History of Art 2012

Oh brilliant! I have a few questions I'd like to ask actually. Unfortunately the only person I know that goes to Aberystwyth studies maths, so won't be much help there!
How do you find the university? What are the modules like, are there a lot to choose from? What are the lecturers?
I've been thinking of going to the open day either at the end of this month or the one that is next month just to get the feel of things

Hi, sorry for the late reply, haven't checked your later posts so I don't know if you're still considering Aber I find the Uni is great, a brilliant place to study, without the hustle and bustle of a big city University. Being by the sea, especially at this time of year is amazing! The sun is out (sometimes) and you can just have a laugh with your friends on the beach, having bbqs etc.

In the first year, you don't have a lot of choice in terms of modules. For instance, everyone, including Fine art students do the Special Topics and Current Issues modules in their first year. Current issues is a module which considers artists of the past and the views on art from the past and how they relate to today's art world. Special Topics considers specialist elements of art history, such as African Art, Orientalism, Photography, women artists and Gothic art.
You have to make up a total of 120 credits per year, so Current Issues & Special Topics equals 40 credits (20 credits each). We studied Traditional Painting Techniques for the first semester (which was 10 credits I think), which gave us the opportunity to create our own replicas of paintings, using traditional methods. We also studied throughout semester 1 and 2 'Collecting and Collections', which considered museums, collectors and displaying. We also went on a trip to the national museum of Cardiff as part of this module
As an Art History single honours student, you have to choose 20 credits in another subject (which I didnt actually know till I arrived, which was s bit annoying), but it gave me a great oppurtunity to study a subject I was also interested in, English Liturature. You can choose mainly from English Liturature, History and most of the Language subjects (I think details can be found in the prospectus). I think that the total credits in 1st year for Art History only equals 100, so that's why you have to pick 20 from elsewhere.

I have just chosen my second year modules and I now longer have to study another subject for that extra 20 credits. There is a lot more choice in second year and you have a lot more freedom to choose

The Lecturers are great The main Art History professor, Colin Cruise, is really knowledgeable on Art History and he's a funny guy. His approach and attitude can get a bit getting of used to, just because he can make you feel a bit awkward and his humour is sometimes hard to grasp. Its hard to explain, but you honestly get used to him and he is really helpful and knowledgeable (honestly not as bad as I probably make him out lol). Overall the lecturers are witty, extremely knowledgeable and helpful people-I particularly like Harry Heuser and Robert Meyrick, who teach Art History and Museum and Gallery studies, they're really nice, funny lecturers

I would definitely recommend an Open Day, I went on one and the Uni was so organised and helpful to me. I've previously been to the Uni and town as I live only about 40 miles away, but it was still great to visit the Uni and get a feel of the Art School and Uni campus. The Art school is in town, about a 20 minute walk from the main Uni campus. The Open Day is extremely useful for choosing accommodation, I would really recommend you try and visit as many of the accommodation buildings as possible, so you can get a feel for the places. I unfortunately ended up in my last choice of Seafront and ended up in bunk beds, sharing a room. But I don't think this will be much of an issue this year. Just get your accommodation application sorted as soon as possible so you are more likely to get the place you want That is, of course, if Aber is your top choice! Good luck

Thank you so much for giving me such a detailed reply
I ended up putting Aber as my insurance, so if I don't make my AAB offer, I will probably end up there. But hey, I don't feel so worried about hating it if I don't do so well on my exams.
I'd really, really hate to have shared accommodation though. That's something I just can't do. :/ Oh well, here's hoping it all works out!

what is the use of doing a graduate diploma in history of art??? i am a student of fine arts (art college) & want to change my stream to art history ( very theoretical unlike what i have studied till now )!! will it be helpful to me if i do a grad diploma 1st before doing my masters!!! i have an option of doing it from ucl..... i am in a dilemma about should i go for it or not ??????? i live outside uk so i m kind of unaware about its worth , can any one help / guide me .

Anyone sitting HofA unit 3 this Friday? Any guesses for the 17th C questions?

Out of interest, how many people here actually do A-level history of art? I'm worried I'll go through a lot of repetition at uni which isn't really what I want for 9K a year.

yep hart 3 for me too, then hart 4 in two weeks,

Same here, though I'm doing 19th century for unit 3 and 1900-1945 for unit 4