Masters Degrees (Museology)

The Department of History of Art has an international reputation for teaching and research in medieval, Renaissance and modern art history. Our range of interests extends into new areas of study, such as nineteenth- and twentieth-century design history, museology, issues relating to gender and representation, and interdisciplinary topics, particularly relationships between art and film; and art and anthropology.

Current research areas include: medieval architecture; Italian late medieval and Renaissance art and patronage; eighteenth- and nineteenth-century British art; the colonial encounter and cultural history in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries; museology; nationalism and ethnicity in contemporary visual culture; visual culture in South Africa; nineteenth- and twentieth-century architecture and design in France and England; aspects of gender and visual culture; art and design in fin-de-siècle Vienna; computer applications for art history; and digital media and critical theory.

Why study this course at Birkbeck?

Arts and humanities courses at Birkbeck are ranked third best in London and 11th in the UK in the Times Higher Education 2015-16 World University Subject Rankings.

Our research

Birkbeck is one of the world’s leading research-intensive institutions. Our cutting-edge scholarship informs public policy, achieves scientific advances, supports the economy, promotes culture and the arts, and makes a positive difference to society.

Birkbeck’s research excellence was confirmed in the 2014 Research Excellence Framework, which placed Birkbeck 30th in the UK for research, with 73% of our research rated world-leading or internationally excellent.

In the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF), Art and Design at Birkbeck achieved 100% for a research environment supporting world-leading or internationally excellent research.

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The History of Design and Material Culture MA focuses on both objects from everyday life and representations of them since the eighteenth century as a basis for research and analysis.

The course allies theory and practice in seminar-based discussions that embrace various methodological issues and perspectives, including Marxism, discourse theory, phenomenology, semiology, museology, gender, race, class, memory and oral testimony. Depending on the material you analyse in your essays and seminars, as well as the dissertation topic you choose, you can also emphasise your own intellectual and subject-specific interests.

Since its inception in the late 1990s, the MA has garnered a national and international reputation as one of the pioneering and most successful programmes of its kind. As a research-led course, it harnesses the academic expertise of staff with a recognised wealth of teaching and research excellence in subject areas such as fashion and dress history, the history and theory of advertising, photography and the mass-reproduced image, and heritage and museum studies.

Under guidance, you will be encouraged to explore the relationship between theory and practice and to develop your own skills as an independent researcher, thinker and writer.

Course structure

The History of Design and Material Culture MA draws on the wide-ranging academic expertise of staff in the fields of the history of decorative arts and design, dress history, material culture, museology and social history.

It stimulates innovative and interdisciplinary study in the history of design and material culture in both their western and non-western contexts, considering the relationship between local, national and international patterns of production, circulation, consumption and use.

The course is delivered through a combination of lectures, seminars, study visits and tutorials. Considerable emphasis is placed on student involvement in the weekly seminar readings and discussions within the two thematic core modules, Exploring Objects and Mediating Objects.

Based at Pavilion Parade, a Regency building overlooking the famous Royal Pavilion, teaching takes place close to the seafront and city centre amenities.

Syllabus

• Exploring Objects

The Exploring Objects module introduces you to a series of different research methods and historiographical approaches, as you interrogate and make sense of designed objects in terms of how they are designed, produced, circulated, consumed and used in everyday life. It covers the period from the late eighteenth century to the present time and typically involves discussion and debate on the following themes, theories and methods: Marxist and post-Marxist historiography; production and consumption; gender and taste; phenomenology; object-based analysis; the use of archives; and 'good writing/bad writing'. It also introduces you to the academic rigour of postgraduate dissertation research.

• Mediating Objects

This module complements Exploring Objects by focusing on the mediation between 'this one' (the object itself) and 'that one' (the object as represented in word and image). On one level, it examines how objects are translated in various texts and contexts, from museum and private collections to photographs, advertisements, film and fiction. On another level, it examines how objects are transformed through the embodied processes of everyday rituals such as gift-giving and personal oral and collective memories. The module therefore deals with the idea of intertexualities and how the identities of things and people are phenomenologically bound up with each other. By extension, you examine objects in relation to ideas concerning sex, gender, class, generation, race and ethnicity.

