Art History and Art Theory are core subjects of the three year undergraduate course at the NAS and may be elected in the postgraduate program.

Their combined aim is to equip students with: a solid understanding of the history of art, a broader awareness of the development of the society and culture within which artists live and work. Theoretical and philosophical issues are addressed throughout the curriculum. First Year students in the BFA are introduced to the history of art and society in the West from Antiquity to the Romantic period. This course constitutes the basis for all further art-historical studies undertaken at the NAS.

The Second Year course continues this historical perspective, beginning with the origins of Modernism (Realism and Impressionism) and concluding with Pop Art. The Third Year core course deals with contemporary art practice in the first semester and in the second with Australian art from its colonial origins to the present.

Students also choose one elective in each semester of Second and Third Year from a wide and evolving list of subjects. Electives allow students to pursue subjects that are of particular interest to them and include such topics as:

• Aboriginal Art

• Aesthetics

• Architecture

• Chinese and Japanese Art

• Classical Mythology

• Drawing the Figure

• Gender and Sexuality

• Modern Theories of Art

• Photography

• Russian Art and Sculpture

• In the Honours year, students engage in a theoretical investigation of the post-modern condition