School of Art History

01/06/2026

Inspiring School of Art History Teaching Away Day in Wardlaw Museum's Learning Loft today, chatting about our experiences and examples of good practice.

First up Billy Rough on 'MA Combined Studies Art History: Hybrid Teaching and Pre-Recorded Lectures', then Emily Savage on 'Digital Art History: Update and Digital Mapping Module'. Lisa McDonald talked on 'AH5608 Colonial Collections and Critical Displays: Provenance Research Report' whilst Alistair Rider spoke on the School's Ballater Reading Weekend.

Later, Catherine Spencer talked on her module 'AH4253 Decolonial, Feminist Q***r: Histories of Art in Britain since 1945', winner of the 1413 Inclusive Teaching Award, and Elsje van Kessel discussed 'Schooling Background and Inclusivity in Art History', winner of the 1413 Teaching Award, Outstanding Partnership in Equality, Diversity and Inclusion.

Thanks to Natalia Sassu Suarez Ferri for organising and to Museums of the University of St Andrews for hosting!

29/05/2026

New PhD funding scheme launched! The University of St Andrews Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) Postgraduate Research Scholarship encourages applications from UK‑domiciled 'Home' fee students from BAME backgrounds, with the aim of widening access to doctoral study and promoting greater representation in postgraduate research. The Deadline is Monday 29 June 2026.

This scheme supports the University's commitment to advancing race equality by helping to increase the representation and success of UK‑domiciled BAME students, and forms part of the University's Race Equality Charter Action Plan to address barriers and create more inclusive academic pathways.

Please visit the University of St Andrews Scholarship (link below) pages to view more details on this Scholarship. Applicants for the PhD programme in the School of Art History are eligible to apply for this scholarship: applications will be accepted from both from new PhD applicants and from existing offer holders for 2026/27 entry.

Applicants are encouraged to reach out to prospective supervisors in the School of Art History about their projects (see the staff pages on our website), and can also contact the Director of Post-Graduate Research, Dr Catherine Spencer, with any questions or queries about the application process at: [email protected]

https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/study/scholarships/scholarships-catalogue/postgraduate-scholarships/university-of-st-andrews-black-asian-and-minority-ethnic-bame-pgr-scholarship/

27/05/2026

Interested in Evening Study, including Art History?

Learn more here: https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/education/5023655/st-andrews-evening-study/?dct_cid=native_ORD0341868

Open now for September 2026 entry!
https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/subjects/combined-studies-ma/

Study part-time in the evening and work towards a degree. Apply now to start in January.

08/05/2026

Call for Papers: Revisiting the Canon

08/05/2026

📢 Call for papers! ⁣
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'In Her Words: women artists and life writing before 1920⁣'
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Conference at The National Gallery, London, on 2 October 2026⁣
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👉 Proposal deadline 1 June; we'd love to hear from you!⁣ Submission form below

https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=_75f7EjwvEG4-inMCdzIyFYWDm-qKYBOscVazDiv-epUN05CTE83V0gyS0ozU0MxRDAwM1kyUzlDSC4u&route=shorturl

This event follows the symposium "In Her Words: women artists and life writing" at The Women's Art Collection, Murray Edwards College, Cambridge, on 19 June.⁣
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🎨 Self Portrait in a Straw Hat, by Elisabeth Louise Vigée Lebrun National Gallery

07/05/2026

The EDI social event, Fold & Sip: Springtime Origami and Japanese Tea, was successfully held at the Old Union Diner on 29 April 2026. The School of Art History thanks @79 Makerspace for its funding support, as well as staff and students, including Risa Pelot, Dr Michelle Huang, Graeme Hyland, Linke Lei, and Sakura Mogami, for their valuable contributions.

With over 30 participants from across the University and wider community, the event provided a welcoming space for creative and cultural exchange. Participants valued the opportunity to connect with people from diverse backgrounds, and many expressed interest in attending similar events in the future.

Together with the earlier Write & Sip: Lunar New Year Calligraphy and Chinese Tea event in mid-February, Fold & Sip has helped strengthen awareness of and engagement with EDI initiatives.