• Dissertation

The centrepiece of your MA studies, the dissertation is a piece of original writing between 18,000 and 20,000 words on a research topic of your own choosing. It allows you to pursue a specific research topic related to your own academic and intellectual interests in a given area of the history of design and material culture, for example fashion and dress, textiles, ceramics and glass, product design, interior design and architecture, graphic communications, advertising and photography, film, museums, collecting and curating, and design pedagogy. The dissertation is largely based on primary research, often using specialist archives and surviving historical material.

Facilities

This course makes use of the University of Brighton Design Archives, which include the archives of the Design Council, Alison Settle, FHK Henrion and the South of England Film and Video Archive.

Close professional contact with national institutions such as the Victoria and Albert Museum, as well as with local collections and centres of historical interest (such as Brighton’s unique Royal Pavilion and Brighton Museum and Art Gallery, with its internationally famous collection of decorative art from the 1890s onwards), present research opportunities for students registered on the course.

The course is closely linked to our arts and humanities research division through a joint research lecture series, and we have successfully encouraged high achievers to register for the MPhil/PhD programme.

The student environment also includes the thriving postgraduate Design History Society as well as opportunities for conference presentation, professional contact and career development in the field.

Careers and employability

The course has an extremely healthy track record in helping students to take up careers in related areas of employment and further study. Many of our postgraduates have succeeded in finding work as lecturers, curators, journalists, designers and design consultants, while many others have pursued doctoral research, most often also securing prestigious funding from the AHRC (Arts and Humanities Research Council).

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The Masters in Museum Studies will help you develop the knowledge, understanding and skills required of today’s versatile museum professional. It has been designed in conjunction with employers to meet their needs for well-rounded museum professionals trained in the latest theoretical and practical approaches.

Why this programme

◾Glasgow’s civic and university collections are the richest and most diverse outside of London and are of international standing.
◾Taught alongside staff from the University's own museum and art gallery, The Hunterian, the degree programme provides a combination of academic and practitioner input.
◾If you want to develop a career in the cultural heritage sector, this programme has been developed for you.
◾Three versions of the degree allow you follow standard or specialist strands.
◾There are great opportunities for you to take practice based courses or work placements at the museums and galleries that partner the programme.
◾We welcome applicants from across the arts and sciences, current professionals or career changers, from the UK or abroad.

Programme structure

Three different strands of the MSc Museum Studies are offered.

The Theory and Practice strand is our standard Museum Studies programme where the museum itself is the primary object of study.

Two specialist strands: Collecting and Provenance; and Artefact and Material Culture, enable you to combine courses in Museum Studies with specialist courses from Masters programmes provided by Archaeology and History of Art.

Each strand will give you a different mix of core and optional courses. All students take two 20 credit common core courses in Museology and Research and Professional Skills. You also take four 20 credit courses from your strand (a combination of strand core and optional courses) and one 60 credit research project.

Career prospects

Three different strands of the MSc Museum Studies are offered.

The Theory and Practice strand is our standard Museum Studies programme where the museum itself is the primary object of study.

Two specialist strands: Collecting and Provenance; and Artefact and Material Culture, enable you to combine courses in Museum Studies with specialist courses from Masters programmes provided by Archaeology and History of Art.

Each strand will give you a different mix of core and optional courses. All students take two 20 credit common core courses in Museology and Research and Professional Skills. You also take four 20 credit courses from your strand (a combination of strand core and optional courses) and one 60 credit research project.

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This interdisciplinary programme will equip you with valuable skills and a critical understanding of issues in curatorship, museology and museum management.

You’ll develop your understanding of the ways in which historians and cultural theorists have interpreted and represented architecture, material culture and museums over the past 2,000 years. You’ll look at different methods of display and interpretation and the methodologies behind museum practice and country house collections. Then you’ll choose from optional modules on topics such as cultural theory, sculpture, Hollywood icons or cinema.

