This well-established programme at the Ulster University is delivered through the School of Creative Arts and Technologies and is taught on the Belfast campus. It has many links with the museum and heritage profession both north and south and students have the advantage of meeting with practitioners through lectures and visits. Graduates have been successful in securing positions in the museum and heritage sectors both in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. To support your learning, we arrange a placement for all students in a local museum or heritage site.
The degree programme has been designed for individuals seeking further career development in the heritage and museum sectors, as well for graduates of Art and Design, Art History, Geography, History, Archaeology, Anthropology, Education, Sociology and allied disciplines, who wish to develop their research interests in these fields.
Key areas of investigation in this MA include
Modules have been designed to reflect innovative and current research in these areas and will equip both graduates and those already working in the heritage sectors with the appropriate skills for further academic and professional development.
The MA requires successful completion of five taught modules and one research module.
Taught Modules
MA Research Dissertation
If you choose not to do the research dissertation you may exit with a PGD, postgraduate diploma.
The MA Cultural Heritage and Museum Studies is delivered at the York Street Campus in Belfast to both full and part-time students.
Your Course Director is Elizabeth Crooke, Professor of Heritage and Museum Studies at Ulster University. Elizabeth works with a team of expert and experienced tutors to deliver this programme. In September 2015 Elizabeth was elected Chairperson of Board of Directors Northern Ireland Museums Council. Elizabeth is currently a member of the Museum Standards Programme Advisory Committee of the Heritage Council (Ireland) and member of the Board of Directors Irish Museums Association.
This course is taught on the Belfast campus.
Full-time students attend lectures and seminars two days a week (typically Tuesday and Thursday) and Part-time students one day a week (typically a Thursday in the first year and a Tuesday in the second year).
We support all students in finding a work placement, which they complete alongside their studies.Students have had placements at National Museums Northern Ireland, local museums, Linen Hall Library, PRONI and the National Trust.
This programme was introduced in 2001 and since that time our graduates have pursued careers in museums, exhibition design, archives, the cultural sector and further education. Alumni from the programme now form a vibrant community and are having a positive impact on the sector.
The areas graduates have gone on to include:
The physical remains of our past – buildings, landscapes, city streets, archives, artefacts and archaeological sites – along with the intangible associations of tradition, language and memory continue to shape our lives. However, the ways we understand and manage ‘heritage’ are changing rapidly.
We’ll challenge you to think about what heritage means, help you to set heritage management in its social, political and economic context. We'll give you the chance to apply your understanding through a range of research and practice-based projects with our regional, national and international partners.
You’ll explore how heritage sites are managed, presented and explained. We’ll teach you to consider their value beyond something to see or a place to visit.
In trimester one, you will explore changing and contested ideas about the nature of heritage. Examine the social, political, and economic context in which heritage is defined and managed, and consider the best of current practice through a series of workshops. These are led by some of the best professionals in the sector, many of whom will continue to offer you support and advice.
In trimester two, you will plan and undertake an independent research project, which allows you to ask key questions about an aspect of current practice which most inspires or concerns you. In parallel with this, you will complete a 25 day placement with one of our many partners in the sector.
In trimester three, you'll complete an extended piece of research through a dissertation or to design and deliver a new project in collaboration with a heritage site, museum, archive or community group, or to work with artists and teachers, health professionals and developers.
For more information on modules and course structure, please go to: https://www.bathspa.ac.uk/courses/pg-heritage-management/
We deliver much of the course through intensive workshops, often run by leaders in their own field in the heritage sector. These are complemented by guest lectures, offering you the chance to become involved in thinking about major heritage issues as they develop, and by the sessions which you run for the group, as you develop your own expertise.
You’ll be assessed through a mix of project work, formal essays, reports and a final dissertation or project. For a final project you could produce a film, develop a website, or prepare learning materials. Alternatively, a more traditional dissertation might lead you to further research and a PhD.
For more information on assessment methods, please view the course handbook:https://www.bathspa.ac.uk/media/bathspaacuk/course-handbooks/old-handbooks/old-handbooks/PG-Heritage-Management-2015-16.pdf
Careers in the heritage sector include collections management; education and learning; exhibition planning and implementation; community engagement and outreach; and marketing and fundraising. We also cater for people interested in the voluntary sector, social enterprises, fundraising, and a wide range of administrative and management roles.
Some of our graduates go on to complete postgraduate research, and we have a growing cohort of PhD students working in the field of heritage studies.
