Program Overview

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The University of Essex is one of few research-intensive universities to offer a practice-based PhD in curating. Like a traditional PhD in art history, this degree allows you to conduct sustained, innovative research about an issue from the field of visual culture, broadly defined. Only instead of resulting in a book-length thesis of roughly 80,000 words, this degree culminates in you curating a major, research-based exhibition and writing a complementary thesis of c. 40,000 words. The premise underlying this PhD is that exhibitions constitute one of the most important platforms for sharing research – a platform that may be complemented by rigorous written research, but one that reaches audiences and makes arguments not possible through writing alone. As part of the PhD Curating, you investigate a topic of your choosing. This topic may relate to the history and theory of curating. However, you can also explore other facets of visual culture, opting instead to use curating as the vehicle for presenting your research. Regardless of your topic, you critically assess the impact of your research, both on the history of visual culture and on contemporary discourses concerning the production, distribution and reception of exhibitions. The practical dimension of this PhD enables you to develop your skills as a curator. To this end, you will conceive of an exhibition from start to finish, with key deliverables that include: preparing a preliminary curatorial plan of your chosen exhibition project; finding a venue; implementing a promotional plan; developing an education programme; preparing the different components of the exhibition; organising shipping; mounting and installing artworks or other objects on display (some or all of which may be loans); and, finally, presenting your exhibition to the public. If needed, you may gain professional art-handling training and further hands-on experience, which we can arrange through our ties to both university-managed and external galleries. Alongside this practical project, you will also prepare a thesis that serves two ends: first, to explore your research question in greater detail than the exhibition itself would allow; and second, to provide a critical commentary on the process of developing your exhibition. The final degree is awarded based on an assessment of both the exhibition and the thesis. Why we're great.

• We have long been recognised for our expertise across a wide range of areas in the history and theory of art, including the Renaissance, nineteenth-century European art, modern and contemporary art, as well as curating and art from Latin America.
• We are 3rd in the UK for research outputs in art history (Grade Point Average, REF2021)
• Experience artworks first-hand with our Essex Collection of Art from Latin America (ESCALA) - the largest collection of its kind in Europe

Our expert staff

The support provided by your supervisor is a key feature of your experience as a research student. Your supervisor will guide you through the different stages of your research degree. Initially, your supervisor helps you to develop your research topic and plan; then, you participate in regular one-to-one meetings to comment on drafts, resolve problems and maintain progress on your research. It is well worth getting in touch with a potential supervisor before applying for your course. The list of academic staff on our website can help you to identify a specialist on your proposed topic. We are a dynamic group of art historians who investigate the production and reception of images and built environment, across cultures and media, from the late medieval period to the present day. Our staff’s research interests include activist art, modernist art and totalitarianism, the relationship between art and science, the artistic status of body modification, art and the environment, critical heritage, and the visual culture of social problems. We also have significant experience in curation and public engagement. Recent projects include:

Paola Di Giuseppantonio Di Franco’s UKRI Future Leaders-funded research project, REPLACE

Matt Lodder’s Painted People: Humanity in 21 Tattoos (HarperCollins, 2022)

Diana Bullen Presciutti’s Saints, Miracles, and Social Problems in Italian Renaissance Art (Cambridge, 2023)

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Specialist facilities

At Essex, you have the best of both worlds: on the one hand, you are part of a tight-knit, campus community with close ties to several small but excellent museums in the nearby town of Colchester; on the other hand, you can travel from campus to London in an hour, which puts the world’s best museums and galleries at your fingertips. Some facilities on or near campus that allow you to gain curatorial experience include:

• The Essex Collection of Art from Latin America (ESCALA) , which has one of the UK’s most comprehensive collection of Latin American art and features a state-of-the-art teaching and research space
• Our onsite gallery Art Exchange , which runs an ongoing programme of contemporary art exhibitions, talks and workshops by curators and artists, as well as exhibitions organised by our postgraduate students
• Colchester’s iconic firstsite gallery , which features an exciting programme of contemporary art exhibitions, film screenings and talks, and exhibitions organised by our curatorial students

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Your future

Most of our successful graduates are now working in academic institutions, in museums or galleries, or in other arts-related professions, both throughout the UK and abroad. Several graduates are now Professors in leading art history departments, such as York and CUNY, while others have worked as curators at high-profile museums such as the Tate Modern, the Museum of Modern Art (New York), or the Royal Academy of Arts (London).