At the same time, you’ll develop practical skills. You’ll work on an interpretation project in our Stanley and Audrey Burton Gallery and you’ll even undertake a negotiated work placement in your second semester. Supported by the Centre for Critical Studies in Museums, Galleries and Heritage, you’ll gain the knowledge and skills for a successful career in the museum and art gallery sector.

You’ll study in the heart of a cultural hub for this diverse and vibrant region. Leeds is home to a national museum, nine council-run museums, galleries and heritage sites and many private and charitable museums and galleries.

We’re also a short bus or train journey away from everything the rest of Yorkshire has to offer, from The Hepworth Wakefield to the National Media Museum, Yorkshire Sculpture Park and the Bronte Parsonage Museum. We have close links with many of these cultural institutions to support your practical learning.

Centre for Critical Studies in Museums, Galleries and Heritage

All students on the degree become members of the Centre for Critical Studies in Museums, Galleries and Heritage and enjoy opportunities from networking events and links to alumni to conferences, seminars and reading groups.

Course content

A set of core modules form the bedrock of the programme, introducing you to the concept of the ‘museum’ and the ways in which Western museums have represented and interpreted history and historical material.

You’ll also use contemporary theory to consider 20th-century museum practice and key questions around curatorship, museology and museum management. The role of the curator, funding and sponsorship and the display and interpretation of objects are among the topics you’ll cover.

Your core modules will give you the chance to apply your theoretical knowledge and gain practical skills. You’ll take part in an interpretation project in the University’s Stanley and Audrey Burton Gallery, as well as completing a work placement in an external arts or heritage organisation.

All MA students in the School take two core modules which develop the research skills to complete research projects such as your essays and dissertation.

This will build to our unique MA Symposium in Semester 2, where you present some of your own research across interdisciplinary panels, and a dissertation which enables you to undertake research in a topic of interest to you.

If you choose to study part-time, you’ll study over a longer period and take fewer modules in each year.

Course structure

Compulsory modules

• Advanced Research Skills 1 5 credits
• Advanced Research Skills 2 5 credits
• History and the Museum: Representation, Narrative and Memory 30 credits
• Museum, Object, Practice 30 credits
• Interpreting Cultures 30 credits
• Dissertation for the MA in Art Gallery and Museum Studies 50 credits

Optional modules

• Derrida and Deconstruction 30 credits
• Beyond the Trench: Collaborative Projects on the History, Remembrance and Critical Heritage of the First World War 30 credits
• Capitalism-Criticism-Contemporary Art 30 credits
• Unfinished Business: Trauma, Cultural Memory and the Holocaust 30 credits
• From Chagall to Kitaj and Beyond 30 credits
• Critical and Curatorial Challenges in Contemporary Art: The Documenta Exhibitions at Kassel 1992-2012 30 credits
• Encountering Things: Art and Entanglement in Anglo-Saxon England 30 credits
• Anthropology, Art and Representation 30 credits
• Humanity, Animality and Globality 30 credits
• Audience Engagement and Impact 30 credits

For more information on typical modules, read Art Gallery and Museum Studies MA Full Time in the course catalogue

For more information on typical modules, read Art Gallery and Museum Studies MA Part Time in the course catalogue

Learning and teaching

You’ll be taught by leading researchers and experienced practitioners in their fields, and you’ll benefit from a range of teaching and learning methods. They include lectures and seminars, gallery and museum visits, as well as hands-on experience of specific collections in library sessions.

You’ll also learn from practical experience when you undertake your work placement, and a variety of external speakers will give you an insight into contemporary practice in the sector. Independent study is an important element of the degree, allowing you to develop your research and critical skills.

Assessment

We use a range of assessment methods including essays, presentations, assignments and literature reviews among others, depending on the modules you choose.

Career opportunities

Through a combination of theory and practice, the programme produces graduates who are able to develop professional careers in the museums and heritage sector whilst retaining a critical and reflexive eye on their own practice and that of the institutions in which they work.

