BA Film Studies and Art History
This course has been temporarily suspended for the academic year 2025-26.
Our distinctive curriculum allows you to take advantage of the most up-to-date developments in the field, and combine different approaches to the study of visual media. You study a variety of different films and a number of different genres, periods and national cinemas.
You have the opportunity to develop your interests in the history of the image and in visual communication skills as well as developing your skills of making and analysing film.
In the field of art history you cover a broad history and choose from a variety of specialist options. Engage with art works that range from Old Master paintings, through the Pre-Raphaelites and Surrealists, to the most up-to-date contemporary art and visual culture. Modules explore a wide variety of media, including architecture, urbanism, photography and video, as well as painting, drawing, printmaking, performance art and sculpture. This understanding of visual history allows you to complement and enhance your exploration of different world cinemas as you learn about the history of film, and its formal aesthetics, in a variety of contexts of production and reception.
You can take modules in filmmaking, taught by film professionals with extensive industry experience. Gain hands-on practical training in all aspects of film production, including camera work, editing, and lighting, scriptwriting, and production management. Designed to support you in making links between critical analysis and creative practice, your production modules enable you to develop and apply your academic knowledge and understanding of film, refining and enriching your own practical work. You may produce group films (learning how to work together as a team) as well as personal projects – by graduation you will have built up a fully rounded portfolio of work, enabling you to showcase your creative potential for future employers.
- We are distinct - study the social and political implications of art and go beyond its historic institutions.
- Our structured programme of study trips at home and abroad takes you far afield and explores local settings
- Our Essex Collection of Art from Latin America (ESCALA) is the most comprehensive Latin American art research resource in the UK and has a state-of-the-art teaching and research space.
Study abroad
Your education extends beyond the university campus. We support you in expanding your education through offering the opportunity to spend a year or a term studying abroad at one of our partner universities. The four-year version of our degree allows you to spend the third year abroad or employed on a placement abroad, while otherwise remaining identical to the three-year course.
Studying abroad allows you to experience other cultures and languages, to broaden your degree socially and academically, and to demonstrate to employers that you are mature, adaptable, and organised.
If you spend a full year abroad you'll only pay 15% of your usual tuition fee to Essex for that year. You won't pay any tuition fees to your host university
Our expert staff
We are a dynamic group of art historians who investigate the production and reception of images and built environment, across cultures and media, from the late medieval period to the present day.
Our staff's research interests include activist art, modernist art and totalitarianism, the relationship between art and science, the artistic status of body modification, art and the environment, critical heritage, and the visual culture of social problems. We also have significant experience in curation and public engagement. Recent projects include:
Specialist facilities
- Our Essex Collection of Art from Latin America (ESCALA) is the most comprehensive Latin American art research resource in the UK and has a state-of-the-art teaching and research space. Many of our students gain work and research experience through our collection
- Our onsite gallery Art Exchange runs an ongoing programme of contemporary art exhibitions, talks by curators and artists, and exhibitions organised by our curatorial students
- Enjoy regular visits to London galleries, including Tate Modern, Tate Britain, the National Gallery and the Royal Academy of Arts, as well as many independent and alternative spaces
- View classic films at weekly film screenings in our dedicated 120-seat film theatre, equipped with digital HD projection facilities and surround sound
- Hear writers talk about their craft and learn from leading specialists at weekly research seminars
Your future
You graduate from our course with key skills in writing close analysis, critical thinking, contextual research, time management, and hands-on filmmaking. These skills are highly transferable to a range of employers across business sectors.
Our students are well-prepared to enter careers in film production, TV, journalism, publishing and teaching professions, amongst a host of other careers. Our recent graduates have gone on to work in various desirable roles including:
- Celebrity booking for Cactus TV
- Editor for BBC television
- Subtitle writer for Sky TV
- Teachers of English and Media Studies
We also work with the university's Student Development Team to help you find out about further work experience, internships, placements, and voluntary opportunities.
At Essex we pride ourselves on being a welcoming and inclusive student community. We offer a wide range of support to individuals and groups of student members who may have specific requirements, interests or responsibilities.
The University makes every effort to ensure that this information on its programme specification is accurate and up-to-date. Exceptionally it can be necessary to make changes, for example to courses, facilities or fees. Examples of such reasons might include, but are not limited to: strikes, other industrial action, staff illness, severe weather, fire, civil commotion, riot, invasion, terrorist attack or threat of terrorist attack (whether declared or not), natural disaster, restrictions imposed by government or public authorities, epidemic or pandemic disease, failure of public utilities or transport systems or the withdrawal/reduction of funding. Changes to courses may for example consist of variations to the content and method of delivery of programmes, courses and other services, to discontinue programmes, courses and other services and to merge or combine programmes or courses. The University will endeavour to keep such changes to a minimum, and will also keep students informed appropriately by updating our programme specifications. The University would inform and engage with you if your course was to be discontinued, and would provide you with options, where appropriate, in line with our Compensation and Refund Policy.
The full Procedures, Rules and Regulations of the University governing how it operates are set out in the Charter, Statutes and Ordinances and in the University Regulations, Policy and Procedures.
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