Offered jointly by the University of Adelaide and the Art Gallery of South Australia, students are able to study the collections of the Gallery with teaching provided by curatorial and academic staff at both institutions and by national experts. Classes are held after hours with lectures and tutorials held at the University, combined with ‘hands-on’ workshops at the Art Gallery.

By exercising the eye as well as the mind, students are able to thoroughly explore the rich collections and exhibitions of the Art Gallery of South Australia. Students are encouraged to see those questions reflected in specific works of art, their origins and fabrication; their critical reception; their material composition; their mixed fortunes in the history of taste; their subject matter; their place in the life's work of the artist who made them, and so on.

Students become familiar with the issues involved in curating exhibitions and the principle questions associated with connoisseurship. They will develop the research skills necessary to investigate essential issues in art history including skills in visual analysis.

Graduate Diploma level classes are held after hours with lectures and tutorials held at the University, combined with 'hands-on' workshops at the Art Gallery.

Masters students complete one core and three elective courses. Masters students also undertake a research project.

Major essays, slide tests, class papers and presentations. The Masters program includes a thesis.

• Professional Certificate in Art History
• Graduate Certificate in Art History
• Graduate Diploma in Art History
• Master of Arts (Curatorial and Museum Studies)

Graduates have built careers in public and commercial galleries in curatorship, marketing and communications, public programs, education, the auction industry and arts journalism.

The Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences facilitates an environment in which postgraduate students in Art History are encouraged to take personal responsibility for developing the following attributes:

• Broad general knowledge of art history and culture and of art museums and collections
• Specialised understanding in four Graduate Diploma course areas and in the MA coursework thesis topic area
• An appreciation of their potential contribution to knowledge through engagement with the traditions in art historical scholarship and curatorial practice
• The skills and discipline to research, synthesise, organise and present information, using a range of technologies as appropriate
• Problem solving skills including visual problem solving skills
• Analytic and critical skills
• The ability to argue from evidence
• The ability to think creatively
• The ability to communicate written and verbal ideas effectively
• The ability to set appropriate goals and to work independently and/or cooperatively
• An understanding of the importance of lifelong learning
• An understanding of etchical issues in their professional and intellectual contexts including the gallery/museum situation
• An awareness of their potential leadership roles in the community of scholars and in the wider visual arts community
• An awareness of social justice issues