It will equip you with a good understanding of the issues and approaches to art gallery and museum studies, as well as practical work experience – a combination which is very valuable to employers. You’ll also develop advanced skills in communication, research and analysis as well as cultural awareness.

Our graduates now work as heads of collection, curators and education staff in local authority museums, for national heritage organisations like the National Trust, charitable trusts and in arts marketing and public relations.

A significant number have also returned as research students and have secured scholarships to pursue their research topics, including Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) scholarships. Former research students are now forging academic careers in the UK, Canada and the US.

To get a flavour of the kinds of career trajectories our graduates have taken see the ‘news’ section of the Centre for Critical Studies in Museums, Galleries and Heritage and the alumni pages of the School website.

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This programme, delivered by School of Arts and specialist visiting lecturers, develops your skills and provides experience relevant to a career in curating.

Based at the School of Arts Studio 3 Gallery, you are involved in all aspects of the running of the Gallery. You work closely with partner organisations such as Canterbury museums and the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA).

You have the opportunity to develop your own project, working within the Gallery’s exhibition programme.

Visit the website https://www.kent.ac.uk/courses/postgraduate/96/curating

About the Department of History & Philosophy of Art

The History & Philosophy of Art Department within the School of Arts, provides opportunities for graduate study with well-established researchers in the fields of art history, philosophy of art and aesthetics. Staff research covers contemporary art and aesthetics, modernism, theories of art, the historiography of art and the Cold War; biographical monographs, the photograph (in its historical, contemporary and critical contexts), and the historical interplay of image, theory and institutions from the Renaissance to the present (especially European and North American).

Developing areas of interest include the cultural and historical significance of the print, and the role of performance and new media in contemporary art practices, which draw upon our links with other subjects within the School of Arts and the Faculty of Humanities. In particular, postgraduates have the opportunity to participate in the activities of the multidisciplinary Aesthetics Research Centre and the Art History and Visual Cultures Research Centre. There is also a full programme of visiting speakers from across the constituent subject areas within the School of Arts, which includes Film and Drama.

Course structure

Compulsory modules provide an overview of the history of collecting and exhibitions through a series of case studies, taking advantage of our proximity to major London collections. We also cover theoretical issues relating to curating and museology.

Optional modules focus on providing practice-based opportunities for developing curatorial skills.

Modules

The following modules are indicative of those offered on this programme. This list is based on the current curriculum and may change year to year in response to new curriculum developments and innovation. Most programmes will require you to study a combination of compulsory and optional modules. You may also have the option to take modules from other programmes so that you may customise your programme and explore other subject areas that interest you.

HA826 - History and Theory of Curating (30 credits)
HA827 - Curatorial Internship (60 credits)

Assessment

Assessment is through a combination of coursework essays, critical logbooks and practice-based exercises. A long dissertation is required for the Exhibition Development and Design module.

[[Programme aims
This programme aims to:

- create and interpret knowledge at the forefront of the discipline through the development of critical, conceptual and practical abilities

- develop a self-directed programme of practice and related research

- contextualise and theorise practice in relation to, and through critical evaluation of, the work of contemporary practitioners and leading researchers within the discipline

- develop a comprehensive understanding of methodologies applicable to independent research

- develop autonomy in practice work within a context that fosters collaborative learning

- sustain an advanced practice that encompasses the disciplines of writing, discussion and producing practice-based outcomes

- achieve high-level skills and competencies as a preparation for professional practice and further development in the field of curating

- embed your research within the context of the University and utilise the resources offered in the research environment such as staff expertise, symposia and colloquia

- develop public outcomes outside the University in a range of formats

- attract students from a diversity of arts contexts and contexts that inform artistic practice, including fine art, history of art, sociology, journalism, English literature, film studies architecture and philosophy

- attract intellectually able and talented students who are enquiring, open to experimentation, discussion and collaboration as well able to work independently

- provide a forward-thinking, dynamic learning environment that responds to the current climate of debate and production in the arts.

