The School of Art History at the University of St Andrews is delighted to announce the 2026 Postgraduate Symposium of Art and Culture.

This year’s symposium convenes around the theme of ‘Revisiting the Canon’. The canon refers to works that are conventionally accepted and perpetually revered. It directly and indirectly shapes how people encounter, experience, and understand art. Pausing to reflect on the constructed canon, this symposium poses two fundamental questions: what do we study as ‘art’ and ‘culture’, and how do we study them? The symposium uses these questions to push for investigation and examination of the current landscape of knowledge and explore possibilities for the future.

We warmly invite proposals for 15-minute papers that address subjects and topics related to ideas of the canon in the fields of art, culture, and heritage from postgraduate students and early career researchers from any discipline. Showcases of creative practice are also welcome.

To submit a paper, please upload your abstract (maximum 250 words) and a 100 word bio to the following form (https://tinyurl.com/RevisitingTheCanonSymposium). The deadline for submission is Friday 17 July 2026. Notifications of acceptance will be sent by 4 September.

More information on the Symposium and CFP can be found on our website (https://arthistpgsymposium.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk/).
Please direct any questions to arthistpgsympst-andrews.ac.uk.