4 years Part-time: 6–8 years Full-time: 3–4 years Part-time: 6–8 years	February and October February and October	January to April January to April

The department of art history at the OU has a strong record of pioneering and world-class research in modern and contemporary art.

A landmark achievement in this area is the internationally acclaimed three volume series Art in Theory: an Anthology of Changing Ideas, which is continued in the volume Art in Theory: The West in the World co-edited by Professor Leon Wainwright (2020).

Research is being conducted around nineteenth, twentieth and twenty-first-century art and design with a particular interest in the art market, collecting and reception as well as around the politics of contemporary art, art activism and methodologies including display and curatorial practices. This work also encompasses art from an ecocritical/environmental angle, transnational networks, diasporas and migration.

We welcome applications that correspond with current staff research interests. We look for detailed and well thought-out proposals, which set out specific research questions and outline the originality of your topic or approach.

A UK Masters’ degree or equivalent level in a relevant subject (art, architecture or design history), or exceptionally a First Class undergraduate degree with a substantial dissertation. If you are not a UK citizen, you may need to prove your knowledge of English.

We welcome applications to study topics that complement our current research.

UK fee UK fee	International fee International fee
Full-time: £5,006 per year Full-time: £5,006 per year	Full-time: £12,705 per year Full-time: £12,705 per year
Part-time: £2,503 per year Part-time: £2,503 per year	Part-time: £6,353 per year Part-time: £6,353 per year

Some of our research students are funded via the Open-Oxford-Cambridge AHRC Doctoral Training Partnership; others are self-funded.

For detailed information about fees and funding, visit Fees and studentships.

To see current funded studentship vacancies across all research areas, see Current studentships.

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