- forge an international identity within the field of study through developing partnerships with international universities and non-HEIs

- support specialism and progression by allowing students to opt for specific routes of study that include curating, art history, cultural history, arts management, conservation or museum studies.

Research areas

The Department has a collective interest in developing interdisciplinary projects, including projects informed by art history and philosophy of art or aesthetics. Shared areas of research interest include: photography, art theory from the Renaissance to recent times and contemporary art.

Careers

Arts postgraduates have gone on to work in a range of professions, from museum positions and teaching roles to marketing and gallery assistants. Our graduates have found work with Tate Britain, the V&A, Museum of Childhood and other arts, culture and heritage-related organisations.

Find out how to apply here - https://www.kent.ac.uk/courses/postgraduate/apply/

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The programme is taught by a team of academics in the social, political and cultural history of Scotland from the medieval period through to the 20th century. It has a particular geographical emphasis on Gaelic Scotland, Scotland’s place in the British Isles and Europe, and on urban Scotland.

Why this programme

◾Teaching and research in Scottish history are firmly embedded in the University, giving benefits from synergies with Celtic and Gaelic, archaeology and Scottish literature, all contributing to the work of the Centre for Scottish & Celtic Studies.
◾You will enjoy access to the Baillie Collection, our prized collection of printed medieval and modern sources in Scottish, Irish and English history. The collection also offers printed state papers, Historical Manuscript Commission publications and a select collection of modern monographs.
◾Our programme has strong links with the University's Hunterian Museum & Art Gallery, giving you access to primary source material including an enormous collection of anatomical and pathological specimens, coins, books, manuscripts and ethnography.
◾You will join an extensive medieval research community. Glasgow has active charter and chronicle research groups in medieval studies, a reading group and regular staff-student seminars. The annual Edwards Lecture is the keynote event in the calendar of this scholarly community.

Programme structure

Our History Masters are built around a hands-on research training course, specialised courses on historical and theoretical themes, and other courses developing your technical skills and other abilities like languages and palaeography.

If you choose to study Scottish History, there will be a guided selection of courses that will provide you with the specialised knowledge in that field. You will be taught through a series of seminars and workshops. Internationally recognised historians give guest lectures throughout the year.

In the final part of the programme, you will select a specialised topic and conduct original primary source research for your dissertation. You are supported in your research and writing up by an assigned supervisor with expertise in your field of inquiry.

Core courses
◾Research resources and skills for historians.

Optional courses

Course options may include
◾Politics and literature in Jacobean Scotland
◾Culture, politics and society in the Highland clearances
◾Interdisciplinary perspectives on Scottish culture
◾Specialist course in Medieval Scottish studies
◾Revolutionary Scotland: literature, culture and politics 1830-1939
◾The Scottish Wars of Independence
◾Scottish popular culture
◾Scottish Reformation.

The courses taught each year vary depending upon staff availability.

To widen your approach and develop an interdisciplinary perspective, you are also strongly encouraged to take one or two complementary courses in cognate subjects, such as
◾Monuments in transition in Medieval Scotland
◾Records and evidence
◾Introduction to museology
◾Approaching the past
◾Sources for early Medieval Scottish Christianity.

Courses in Scottish literature, English literature, theology, history of art and other College of Arts subjects can also be studied, by agreement with the programme convener.

Career prospects

Apart from continuing to study a PhD, you can transfer the arts research skills and methods you learn on this programme to positions in the public and private sectors, such as heritage, policy and projects, journalism and teaching.

Positions held by recent History graduates include Editor Business & History Products, Lead Scholar/Instructor and Secretary.

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History of art is a rich and dynamic discipline, combining the rigorous investigation of the visual arts with the creative exploration of their connections to culture, politics and society. Postgraduate study in this area trains you at a high level in looking at, thinking about and researching art and its histories.

