MA Art History, Curatorship and Renaissance Culture

The School of Advanced Study at the University of London brings together eight internationally renowned research institutes to form the UK's national centre for the support of researchers and the promotion of research in the humanities.

The Warburg Institute is renowned across the world for the interdisciplinary study of cultural and intellectual history, particularly the role of images in culture. It is dedicated to research on the history of ideas, the dissemination and transformations of texts, ideas and images in society, and the relationship between images, art and their texts and subtexts. Its work is historical, philological and anthropological.

The Institute houses a research Library of international importance, a photographic collection organised according to a unique iconographic classification system, and the archive of Aby Warburg, which also holds the papers of other major thinkers of the 20th century who were connected to the Institute. Situated in the heart of Bloomsbury, the Institute is a stone’s throw from the British Library, the British Museum, the Wellcome Institute and the National Gallery, providing you with access to a wealth of academic and cultural resources.

The National Gallery houses the UK’s national collection of over 2,300 Western European paintings from the 13th to the 19th centuries. Its collection contains famous works, such as The Wilton Diptych, Leonardo’s Madonna of the Rocks, van Eyck’s Arnolfini Portrait, Velázquez’s Rokeby Venus and Turner’s Fighting Temeraire. The gallery’s aim is to care for the collection, to enhance and to study it, while encouraging access to the pictures for the education and enjoyment of the widest possible public now and in the future.

The MA in Art History, Curatorship and Renaissance Culture is offered by the Warburg Institute in collaboration with the National Gallery, London. The Warburg Institute is a leading centre for the study of the interaction of ideas, images, and society, and provides students with access to world-leading research, teaching and expertise. The National Gallery houses one of the world’s greatest collections of old master paintings and is staffed by museum professionals at the very forefront of their field.  

Combining the art historical and scholarly traditions of the Warburg Institute and the practical experience and professional expertise of the National Gallery, this MA offers outstanding training in art history and curatorial practice. Students will acquire analytical skills enabling them to follow a variety of career paths, including progressing to a PhD and undertaking high-level work in museums and galleries. Graduates from the programme have gone on successfully to pursue doctoral study at the Institute and other renowned universities across the globe, leading to careers in academia. Others have entered the professional art world, taking up curatorial and research roles in the museum and gallery sector at institutions such as the British Museum, Fitzwilliam Museum, and Sotheby’s Auction House.

For students who wish to undertake further study but cannot commit to a full-time master's degree, the Warburg Institute also offers a Postgraduate Certificate in Art History and Renaissance Culture.

For students wishing to pursue study in art historical or visual history without the curatorial element, the Warburg Institute offers an MA in Cultural, Intellectual and Visual History.

• You'll get access to the best resources for the study of Renaissance art and culture in London. Our open-stack Library, Photographic Collection and Archive is of international importance in the humanities. One of 20 libraries that changed the world, and with over 300,000 specialist volumes, it serves as an engine for interdisciplinary research and study.

• Behind-the-scenes access to one of the leading collections of European paintings and to the work that goes into the care of these artworks, from conservation to framing and display. 

• Unparalleled staff contact hours with internationally renowned academics and curators. With approximately 20 - 40 graduate students admitted each year, you'll join a tight-knit community of peers that benefits from close discussion with expert tutors and museum professionals, and small-group teaching.

• You'll have the opportunity to join students come from a wide range of backgrounds and areas of study, from art history to literature, philosophy, history, anthropology, classics, and more, making for a dynamic and interdisciplinary learning environment.

• A unique opportunity at MA level to develop the skills needed for high-level primary research, be it as an academic or a curator working with historic collections.

• Extensive opportunities for networking with an international community of scholars, which significantly enriches the learning experience and can provide ideal connections for the future careers.

