There is a very active community of researchers at The Courtauld who specialise in art from the mid-nineteenth century to the present day. Undergraduates and MAs are encouraged to join current (and often former) PhDs at the regular meetings of the Modern and Contemporary Research Seminars, which attract distinguished scholars in London and beyond. Public lectures with acclaimed visiting speakers are regularly organised, and the Courtauld organises and hosts colloquia and large-scale conferences in connection with events such as exhibitions.
MA students write their dissertations either on material arising directly from their course or, with their supervisor’s approval, on any other viable topic. The best dissertations achieve publishable standard in leading journals.
With the range of interests and expertise of the staff, and the availability of research resources in London, research students are encouraged to undertake pioneering work in a range of areas of art history. The large number of active research students in the modern and contemporary area creates a supportive and stimulating environment.
Research
There is a very active community of researchers. Undergraduates and MAs are encouraged to join current (and often former) PhDs at the regular meetings of the Modern and Contemporary Research Seminars, which attract distinguished scholars in London and beyond. Public lectures with acclaimed visiting speakers are regularly organised, and the Courtauld organises and hosts colloquia and large-scale conferences in connection with events such as exhibitions.
MA students write their dissertations either on material arising directly from their course or, with their supervisor’s approval, on any other viable topic. The best dissertations achieve publishable standard in leading journals.
With the range of interests and expertise of the staff, and the availability of research resources in London, research students are encouraged to undertake pioneering work in a range of areas of art history. The large number of active research students in the modern and contemporary area creates a supportive and stimulating environment.
Many PhDs will be published in whole or in part, substantially revised or in some cases substantially as submitted.
Modern and Contemporary Faculty
Professor Jo Applin
Walter H. Annenberg Professor in the History of Art
Rebecca Arnold
Senior Lecturer in History of Dress & Textiles
Professor Sussan Babaie
Professor in the Arts of Iran and Islam
Dr Lucy Bradnock
Reader in Modern and Contemporary Art and Dean for Research
Dr Indie A. Choudhury
Lecturer in Modern and Contemporary Art
Professor David Peters Corbett
Professor of American Art
Professor Dorothy Price FBA
Professor of Modern and Contemporary Art and Critical Race Art History; Executive Dean and Deputy Director (from August 2025)
Dr Johanna Gosse
Lecturer in Lens and Time-Based Art Histories
Dr Catherine Grant
Reader and Vice-Dean for Education
Dr Klara Kemp-Welch
Reader in 20th Century Modernism
Dr Caroline Levitt
Senior Lecturer; Head of History of Art Department
Professor Gavin Parkinson
Professor in European Modernism
Dr Robin Schuldenfrei
Tangen Reader in 20th-century Modernism
Dr Wenny Teo
Senior Lecturer in Modern and Contemporary Art
Professor Sarah Wilson
Professor of Modern and Contemporary Art
Dr Tom Young
Lecturer in Nineteenth-Century Art Histories
Associate Lecturers
Research Fellows
Modernities: Architecture / Design / Theory
Modernities: Architecture / Design/ Theory is a series of events organised by Dr Robin Schuldenfrei (Tangen Reader in 20th-century Modernism)
Past Events
Currently the ‘modern and contemporary faculty’ also consists of:
Visiting Professors
Professor Christopher Green
Professor John Milner
Professor Anne Wagner
Honorary Research Fellow
Dr Shulamith Behr
Andrew W Mellon Foundation / Research Forum Visiting Professor (Mellon MA)
Dr Heather Norris Nicholson
Andrew W Mellon Foundation / Research Forum Postdoctoral Fellow (Mellon MA)
Dr Sarah Beth Levavy
Terra Foundation for American Art Visiting Professor
Dr Julia Bryan-Wilson
Terra Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow:
Dr Ellery Foutch