Birkbeck's MA History of Art offers the opportunity to study with internationally recognised experts. Our teaching staff are defining the field, conducting ground-breaking research in periods from medieval to contemporary, focusing on painting, sculpture, print culture, architecture, photography, digital art and museology.

The MA History of Art exposes you to key art historical approaches, and allows you to focus in depth on areas and periods of particular interest to you, in early and modern (including contemporary) periods, through taught options (see an indicative list of modules on the 'course structure' tab) and independent research. The course also offers opportunities for work placements with London museums, galleries and archives.

The course develops your visual acuity and your understanding of art's histories, while stimulating critical debate and stretching your research skills. In addition to independent written work, you will take part in group discussion, give oral presentations and engage with the Department of History of Art's research culture.

In all of this, you will work closely with our staff while also benefiting from our diverse and vibrant student body of all ages and backgrounds. The teaching programme is enriched by museum and site visits, visiting speakers, screenings and opportunities to get involved as volunteers in research and community outreach activities. The department also offers an exciting study trip every spring.

Students are encouraged to become involved in the lively research culture of the department through the History and Theory of Photography Research Centre, the Architecture, Space and Society Centre and the Vasari Research Centre, which has pioneered the field of digital art history. In addition to the core teaching and individual research support, students benefit from many events in the Department of History of Art at Birkbeck, including: the postgraduate Research Seminar, which brings art historians from all over the UK and beyond to speak at Birkbeck; the biennial Murray Lecture; the Murray Seminar on Medieval and Renaissance Art; and the programme of exhibitions and displays at the Peltz Gallery, the School of Arts' purpose-built exhibition space. Students are also welcome to attend other seminars and events across the School of Arts and at the Birkbeck Institute for Humanities.

We offer taster events and information evenings for prospective students interested in our history of art programmes throughout the year.

Why study this course at Birkbeck?

Arts and humanities courses at Birkbeck are ranked third best in London and 11th in the UK in the Times Higher Education 2015-16 World University Subject Rankings.
You will work closely with leading international experts in the history of art.
You can choose to specialise in a wide range of periods and geographies, from medieval European architecture and cityscapes to contemporary global art practices.
You can study flexibly, full-time or part-time, with all teaching in the evenings.
On class visits and in your independent research you will have access to London's world-class art collections, museums and libraries.
Your fellow students are from a wide range of backgrounds and are often already working in the field, offering a high level of discussion and excellent networking opportunities.
You will have access to the Birkbeck Library and an in-house resources centre. In addition, our location in Bloomsbury offers excellent access to specialist libraries in the University of London. These include the University of London Library, Institute of Historical Research, Warburg Institute and School of Oriental and African Studies, together with the major national resource of the British Library.
You will also have easy access to specialist art libraries not far from Birkbeck, including the library of the Courtauld Institute of Art, the Royal Institute of British Architects library and the National Art Library at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A), as well as the great visual resources of the British Museum, National Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, Tate Britain, Tate Modern and V&A, commercial galleries and salesrooms. Temporary exhibition galleries like the Barbican Gallery, Institute of Contemporary Arts, Hayward Gallery and Royal Academy also make London a particularly good place in which to undertake research.
You can participate in the rich research culture of the Department of History of Art.
Keep up-to-date with our research on the Birkbeck History of Art blog.

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Mission and goals

The programme has the objective of preparing a high-profile cultural and professional figure, ale to critically and creatively interpret the new social and individual requirement of the vast universe of interior (and exterior) spaces in a city. The course prepares designers able to creatively intervene in the project with the functional, aesthetic-formal, technical and technological design of space, of its relations with the user and the context; to work as coordinator and artistic director in projects for enhancing the interiors of the existing architectural heritage with a set-up approach, often intervening reversibly but nevertheless always with an innovative interpretation of the nature of the space generated.

