Description
Students who enrol in the undergraduate Licence in Art History and Archaeology are able to choose their specialism from the second semester of the first year, thanks to the two distinct study pathways available: Art History or Archaeological Sciences.
Objectives
The Art History pathway enables students to acquire a solid foundation in the fundamental learning, and to better understand physical traces left behind by human societies, which have been labelled as ‘art’.
The discipline is tackled chronologically, across the four recognised key periods: Ancient History, Medieval, Early Modern, and Contemporary. Students are thus encouraged to analyse a great diversity of works, and to question their nature (particularly via the study and dating of materials), their function, and their meanings, within a context in which history is considered as a sequence of events.
In the second and third years of this undergraduate Licence, the programme of study allows for students to prepare a specialisation that links into the Master’s programmes offered at Bordeaux Montaigne University. Students thus choose to study certain aspects of art history, heritage, or archaeometry in greater depth.
This programme of study aims to instil in students solid methods for working processes: an ability to carry out independent documentary research projects; an ability to summarise and critically analyse objects of study (a work of art or a speech); a good command of written and oral expression.
The Art History pathway enables students to acquire a solid grounding in general culture by encouraging interaction with other disciplines (including history, classical literatures, modern literatures, and archaeological science). Students also become acquainted with the organisation of museum and heritage institutions.
Training content
Three years of study
In the first semester of this undergraduate Licence, students are introduced to the disciplines of art history and archaeological science. At the end of this core curriculum, students choose the Art History pathway or the Archaeological Science pathway in the second semester: this will be their specialism for the remainder of their course of undergraduate study.
First and second year of undergraduate study (Licence 1 and Licence 2)
Throughout the first and second years of undergraduate study, the fundamental teaching in art history - the so-called ‘major’ units - are complemented by other units, called ‘minor’ units. For these minor units, students can choose to study modern literatures, classical literatures, history, and archaeological sciences. This interaction with other disciplines reinforces students’ grounding in general culture, and also allows them to potentially change the direction of their studies, on to the undergraduate Licence programme that corresponds to their minor unit (subject to approval by the relevant teaching committees). This change of direction is possible up until the end of the second year of the undergraduate Licence in Art History.
Third year of study (Licence 3)
In the third year of this undergraduate Licence, the so-called ‘minor’ disciplines disappear; students study art history in greater depth.
In parallel with this fundamental teaching, students also benefit from specialist units in the second and third year of study. This is a matter of specialisation in Art History, Heritage, or Archaeometry, in preparation for further study at Master’s level; within one of the programmes offered either at Bordeaux Montaigne University or elsewhere.
Finally, modern languages are taught throughout the course of the three years of this undergraduate Licence (with the exception of the first semester of the first year). The languages concerned are the main European languages. It is also possible to study other languages, according to the availability of languages offered by the CLES and CLUB teams.
6 semesters
Each year is divided into two semesters, composed of six to nine course units. In each semester, teaching is organised as follows:
- a block of course units made up of major and minor units,
- a block of additional course units, to be chosen among a wide selection,
- a block of cross-disciplinary units including languages, the student personal professional project (PPE), and digital skills.
Access condition
Find information regarding enrolment procedures and the supporting documents to be provided, according to your profile and your level of studies :
Identifier ROME
- G1202 : Animation d'activités culturelles ou ludiques
- K1602 : Gestion de patrimoine culturel
- K1802 : Développement local
- K2401 : Recherche en sciences de l'homme et de la socité
- K2106 : Enseignement des écoles
Career pathways
There are opportunities for employment in a wide and varied range of professions, in both the public and private sectors:
- There are opportunities in professions related to culture and heritage: curator, specialist curator support staff (museums; listed sites), head of archive collections, cultural mediator, research engineer, librarian, specialist archive support staff. There are opportunities in tourism (conference guide; tour guide and interpreter), in restoration (restoration of art objects; of archaeological remains; of private monuments and buildings) and in the art market (galleries; art experts; cultural outreach; patronage and sponsorship).
- There are opportunities in research and teaching, in both the public domain (higher education; secondary education; primary education) and the private sector.
- There are opportunities in professions related to specialist publications and book selling.
The undergraduate Licence in Art History and Archaeology enables students to better prepare for the recruitment competitions held by the French Ministry of National Education and the Ministry of Culture and Communication (the French national institute for heritage, the national archives, and books).
Further studies
After this undergraduate Licence in Art History, students who have followed the Art History pathway may join the research-based Master’s in Art History, the professional Master’s in Art Management and Heritage Outreach, or the Master’s in Archaeometry and Cultural Heritage.