• Located in Bloomsbury, you will be placed at the centre of London’s academic and cultural hub. You'll benefit from visits and training sessions at neighbouring institutions including the British Museum, the Government Art Collection, the Wellcome Trust and the British Library, and further afield the V&A, the Dulwich Picture Gallery, the National Portrait Gallery and the Courtauld Gallery.  

• This programme at the Warburg Institute offers both an intellectually stimulating and rigorous programme of study and because we are a relatively small institute we are able to provide a welcoming and supportive academic community. Learning and research is a pleasure, and we are dedicated to ensuring that you are at home and are able to advance in, and enjoy, your area of study.

The programme combines the study of artworks and their cultural contexts with high-level linguistic, archive and research skills for a new generation of academic art historians and museum curators.

This programme provides a rigorous training in:

• Museum knowledge, and the intellectual and practical aspects of curatorship, including the technical examination of paintings, connoisseurship, materials and conservation, attribution, provenance, and issues relating to display.
• The intellectual discipline of Art History and Renaissance culture, focusing primarily on the period 1300-1700. The programme will increase your understanding of methods for analysing works of art, their knowledge of Renaissance culture, and the conditions in which artworks were commissioned, produced and enjoyed.
• Current scholarship and professional practice in these areas as well as new and emerging areas of research and scholarship.
• Primary source materials in original languages and translation for high-level research.

To find out more about the course, download our programme specification. 

Mode of study

12 months full-time 

Teaching, learning and assessment

The programme is taught through classes and supervision by members of the academic staff of the Warburg Institute and by National Gallery curatorial and archival experts.

The teaching staff of the Warburg Institute are leading academics in their field who have published widely and are involved with research related to the topics they teach. The staff at the National Gallery are at leaders in their field. The expertise of staff at both institutions goes straight into the teaching provided, allowing you to develop the critical skills for academic research and museum work and the opportunity to blend their academic study with behind-the-scenes training on a range of curatorial practices. 

You'll take three core modules, one compulsory module, and two option modules.

The programme is also supported by the compulsory unassessed Methods and Techniques of Scholarship module that will introduce you to the nuts and bolts of the historiography and methods of scholarly work in early modern cultural history, and prepare you, through a term of workshops, to choose, develop, and research the topic that forms the subject of your dissertation. 

The core module on Language and Palaeographical Studies includes training at various levels in French, Italian or Latin, as well as palaeography training in one chosen language. Finally, you'll have the opportunity to conduct an independent research project through the dissertation, which is completed in the summer term under the guidance of a supervisor from either the Warburg Institute.

Modules

The availability of a module is subject to change.

Core modules: terms 1 and 2

AHM250-01 Art History and Renaissance Culture: Image to Action

Image to Action examines the role of images in Renaissance culture. Each week, we will study one of several different types of imagery prevalent in the Renaissance and early-modern period – allegory, portraiture, the diagram, etc. – and explore the subjects and themes depicted in relation to ideas, social attitudes, and artistic practices that prevailed when they were made and circulated. 

This module supports the more specialised and applied modules of all MA and PG Cert strands and teaches key skills of research, analysis – particularly of visual material – and writing to enhance students’s ability to complete those units successfully. It also has a historiographic and methodological dimension: students will study the iconological methods pioneered by Aby Warburg and developed by scholars associated with him and with the Warburg institute, along with others. More than anything, it will provide students with the tools to think through images, and the roles images play in our understanding and study of Renaissance society and culture.  

AHM020-01 Curating at the National Gallery

The National Gallery houses the UK’s national collection of over 2,300 Western European paintings from the 13th to the 19th centuries. Its curators care for and study the collection, each one focusing on a particular geography and chronology. Together they work to enhance our knowledge of the pictures but also make them accessible for the education and enjoyment of a broad public.

As part of the next generation of curators and researchers, this module will introduce you to curating as intellectual practice: from historical and technical research of pictures to issues of framing and display. Weekly seminars are led by curators, conservators and scientists who are specialists in their field of study. This National Gallery team will train you to think about pictures as physical objects, to research their subject matter and historical context and to situate them within the history of collecting. The seminars and materials covered will provide the necessary tools (resources and academic approaches) to undertake the core assignment, a catalogue entry on one of the National Gallery paintings.

