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Studies & Degrees in Visual Culture

Visual culture is the study of images and of the part they play in society. It grew out of art history, but its object is wider: not only paintings and sculpture, but also photography, film, television, advertising, design, digital images and the built environment. The questions are also different. A visual culture course asks less who made an image and in which style, and more how images are produced, circulated and looked at, and what they do to the people who see them.

Lund University, which teaches a master's programme with this name, describes the range of material as artworks, news and documentary images and advertisements, across analogue and digital media such as photography, film, video, television and urban environments. Its curriculum covers post- and decolonialism, gender, globalisation and media technology, and aims to show how images both reflect and shape society, culture, identity and power.

Qualifications and levels

Visual culture is seldom a degree title at bachelor's level. Undergraduates usually meet it inside a degree in art history, media or communication studies, cultural studies or fine art and design. As a named qualification it appears mainly at master's level.

  • Master's degree in Sweden. The master's programme in Visual Culture at Lund University lasts two years (120 credits) and is taught in English in small seminar groups; the final semester is for the thesis. Applicants need a bachelor's degree in art history and visual studies, film studies, musicology, design sciences, architecture or the equivalent. The programme is offered every two years. Citizens of countries outside the EU, the EEA and Switzerland pay a tuition fee of SEK 270,000 for the full programme, according to the university's page in October 2026.
  • Official master's degree in Spain. The Máster Universitario en Historia del Arte Contemporáneo y Cultura Visual is a joint degree of the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, organised with the Museo Reina Sofía, where classes are usually held. It lasts one year (60 ECTS credits) and is taught on site in Spanish. The Universidad Autónoma de Madrid gives an approximate price for first enrolment of €2,736, or €5,079 for non-EU students who are not resident in Spain. Most students come from art history, fine arts, history, philosophy, architecture or the humanities, and English at CEFR level B2 or higher counts in the selection.
  • Within art history and art departments. At the University of British Columbia, the Department of Art History, Visual Art and Theory offers programmes leading to BA, BFA, MA, MFA and PhD degrees, organised in three streams: art history, critical and curatorial studies, and visual art. Its art history courses are meant to help students understand visuality and the built environment today.
  • As part of an art and design degree. Art and design colleges teach the subject alongside studio work. The College for Creative Studies in Detroit includes it in its Liberal Arts courses, which start from the idea that a logo, a game, a painting, a photograph and a film are all made within a culture.

Where to study visual culture

SpainExchange lists 10 active schools for visual culture. Spain and the United Kingdom have two each: the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and Universitat Jaume I in Castellón de la Plana, and the University of Kent and The University of Manchester. The others are Aarhus University in Denmark, Lund University in Sweden, Bauhaus-Universität Weimar in Germany, the University of British Columbia in Canada, the College for Creative Studies in the United States and CINEMA - Escuela de Cinematografía y Medios Audiovisuales in Puebla, Mexico.

The language of instruction depends on the programme and not only on the country: the Lund master's is taught in English, the Madrid master's in Spanish. Because the subject sits in different departments, it helps to compare the list of courses and not only the title of the degree. A programme based in art history will give more weight to museums and historical periods; one based in media studies, to film, television and digital images; one in an art school, to the student's own practice.

Careers

Visual culture is an academic field and does not lead to one regulated profession. Lund University states that its graduates can work in museums, galleries and other cultural institutions, in the creative industries in visual research, communication or design, and in public sector projects on media, representation or cultural outreach, and that they are prepared for doctoral studies in visual culture, media studies or related fields. The University of British Columbia mentions careers in the arts and cultural heritage and in education for its art history students. There are no separate official employment statistics for visual culture graduates.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between visual culture and art history?

Art history concentrates on works of art and their history. Visual culture also studies images that are not art, such as advertising, news photographs, film, television and digital media, and asks how they shape society and identity.

Do I need a bachelor's degree in art history to take a master's in visual culture?

Not necessarily. Lund University also accepts degrees in film studies, musicology, design sciences or architecture, and the Madrid master's admits graduates from the humanities and, with relevant training, from the social sciences.

Can I study visual culture in English?

Yes. The two-year master's programme at Lund University is taught in English, as are the programmes in the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States.