Out of the 120+ institutions UofT is partnered with, the Department of Visual Studies & Art History has identified these international partners as the most meaningful and valuable to students in Visual Studies or Art History programs. Partners were selected due to their world rankings, research collaborations, unique program offerings, and distinct geographical areas. These are not the only schools you can attend on exchange, but it is a good place to start your research about international possibilities. You can search for other schools here.
University College London
"London is one of the best places in the world to study historical and contemporary art. UCL’s History of Art program offers the opportunity to work with world-class faculty and collections. The program has particular strengths in art and visual culture of the 18th to 21st centuries."
- Alison Syme, Chair, Visual Studies
Located in central London and ranked fifth in the QS World Rankings, University College London gives students access to academic resources through countless teaching and research partnerships with hospitals, museums, galleries, libraries, and professional bodies in the area.
Did You Know?
- Rumour has it that Adolf Hitler planned to set up his UK headquarters in Senate House at UCL, which is supposedly why it was never bombed in World War II. Many also consider the building to have been the inspiration for Orwell’s Ministry of Truth in ‘1984’
- One of Coldplay’s first performances was for a UCL fundraiser for the the student support charity, Nightline
- Philosopher Jeremy Bentham left his body to the university and asked that it be preserved as an "auto-icon." He remains on display, dressed in his original clothes, in a cabinet on campus
Examples of Courses You Can Take:
Rome: The Making of an Early Modern Urban Visual Culture (HART2010)
Modernity Through The Lens: the European Avant-Garde, Utopia, Technology and Mass Culture (HART2011)
Making, Exchanging and Evaluating Art in Europe c.1500–c.1700 (HART2208)
Image/Object: Modernism and After (HART2215)
Theory and History of Conservation (HART2217)
Gender and Representation in France, c. 1750–1850 (HART2229)
The History of the Category 'Art' (HART2001)
Methodologies of Art History (HART2002)
Abstraction Since the Second World War (HART3213)
Human and Nonhuman in Medieval Art (HART3237)
Plus many more courses here
University of Copenhagen
"Copenhagen is a beautiful city with excellent collections of 19th-, 20th-, and 21st-century European art. The University of Copenhagen’s Department of Arts and Cultural Studies offers Art History courses in English at the BA and MA levels; UTM students may be eligible to take relevant MA courses if they have suitable preparation through their UTM coursework. The Department has particular strengths in modern and contemporary art history and visual culture."
- Alison Syme, Chair, Visual Studies
The University of Copenhagen is the largest institution of research and education in Denmark. Eight researchers from the university have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics and Medicine. An Annual Commemoration is held in November where the Queen of Denmark regularly attends which is followed by a night at the Royal Danish Theatre or the Opera.
Did You Know?
- Copenhagen was voted the “happiest and safest city in the world” in 2013 by the UN
- Home of the Kronborg Castle, made famous by Shakespeare’s play Hamlet
- Home to famous author Hans Christian Anderson, with a Little Mermaid statue to mark this landmark
- “Freetown”, located just outside the city centre is tax- and car-free
Examples of Courses You Can Take:
Musicology: Walking & Sound (HMVK0431IU)
Visual Culture: Robots and Artificial Life (HVKK03115U)
Digital Cultures & Cultural Policy (HMKK03246U)
History of Art/Visual Culture: Bild-Anthropologie: The Artificial Woman (HKUK0361BU)
Art History/Visual Culture/Modern Culture: Video Art (HKUA03611U)
Modern Culture: Disasters and Social Change (HMKK03237U)
4 Cities – Analysis of Architecture and Urban Spaces (HMKA04016U)
Site Specificity (HTEK03221U)
Audience Relations (HTEB00651U)
Plus many more courses here
University of Edinburgh
"The University of Edinburgh is situated in a UNESCO world heritage site and a city filled with superb historical and contemporary art collections. The College of Art offers object-focused study in a wide range of art historical areas."
- Alison Syme, Chair, Visual Studies
The University of Edinburgh is located in Scotland’s vibrant and historic capital, city steps away from a world famous arts festival, Scotland’s mountains, and beaches. It is placed in the top three of the prestigious Russell Group, a collective of the UK’s leading, research intensive universities and is ranked in the top five for sports in the UK.
Did You Know?
- The University of Edinburgh’s newspaper, The Student, is UK’s oldest student newspaper, which was started by Robert Louis Stevenson in 1887, the author of Treasure Island
- Edinburgh, the inspiring capital of Scotland, is a historic, cosmopolitan and cultured city that offers a unique living and learning experience. It has been voted favourite UK City for 13 consecutive years
- Famous former students include Chris Hoy, Katherine Grainger, Gordon Brown, J.K. Rowling, Ian Rankin, Kirsty Wark, David Hume, Joseph Black, Charles Darwin, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Examples of Courses You Can Take:
The Rise of Islamic Art (HIAR10082)
Sinners, Saints and Seers: Scottish, Irish and English art from 600-900 (HIAR10068)
Scottish Architecture: Context and Conservation (ARHI10035)
Evolution of the Edinburgh Townscape (ARHI10005)
Romanticism to Expressionism (HIAR10108)
How to Make Italian Renaissance Art: Media, Methods and Materials in Theory and Practice 1400-1550 (HIAR10114)
Antiquity Recovered: Imag(in)ing Pompeii and Herculaneum (HIAR10008)
The Death and Life of Painting (HIAR10097)
Sexual Politics and the Image (HIAR10066)
Chinese Painting and Calligraphy: The Elite World of China (HIAR10106)
Plus many more courses here
University of St. Andrews
"The University of St. Andrews is rated one of the top schools in the UK to study art history. The program has particular strengths in Medieval and Renaissance art history, European and American modernism, the applied arts, architecture, and the history of photography."
- Alison Syme, Chair, Visual Studies
Established in 1413, the University of St. Andrews is Scotland’s first university and the third oldest in the English speaking world. Located on the east coast of Scotland, surrounded by golf courses and beaches, the university is a mixture of historical buildings with modern facilities. Over the last 600 years, the university has a reputation as one of the world’s leading research and teaching centres.
Did You Know?
- A superstition exists at this university, that if a student steps on the initials on Patrick Hamilton, marked in the cobbles outside of St. Salvator’s Quad, they will face risking bad luck and possible exam failure. Tradition holds that the only way to break the curse is to run backwards three times around the quad at the change of class, naked. Alternatively, the student may participate in the May Dip, which is when students gather on the beach and run into the North Sea at sunrise
- The University manages 'the best small theatre in Scotland', providing an educational resource, general arts venue and music centre
Examples of Courses You Can Take:
Orientalism and Visual Culture (AH4148)
Histories of Photography (1835 - 1905) (AH4166)
Symbolism, Decadence and Modernity (AH4167)
Islam and the Arts (AH4211)
Body / Politics: Performance Art Since 1960 (AH4214)
Cubism and its Legacies (AH4165)
Approaches to Modern Sculpture (AH4163)
Architecture and its Image. From Brunelleschi to Palladio (AH4173)
Luxury Goods in the Middle Ages (AH4175)
The Age of Klimt, Olbrich and Mucha (AH3104)
Plus many more courses here