One Language and One Palaeography module:

AHM410-01    English Palaeography

This course is designed to help students analyse handwritten vernacular textual sources for the late medieval and early modern period. No previous training in palaeography is expected. Students will be introduced to the basic principles of palaeography and the key scripts used to produce manuscripts and documents in the British Isles between the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries, with an emphasis on developing the necessary skills to accurately transcribe unseen texts.

The module is run as a series of weekly seminars of 2 hours each. It will be taught using handouts, and homework will be set weekly. The module is assessed by an in-person exam, held in Term 3. There will also be a series of informal tests through the two terms. An in-person mock exam will also be organised. 

AHM420-01    Italian Palaeography

This course is designed to help students analyse handwritten vernacular textual sources for the Renaissance period. No previous training in palaeography is expected, but students should have a solid grasp of modern Italian grammar and vocabulary and, ideally, some familiarity with the Renaissance language. Students will be introduced to the basic principles of palaeography and the key scripts used to produce manuscripts and documents in Italy between the fourteenth and seventeenth centuries, with an emphasis on developing the necessary skills to accurately transcribe unseen texts.

The module is run as a series of weekly seminars of 2 hours each. It will be taught using handouts, and homework will be set weekly. The module is assessed by an in-person exam, held in Term 3. There will also be a series of informal tests through the two terms. An in-person mock exam will also be organised.

AHM430-01    Italian (Beginners)

This course is aimed at students with no previous training in Italian. It focuses on grammar and comprehension, with the aim of developing students’ ability to read and translate Italian-language scholarship. By the end of the course, students should have achieved competence in Italian to an intermediate level and will be ready to begin reading Renaissance primary texts in modernised editions.

The module is run as a series of two-hour weekly online seminars. It will be taught using handouts and overhead slides, and homework will be set weekly. The module is assessed by: (a) an online take-home assessment held in Term 2 and (b) an in-person exam, held in Term 3. There will also be a series of informal tests through the two terms. An in-person mock exam will also be organised. 

AHM440-01    Italian (Intermediate)

This course is aimed at students with some previous experience of Italian, though it is also open to beginners who are competent in Latin or another Romance language (e.g. French or Spanish). It entails a full review of modern Italian grammar and introduces a wide range of texts, with the aim of enabling students to read both Italian-language scholarship and modernised editions of Renaissance primary texts. By the end of the course, students should have achieved competence in Italian to an advanced level and will be ready to begin reading Renaissance texts in the original language.

The module is run as a series of two-hour weekly online seminars. It will be taught using handouts and overhead slides, and homework will be set weekly. The module is assessed by: (a) an online take-home assessment held in Term 2 and (b) an in-person exam, held in Term 3. There will also be a series of informal tests through the two terms. An in-person mock exam will also be organised.

AHM450-01    Italian (Advanced)

This course is aimed at students with a good grasp of modern Italian grammar and vocabulary (A-level equivalent or beyond). It will focus on the comprehension and translation of a wide variety of texts from the fourteenth to the seventeenth centuries, while also introducing key differences between the modern and Renaissance languages in terms of grammar, syntax, vocabulary and usage. By the end of the course, students should be confident readers of Renaissance Italian and ready to tackle unedited, technical and regionally inflected texts.

The module is run as a series of weekly seminars of 1.5 hours each. It will be taught using handouts, and homework will be set weekly. The module is assessed by: (a) an online take-home assessment held in Term 2 and (b) an in-person exam, held in Term 3. There will also be a series of informal tests through the two terms. An in-person mock exam will also be organised. 