06/05/2026

To keep up with School of Art History news and events make sure you follow our Linktree account!

👉 linktr.ee/arthistorysta

06/04/2026

Fold and Sip: Springtime Origami & Japanese Tea
Following the success of "Write and Sip: Lunar New Year Calligraphy and Tea", the School of Art History’s EDI Committee invites you to another creative social event.

Date: Wednesday, 29 April 2026
Time: 4:00–5:00 pm
Venue: Old Union Diner

Join us in welcoming spring and the blooming of cherry blossoms with Japanese tea, snacks, and origami. Risa Pelot (School of Chemistry) will introduce origami and its cultural significance, while a slideshow showcases kimono paper dolls created by students in AH3196 Modern Art Beyond the West.

Art materials will be provided for you to craft kimono figures, boats, plants, animals and other imaginative designs. This is the perfect way to relax, get creative and enjoy cultural exchange during Revision Week.

Book your ticket now!
https://events.st-andrews.ac.uk/events/fold-sip-springtime-origami-japanese-tea/ #:~:text=Organised%20by%20the%20School%20of,relaxing%20activities%20during%20Revision%20Week.

06/03/2026

Octavia Elfrida Saunders Memorial Lecture 2026

Craig Clunas: 'Painting the Learned Woman in Ming China'

This year's Octavia Elfrida Saunders Memorial Lecture will be given by Professor Craig Clunas.

In the official rhetoric of imperial China's male elite, the figure of the educated woman was deeply problematic. On the one hand, Confucian dogma held that women were to be bound by the practice of ‘three obediences'; to fathers, to husbands, to sons. In this patriarchal scheme of things, the lack of learning in a woman was equated to her virtue. But in actual practice, the Ming period (1368-1644) inherited a long tradition of female writers, and women of the upper classes were almost invariably literate. Women of the imperial family could be celebrated as authors, while a rare fragment of evidence point to one empress's role as learned practitioner of esoteric religious ritual. The situation was further complicated by the presence in urban centres of highly-educated courtesans, female entertainers of upper-class men, who were expected to be able to match them in appreciation of the arts of poetry, calligraphy and painting. As well as looking at a range of images of and by educated women, this lecture will focus on a particular moment in the mid-Ming when a small cluster of unique images foregrounds the complexities surrounding female learning, and the key role of women's agency in the transmission of one central portion of the classical canon.

A reception will follow in the Old Union Diner.

📸 Tang Yin (1470-1523), Tao Gu Presents a Poem (detail). National Palace Museum, Taipei.

For more info: https://events.st-andrews.ac.uk/events/octavia-elfrida-saunders-memorial-lecture-2026-craig-clunas/

University of St Andrews University of Oxford

02/03/2026

Coming soon:

Fake or Real? Questioning the Authenticity of Mina’i Ware Bowls: Dr Richard Piran McClary

Polychrome mina’i ware is one of the most popular and distinctive types of medieval Iranian ceramics. Alongside repaired authentic pieces, numerous vessels were newly made in the 20th century. These pieces continue to circulate in the art market as seemingly original vessels. This paper examines a range of distinctive forgeries of mina’i bowls by an anonymous but very competent forger. The pieces have sold for a wide range of prices, and one has recently been exhibited at several prestigious institutions around the world, highlighting both the quality of the work of the person who made them and the risks involved in collecting unprovenanced pieces of Islamic ceramics.

Dr Richard Piran McClary is a senior lecturer in Islamic Art and Architecture at the . He received his doctorate from the University of Edinburgh in 2015. His first monograph, on Rum Seljuq Architecture, was published by EUP in 2017, and his second, on Qarakhanid Architecture, also with EUP, came out in 2020. His most recent book, on mina’i ware, was published by EUP in 2024. He has published articles in numerous journals, including: Muqarnas, Iran, Anatolian Studies, Persica, Iraq, and the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. He is the co-founder and managing editor of the Journal of Islamic Art and Architecture.

📷 Modern forgery of a mina'i bowl, formerly owned by Harvey B. Plotnik