Art & Design History and Media & Communication BA (Hons)

ART & DESIGN HISTORY

As the UK city with more museums and galleries than any other outside of London, alongside the country’s largest contemporary art biennial, Liverpool will provide a vibrant cultural backdrop for your studies. Utilising Hope’s exclusive partnership with Tate, visiting speakers from the creative industries and the University’s own collections/gallery programme, students gain a wide-ranging understanding of theoretical perspectives in Art & Design History and how these are expressed through the workings of cultural organisations. Through our cultural partnerships and collaborations, students will be offered privileged access to important collections in Liverpool and experts working in the field.

Encompassing the study of visual and material artefacts, museum and gallery practices and the production and circulation of meaning around art and design. This degree provides a systematic understanding of art and design practices and theories with a strong emphasis on critical thinking. There is also the possibility to participate in overseas study tours – in recent years the department has visited Amsterdam, Barcelona, Bilbao, Milan, Paris, Florence, Venice, Berlin and New York.

In your second and third years, you will also take ‘Professional Practice for Art and Design History’. These courses look at theoretical approaches to museology, as well as more practical considerations such as conservation, exhibition planning and design, curatorial practices and educational activities. These components address pathways into the creative industries and address the range of roles today’s cultural organisations demand – equipping students with the skills and knowledge necessary to secure future professional opportunities. 

Hear from student Bryony Large about what it's like to study Art & Design History at Hope. 

MEDIA & COMMUNICATION

If you want an exciting career in the media but also want to understand how and why the media reports and represents the world in the ways it does, studying at Hope is the next step for you. Media and Communication provides you with an opportunity to closely study and analyse the ways in which the media industry shapes and is shaped by our world. Our degrees are designed to help you become an industry leader equipped to take on the key task of working towards a more reliable, trustworthy media industry, and to work as a cross-platform media practitioner.

If you choose to take Media and Communication, you explore the history and theory of film and other visual media, such as photography and animation, and the cultural and creative contexts in which they are produced and consumed. We also think one of the best ways to study creativity is by making things, so you have the opportunity to make films (drama, documentary or animation), produce photographic portfolios, work in a studio and write screenplays. Our curriculum is taught by lecturers with a reputation for international research and by a practitioner who has made BAFTA and EMMY award winning programmes and animated films.

Media and Communication at Liverpool Hope is underpinned by the notion of interrogating power. We believe that the media must always be held to account and has a responsibility to pursue social justice. Whether it be through journalism, digital and social media theory and applied skills, our aim is to produce graduates who will make a better world.