AHM460-01    Latin (Beginners)

This course is aimed at students with no (or very little) previous Latin training. It focuses on grammar and vocabulary, and on the forms commonly used in texts for the medieval and early modern period. A key aim is to equip students with a basic understanding of the architecture of the language and to help develop confidence in reading longer passages in Latin. By the end of the course students should have achieved competency in the Latin language to an intermediate level.

The module is run as a series of two-hour weekly online seminars. It will be taught using handouts and overhead slides, and homework will be set weekly. The module is assessed by: (a) an online take-home assessment held in Term 2 and (b) an in -person exam, held in Term 3. There will also be a series of informal tests through the two terms. An in-person mock exam will also be organised. 

AHM470-01    Latin (Intermediate)
This course is aimed at students with some previous experience of Latin. It entails a full review of grammar and syntax, and a central objective is to encourage students to read – with greater confidence – a range of late Medieval and Renaissance texts. By the end of the course students should have achieved competency in the Latin language to an advanced level.

The module is run as a series of two-hour weekly online seminars. It will be taught using handouts and overhead slides, and homework will be set weekly. The module is assessed by: (a) an online take-home assessment held in Term 2 and (b) an in-person exam, held in Term 3. There will also be a series of informal tests through the two terms. An in-person mock exam will also be organised. 

AHM480-01    Latin (Advanced)
This course is aimed at students with a good grasp of Latin vocabulary, grammar and syntax (A-level equivalent or beyond). It will focus on the translation of texts from the medieval and early modern period, revising grammar and syntax along the way. Key aims are to equip students with a deeper grasp of the language, its scope, evolution and idioms, and to inculcate a greater confidence in the translation of Latin. It also offers an exposure to a wide variety of Latin texts and forms.

The module is run as a series of weekly seminars of 1.5 hours each. It will be taught using handouts, and homework will be set weekly. The module is assessed by: (a) an online take-home assessment held in Term 2 and (b) an in-person exam, held in Term 3. There will also be a series of informal tests through the two terms. An in-person mock exam will also be organised. 

AHM400-01 Methods and Techniques of Scholarship (unassessed)

The main goal of the module is to introduce you to the nuts and bolts of scholarly work in late medieval and early modern cultural history (broadly conceived), and to prepare you for undertaking original research in this field.

In the Autumn Term ('Reading History'), our team of instructors will introduce you to a series of seminal articles and studies on different 'objects' (text, artworks, concepts, problems), showing you how each object can be - and has been - approached from a variety of perspectives. This will help you form a broad sense of the field of cultural history, its historical development, different methodologies, and open possibilities. We will also have skills-oriented sessions on topics such as reading scholarship, using and writing book reviews, conducting bibliographical research, and writing in an effective academic style.

The Spring Term (‘Writing History’) is a dissertation prep seminar that will guide you through the process of choosing, developing, and researching a topic for your final dissertation. Activities will range from tutorials to individual and small-group work to self-reflection and journal-keeping. In the final sessions of term you will each give a short oral presentation on your proposed dissertation topic. Throughout the workshop the focus will be on creating a supportive atmosphere where you feel comfortable sharing your work and learn how to give and receive feedback in an interdisciplinary context.

Optional modules: term 2 (two to be chosen)

AHM230-01 Cosmological Images: Representing the Universe

This course will study cosmograms: concrete objects which represent the universe as a whole. It will explore connections between art and science, including the intellectual function of images and the aesthetics of representing the cosmos and knowledge about it, in science, religion, and folk traditions. Students will be provided methods for studying such objects in action, as part of ritual practices, projects of knowledge, and political programs.

One aim of the course will be to trace the changing form and content of cosmograms from the medieval through modern period, especially with regard to scientific images. The course will trace the gradual emergence of a cosmology said to be mechanical, materialist, and objective, and its interactions and oppositions with other views of the cosmos. By exploring these conflicts and controversies through a focus on cosmograms, we will ground these longstanding issues of intellectual history in concrete contexts and the making of objects and images.

