Visual Culture

Learning will be delivered through lectures, seminars and workshops and there will also be an opportunity to take part in field trips and further develop your skills through work placements.

You will be given every opportunity to develop your own area of interest in visual culture in the seminars that are highly interactive and through the workshops which aim to develop your skills and knowledge.

You will be expected to learn about the presentation of visual culture during field trips, to visit museums and galleries where you will learn about displays and meet curators. 

There is also a requirement for you to undertake guided reading in advance of seminars and a dissertation will be completed under supervision in an area of interest to you.

Assessment 

Assessment is rigorous and may include a book review exercise, an exhibition to analyse for your fieldwork report and an object, which will be the subject of a critical commentary that you will write. You will also complete a dissertation of between 12,000-15,000 words.

In your assessments, you will apply the contents of the seminars in order to explore an aspect or aspects of visual culture that particularly appeal to you.

Students will normally be required to have an Honours Degree, usually at 2:1 level or higher or overseas equivalent from a recognised national or international university in an arts, humanities or social science subject.

The course assumes no prior knowledge of visual arts and culture, but previous interest or experience of visual culture would be an advantage.

English language requirements

The tuition fees for 2024/25 academic year have not yet been finalised, they will be displayed here once approved.

The tuition fees shown are for one complete academic year of study, are set according to the academic year of entry, and remain the same throughout the duration of the programme for that cohort (unless otherwise stated).

Please also check costs for colleges and accommodation.

Our approach to learning and research encourages a freedom of thinking and expression about language and cultures that provides sought-after skills and a worldview that will be attractive to top employers.

In an environment of globalisation, the ability to display a knowledge and understanding of the diverse world we inhabit and to understand and communicate effectively is crucial.

Following graduation, we offer the option of building on your research activity at a higher academic level and progressing into teaching with roles at universities across Europe, the USA, Australia and the Middle East a viable option.

If your aspirations lie more towards developing a professional career, our qualifications offer a weather of opportunities with recent graduates taking up positions in university administration, translation, analytics, museum curating, rare bookselling and the French film industry.

For further information on career options and employability, student and employer testimonials and details of work experience and study abroad opportunities, please visit our employability web pages.

The School of Modern Languages and Cultures is a world-class centre for teaching and research in Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Hispanic, Italian, Japanese and Russian Studies. We provide an outstanding environment for research activity, adopting an open and flexible approach to study.

Support and guidance are given by the committed subject experts that can be found in our academic team. They are passionate about their specialisms, which cover the relevant languages, literature, cultural history, cinema and visual culture, and translation.

This significant reservoir of knowledge is reflected in the diversity of the topics being researched in the School. Key areas of in-depth study activity range from Translation Studies and Film Studies through to Science and the Humanities, and Gender and Sexuality.

Our postgraduate community is vibrant and active and is fully involved with events both within the School and within wider University postgraduate groups. Our research postgraduates are involved in organising major conferences and lead research seminars as part of their learning experience.

Language provision at Durham consistently ranks within the top five performing Schools in the UK according to university league tables. We feel this reflects our deep commitment to research that nurtures cultural understanding and inspires a love of languages and forsters an understanding of different cultures in an era of increasing globalisation.

For more information see our department pages.

Ranking

• 2nd for Italian Studies in The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024
• 5th for Asian Studies in The Complete University Guide 2024
• 5th for Iberian Languages in The Complete University Guide 2024

Staff

For a current list of staff, please see the School of Modern Languages and Cultures pages.

Research Excellence Framework

• 8th in the UK for research power (REF 2021)

Facilities

The School is located on Elvet Riverside, which is close to the ancient Elvet Bridge and within easy walking distance of the University colleges, the Students’ Union and the historic centre of the city of Durham.

Learning facilities include language laboratories, computer classrooms and a large study area. There are also satellite and recording facilities for viewing programmes in all the major taught languages.

The University's fully equipped Centre for Foreign Language Study is housed in the same building, and members of the Languages and Culture School have access to its facilities.

Similarly, the Translation Zone provides a place to meet translators, learn how we teach translation and attend seminars and master classes.

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