Submitted by sp2146 on Fri, 28/11/2025 - 10:14
The University of Cambridge’s Department of History of Art is celebrating one of its most exciting moments in decades.
The launch of a new MPhil in the Global History of Art and Architecture marks not only an expansion of programmes but also signifies a commitment to diversification alongside a culture that values global perspectives and knowledge.
“This is a positive change to our teaching and research culture,” said Professor Alexander Marr, Head of the Department. “Our world-class expertise in the global history of art and architecture combined with Cambridge Museums and Collections and the historic University of Cambridge community gives students an incomparable experience.”
New academics join the programme
The programme is supported by new appointments in Early Modern Chinese Art, African and Caribbean Modern and Contemporary Art, the History of Medieval and Early Modern Islamic Art, and British Architecture in a Global Context.
“I look forward to sharing perspectives on the arts of early modern China and their global entanglements in my teaching,” said Dr Henning von Mirbach, a historian of early modern Chinese art, with a particular focus on landscape painting in the 17th and 18th centuries.
He comes to Cambridge from the National Taiwan Normal University in Taipei where he taught courses on Chinese art history.
“We don’t live in a world in which it is enough to make everything in art history relevant to a European context,” said von Mirbach. “We need to understand other cultures and different people, and to do so, it is good to understand Ming Chinese, Safavid Iranian, or any other art on its own terms, which also includes the manifold transcultural connections these cultures had.”
Dr Iheanyi Onwuegbucha is the University’s first Assistant Professor in African and Caribbean Modern and Contemporary Art. With many years of experience as a curator in Nigeria, he comes to Cambridge from Princeton, where he is completing his PhD.
Onwuegbucha sees the global art and architecture MPhil creating space for new voices, methods and ideas.
“There’s a saying among the Igbo people of Eastern Nigeria that you can’t fully experience a masquerade from just one viewpoint,” said Onwuegbucha. “I think that captures the spirit of art history perfectly.”
He sees the inclusion of African and Caribbean modern and contemporary art in the MPhil as an exciting and much-needed step.
“Studying these fields isn’t just about adding new regions to the curriculum but changing how we understand art history as a whole. It’s an opportunity for students to engage deeply with the artists, histories, and debates shaping our contemporary world, globally, and it teaches that art history is not a single story but a conversation across cultures.”
Dr Peyvand Firouzeh is a specialist in early modern Islamic art with expertise in arts of Iran, India and the broader Indian Ocean world.
“Studying the art and architecture of the Islamic world, whether made for religious purposes or not, leads us to encounter the complexities of human lives and beliefs in a vast geographical area, which historically extended from western Europe to China and Southeast Asia,” said Dr Firouzeh.
“This diversity helps us question monolithic understandings of religion and engage with the many Muslim and non-Muslim communities that make up the so-called Islamic world – their globally connected histories and the unique ways they came to represent themselves through their art and material culture.”
Trained as an architect and art historian in Tehran and Cambridge, she previously held a Senior Lectureship in Islamic Art History at the University of Sydney.
“With the new MPhil, and the amazing collections held in Cambridge and the UK more widely, my hope is that the History of Art Department becomes a lively hub for nurturing new voices in global histories of art.”
Dr Matthew Walker comes from Queen Mary University of London where he taught the architecture and history of the capital for six years. Prior to that, he held positions at The University of New Mexico, and at Oxford. He is a historian of British architecture in the 17th and 18th centuries whose research is focused on the intellectual underpinnings of architecture in the period, along with its relationship with antiquity, particularly of the Eastern Mediterranean.
“It is impossible to understand British architecture any period – let alone in the 18th and 19th centuries – without examining the profound influence global communication, travel, diplomacy, and conflict had on British buildings in the period,” said Walker. “From my perspective, as a historian of Britain's links with Greece and the Ottoman Empire in the 18th century, the global aspect of our new MPhil is absolutely vital, necessary, and extremely exciting. I can't wait to start teaching on it.”
A distinct student experience
Students get world-class teaching and research, access to Cambridge’s unprecedented collections, and engagement with the diverse holdings of partner institutions such as the Fitzwilliam Museum, Kettle’s Yard, the University Library, the Cambridge University Botanic Garden, and the Hamilton Kerr Institute.
Throughout the year, students debate, critique and reflect on what it means to study the history of art, which key theoretical frameworks help them understand the discipline, and the intellectual tools required for studying ‘the global’.
Add to this the historic University community, and it’s a richly rewarding experience.
Many graduates go on to be research students and academics, museums, arts and heritage sector professionals, and leaders in the commercial art world. Others are involved in business, law, and the media, to name but a few career pathways.
“If you decide to apply to Cambridge to study art history and you’re fascinated by the materials but don’t speak the artists’ language, throw yourself into it,” said von Mirbach. “There are teachers here to help you approach the materials and work with your strengths – you bring your own biography to make sense of art objects.”
Find out more information about the course and how to apply.
If you have any queries, please contact the Postgraduate Office.
Artwork details: Obiora Udechukwu, Tycoon and Stevedores, 1980, oil on board, 184 X 122 cm. Image courtesy of Chika Okeke-Agulu. Copyright Obiora Udechukwu.