AHM190-01 Curating Renaissance Art and Exhibitions

Designed as a partner to the Term 1 module, Curatorship at the National Gallery, this module moves from the care and research of a permanent collection to the intellectual, conceptual and logistical issues of curating a Renaissance display. It is designed to allow students to further develop their skills in research and writing about paintings in the collection, alongside objects from other institutional collections, while shifting the emphasis to technical training that will help prepare students for professional careers as curators, or as academics who might work with museums on exhibitions, both physically and virtually.

Following a series of seminars covering formative topics such as museum and exhibition history, condition and curatorship, research and catalogue writing, and education, students will produce a detailed exhibition proposal, including wall texts, labels and layout, for a show in the National Gallery. The exhibition project also has a virtual component, focusing on layout and visual impact, among other things. The module is co-taught by the National Gallery and Warburg Institute, with staff expertise covering art history, curatorship, exhibition design, education and digital humanities, and provides students with practical and theoretical training in curatorial practice.

AHM280-01 Religion and Society in Renaissance Italy

The course takes the religious history of Italy as the point of departure for an in-depth investigation of the significant social and political changes that took place between 1300 and 1650. From the late Middle Ages to the Renaissance politics and religion were inextricably bound together. Religion was expressed both in rituals – liturgies, performances, pilgrimages – and in texts and works of art, thus forming a significant dimension of Italian culture and scholarship. The focus of the course is on the primary sources (hagiographical, legal, literary, architectural and cartographical) which provide evidence for the reconstruction of religious customs and habits of mind and for the understanding of political events.    The aim of this module is to identify and explain the significance of religious culture in late medieval, Renaissance and early modern Italy, providing a basic understanding of the interactions between politics, social life, cultural expression, and religion. From the late Middle Ages to the early modern period politics and religion were inextricably bound together, the Church was involved in temporal matters, and religious beliefs and practices were powerful motivating factors in contemporary policy making; religion was expressed both in rituals and in texts and works of art and formed a significant dimension of Italian culture and scholarship. Students are encouraged to develop a sound knowledge and critical understanding of Italian cultural history through the discussion of specific themes: the relation between pagan philosophy and Christian faith, Church and Empire, Church and Papacy, faith and space, sex and sanctity, Islam and Christianity, Jews and Christians, Church Councils and spiritual renewal, secular and religious utopias. Religion and Society in Renaissance Italy aims to critically assess the development of religious thought and practice by looking at texts and works of art, reaching – beyond factual information – a critical and unbiased assessment of the past and its complexities.

AHM290-01 Renaissance Political Thought from Erasmus to Campanella

This module will explore a range of canonical and non-canonical political texts from the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, contextualizing them historically and situating them in a longer tradition of moral and political philosophy that stretches back to Classical Antiquity and forward to modern times. We will also discuss methodological questions regarding their interpretation and engage critically with seminal scholarship in this area. Specific topics will include: what counts as a ""political"" text?; the reception and transformation of classical theories in new historical contexts (e.g. movements of religious reform; the rise of nation-states; the ""discovery"" of America and the beginnings of the colonial race); main trends (e.g. the rise of political ""realism"" vs. ""utopianism"") and debates (e.g., around the best form of government, resistance rights, religious toleration, just war, and the role of women in society).

AHM380-01 Renaissance Sculpture in the Expanded Field

With a title that borrows from Rosalind Krauss’s seminal 1979 article ‘Sculpture in the Expanded Field’, this module examines Renaissance sculpture according to broad parameters to think about how images and other media (such as drawing, print, architecture, paint) were fundamental to the creation and reception of sculptural objects. Together we will explore drawing and modelling in the artist workshop; the adaption and migration of sculpture into painting; the role of sculpture in the rituals of religious life – from mobile, polychromed crucifixes to immersive pilgrimage sites such as the Sacro Monte at Varallo; as well as sculpture within the framework of society and culture: large scale public work, portrait busts, installations within the villa garden and, finally, ephemeral sculptures made for festivities and banquets.

