Birkbeck Department of History of Art
Our Relationship
The Society has a long-standing relationship with Birkbeck, University of London. We are affiliated to Birkbeck’s Department of History of Art, a status included in our logo. Our association dates to the very start of the Society in 1981 when it was launched by a small group of Birkbeck alumni as ULEMHAS (the University of London Extra-Mural History of Art Society).
At an organisational level, affiliation secures us invaluable access to art history experts and to a wide range of contacts in the art world. Staff and lecturers from Birkbeck are unfailingly generous with their time and support for the Society’s programme, and provide at least one of the six or so free evening lectures given to members each year. A number of the Society’s lectures and seminars are held every year in Birkbeck’s Keynes Library located in the college’s Art History faculty at Gordon Square. At a personal level, all members of the Society are entitled to join the main Birkbeck Library in Malet Street at no cost and access its wide collection of art history and associated titles (see the panel at the side of this page).
For our part we support Birkbeck History of Art students through The London Art History Society Research Fund, which is administered by Birkbeck and currently provides money to help with student travel, general costs associated with academic research and conference costs. We also fund an annual prize for the best MA dissertation each year.
Birkbeck’s Department of History of Art
Everything you need to know about the department. Discover the wide range of courses offered at all levels, ranging from excellent short Certificate courses of a single term’s duration through to part or full-time undergraduate courses of 3-4 years, one-year conversion courses to MA entry, and a wide range of postgraduate studies.
Opening up Art History: 50 Years at Birkbeck
During the current academic year the department is holding a series of special events to celebrate its fiftieth anniversary.
Blog
Events, talks, student discussions, diaries, news — the busy life of the Department seen through the eyes of its Head of Department, Dr Leslie Topp, and its students.
Birkbeck's School of Arts full programme
Use the link above to discover Birkbeck’s wide range of courses in areas which complement art history — literature and creative writing, languages, philosophy, social history, film, media and cultural studies.
Short Certificate Course at Birkbeck
Would you be interested in doing a Certificate course at Birkbeck? One such course on Giotto and the development of fourteenth-century art in Italy is due to start shortly.
All Certificate modules such as this one earn 15 credits which can go toward an eventual Certificate of Higher Education History of Art awarded by Birkbeck University of London. That Certificate in turn will allow you to progress directly into the second year of a number of BA courses including BA History of Art. But there is no requirement for anyone doing a Certificate course to go any further than you wish to, and each module — which lasts a term and typically costs around £650 — is complete in itself, and offers an undergraduate-level introduction to the subject in question.
Please click the link above to find out more.
Learning from robin hood gardens
This free event in mid-May will look at the tumultuous history of the Robin Hood Gardens council estate in Poplar, designed by the Smithsons in the late 1960s and currently being demolished. Some fragments of the estate will be preserved in the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Birkbeck Library
The Birkbeck Library in the Malet Street building holds an important collection of art historical material, as invaluable for general background reading as it is for detailed study. All London Art History Society members are entitled to acquire a Birkbeck Library card and use the library on a reference basis completely free of charge. Enhancing your membership of the Library to include borrowing rights is possible for a price of £70 per year. More information.