In doing so, we will encounter the famous, at times monumental, artworks by sculptors such as Donatello, Michelangelo and Giambologna, but we will also consider more unfamiliar objects and materials: life-size holy dolls, votive wax figures, sculptures made from food and the colossal monsters of the Sacro Bosco at Bomarzo. We will examine how sculpture was discussed in a range of primary sources, from artistic treatise to the fictional Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, alongside recent scholarship that engages with materiality and Renaissance making practices. It will become apparent that sculpture was a varied, experimental artform, which played a key role in the embodied practices of Renaissance life.

AHM100-01 The World of the Book in the European Renaissance

The aim of the module is to provide an understanding of the culture of the book in Renaissance Europe—a time and place that saw the invention of printing, the growth of both private and public libraries, the development of bibliographical protocols, the advent of the humanist printer, and new techniques for active reading. It also saw the beginnings of colonialism and conquest, cultural revolutions, religious reformations, and profound social upheavals. What role did the book play in these changes—or did it? How can it help us to understand the changing world of the European Renaissance? Through seminars, collection visits, and practical training at a historically appropriate printing press, this module will offer an overview of the history and the historiography of the book, with a special focus on the material aspects of production, dissemination, and use. 

AHM050-01 The Classical Renaissance: Greco-Roman Rediscovery, Reception and Resurrection

This module places the spotlight on a major and vital dimension of the Renaissance: the revival of the classical tradition. We will begin by considering the quest for and rediscovery of ancient texts, and their subsequent diffusion and assimilation into humanist curricula across Europe. Students will be encouraged to consider how classical literature, rather than superseding a largely scholastic and Christian framework, was integrated into it, and also the extent to which the Church Fathers and medieval writers had already laid some of the groundwork for a much more extensive phenomenon of absorption. Students will be invited to take into account developments such as standardization and canon formation, but also regional and chronological trends.

The process of reception will be assessed from a number of different perspectives, but always in way that prioritizes full contextualization and the complexities of textual transmission. Areas of reception that will feature in the course include: the concept of imitatio (itself an ancient practice and idea), generic organization, literary modes (such as metre), the use of prose vs poetry, and preferences for Latin or Greek texts. The reception of certain classical authors whose influence was particularly profound will also be charted through case-studies, and these authors will include Cicero, Virgil, Ovid, and Plutarch. In parallel, students will be encouraged to explore the impact of ancient works that are in modern times less familiar but that were regularly consulted in the early modern period, such as the output of Late Antiquity. Another complicating factor will be the repackaging and mediation of classical literature in repositories which meant that early modern writers did not always need to return to the original source. A further key consideration in our discussions about reception will be Christian belief systems and also the Reformation, and a significant part of the course will be devoted to the question of the relationship between paganism and Christianity, and the degree of harmonization that was possible between the two. The course will further cover a range of areas in which reception occurred, from the world of art to the realms of diplomacy and nation-building.

The importance of the languages of Latin and Greek will constitute a further focus. As the primary vehicles for classical learning, we will assess the extent to which Greco-Roman sources enjoyed a hegemony even as the production of vernacular literature burgeoned. At the same time, students will be asked to reflect on the ways in which the growing vernaculars were able to harness classicizing approaches in ways that might be yet more inventive. A major theme of the module will be issues of bilingualism and multilingualism, and students will be introduced to macaronic texts and also tracts which expressly confront linguistic choice.

AHM060-01 Art and Nature in Northern Europe (1500-1700)

This course examines the connections between the visual image and understandings of nature in early modernity. It concentrates on northern Europe (primarily the Netherlands, Britain, Germany and France) and its colonies in Asia and North and South America, exploring a series of case studies that focus on depictions of land, plants, animals and insects, and on the entanglement of these phenomena with human beings. The visual materials will include works in artistic genres such as landscape and still life painting, but also artefacts such as maps, travel books, automata, and anatomical and ethnographic depictions that challenge the modern distinction between artistic and scientific images. Rather than situating these materials within frameworks of art and collecting narrowly defined, the course asks how they were also connected to changes in social life, to widening patterns of trade and exploration, and to developments in dietetics, medicine, philosophy and other forms of knowledge.

The course begins by considering period understandings of nature, and their relationship to categories such as the human, the creatural, the supernatural and the preternatural. We will also think about how ecocritical and ecological approaches might deepen a historical investigation of our materials. The main run of classes will explore the interwoven empirical, political and symbolic meanings conveyed by early modern images of nature. Possible topics include: Dürer’s watercolour nature studies; Bruegel’s depictions of the months and seasons; early modern microscopy; visual cultures of human and animal anatomy; sottobosco painting; the early modern ménagerie; hunting scenes and gamepiece still life; Altdorfer’s depictions of the German forest; and European artists’ responses to the environments of the Atlantic world, Asia and the Arctic.

See the Warburg website for more details on modules and the selection process. The availability of optional modules will depend on student numbers (a minimum of three students required per option).

Dissertation: term 3

The opportunity to conduct an independent research project utilising the world-renowned resources at both the Institute and the National Gallery, under the guidance of an academic from the Warburg.

The normal minimum entrance requirement would be a First or Upper Second Class Honours degree from a recognised university in the UK, or an overseas qualification of an equivalent standard in any discipline in the humanities that is related to the course.

Applications from candidates who do not meet the formal academic requirements but who offer alternative qualifications and/or relevant experience, could be considered.

English is the language of instruction and applicants are required to demonstrate an appropriate level of proficiency.

Find out more about entry requirements here.

For more information on how to apply, including deadlines and the documentation you will need to provide on the application form, visit our How to Apply page.

Fees are set annually and cover registration, tuition, and (in the case of research students) supervision.

Fees are quoted per annum -- that is, you will need to pay at least the fee quoted below for each year of your studies. Please note that tuition fees are subject to annual uplift. The University of London reserves the right to alter or withdraw courses and amend other details without prior notice.

See the Tuition Fees for 2024-25 - listed by Institute.

Our students fund their studies in a variety of ways including scholarships, bursaries and fellowships, as well as government loans and postgraduate loans. 

We offer a range of scholarships and bursaries that you don't need to pay back and are awarded based on personal circumstances or academic achievement. Funding at postgraduate level is competitive so it’s a good idea to plan financially before starting your course. 

For information about fees and funding from the School of Advanced Study, please visit the SAS Fees and Funding page.

In addition to key skills relating to scholarship and curatorial practice, you'll also acquire key transferable skills that will be useful in any workplace. These include:

• Writing in different ways for different readerships
• Researching effectively
• Presentation skills
• Problem solving and analytical skills
• Critical reading and thinking
• Time management
• Project management and planning

Many Warburg alumni have gone on to pursue PhD study at the Warburg Institute or other leading Universities and cultural institutions across the globe, including the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, the Bayerische Akademie, the National Library, Argentina, and Universities of Cambridge, Copenhagen, Notre Dame (US), Padua, UCL, La Sapienza (Rome), Warwick, York and Yeshiva (New York).

Other students successfully pursue careers in the professional art world, joining curatorial, exhibition, education and research departments in the museum and gallery sector.

The SAS Careers Service works with students and graduates of all ages and at all stages of career development across all the institutes. Our mission is to provide high-quality information about careers and skills, and professional advice and guidance. We help students with their career development, either within their current field of work or in something completely new. 

SAS students can access 1-2-1 guidance appointments throughout their studies and for up to 2 years after graduating, to help them plan their next steps, whatever they might be. We also offer CV, cover letter, and application advice as well as mock interviews with the SAS Careers Consultant who will empower you to feel more confident in your interview performance.