The programme is available also in English

See the website http://www.polinternational.polimi.it/educational-offer/laurea-magistrale-equivalent-to-master-of-science-programmes/interior-design/

Career opportunities

The Interior Designer finds his/her natural place in design studios or companies, working as director of activities oriented towards various areas, such as: the domestic environment, commercial activities, places of cultural production and presentation (auditoriums, museums, galleries, exhibitions), public areas destined for the most advanced social functions (offices, hospitals, schools, universities), hotel trade as well as the re-functionalising and reclamation of disused industrial and service areas.

Presentation

See http://www.polinternational.polimi.it/uploads/media/Interior_Design_02.pdf
This programme aims at training a high-profile figure, able to critically interpret the emerging requirements of interior spaces and places in a city. Designers will be able to creatively intervene in projects with an innovative functional, aesthetic, technical and technological approach. The programme is characterized by different didactical activities, ranging from monodisciplinary courses, to experimental workshops, where the students are given an opportunity to experiment and use the tools used in design professions.
The Interior Designer can work in design studios/companies as director of activities oriented towards various areas- domestic environment, commercial activities, places of cultural production (auditoriums, museums, galleries, exhibitions), public areas (offices, hospitals, schools, universities), hotel trade as well as in re-functionalising industrial/service areas.
The programme is taught in English.

Subjects

- 1st year
Interior Design Studio, Exhibition Design Studio, Workshop, Arts and languages of the present, Lighting design, Technologic Culture Of The Design Project, Museology in contemporary age.
Students will have to choose among other elective courses.

- 2nd year
Contemporary Interiors, Internship , Final Synthesis Design Studio.
Students will have to choose among other elective courses.

See the website http://www.polinternational.polimi.it/educational-offer/laurea-magistrale-equivalent-to-master-of-science-programmes/interior-design/

For contact information see here http://www.polinternational.polimi.it/educational-offer/laurea-magistrale-equivalent-to-master-of-science-programmes/interior-design/

Find out how to apply here http://www.polinternational.polimi.it/how-to-apply/

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This Masters programme offers an interdisciplinary approach to studying the history of collecting and collections from an international perspective. In particular, it focuses on the trajectory of artefacts through time and space and their historical legacy. Subjects covered include methodological approaches and legal issues relating to provenance and restitution, illegal trafficking of cultural objects, connoisseurship, taste, the patterns of collecting and viewing both private and public and the politics of display. The programme will move the collective debate beyond the usual focus on the Western tradition.

Why this programme

◾This programme is unique to Scotland and the UK as it combines aspects of art history and law and places them in a broad international context.
◾You will learn from world-leading researchers and develop expert knowledge in this specialised area of art history.
◾Glasgow’s civic and university collections are some of the richest and most diverse in Europe and are of international standing. The University’s own Hunterian Museum and Art gallery is the oldest public museum in Scotland and has extensive holdings covering fine art, geology, anatomy and the history of medicine. The new facilities at Kelvin Hall support object-based study as a number of courses will include handling sessions of the objects in the collections.
◾Work placement opportunities are offered within the programme on a competitive basis. In addition to Scottish institutions, work placements take place in the Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C.
◾Our research forum provides you with a lively and stimulating introduction to methodological debates within art history. It provides a sense of art history’s own history as well as contemporary concerns and practice, examining the beliefs and values that have informed various forms of historical and visual analysis and enquiry. It is focused around a series of seminars or workshops run by members of staff and visiting academics.

Programme structure

The programme structure comprises of four core courses and a dissertation (these are compulsory). In addition you can choose two optional courses, either from the ones provided within the programme or from available courses across the College of Arts.

The dissertation (15,000 words in length, including footnotes but excluding bibliography) will be on a topic chosen in consultation with the tutors and programme convenors. You will also have an opportunity to take part in a field trip.

The learning and teaching approaches covered in the programme include: lectures (built around case studies), seminars and discussions (supported by relevant published sources), handling sessions and supervision.

Core and optional courses

Core courses
-Cultures of Collecting – Collecting Cultures (semester 1)
-Methodologies 1: Object Biography (semester 1)
-Objects in Motion 1: Provenance (semester 1)
-Objects in Motion 2: Global Illicit Trafficking (semester 2)

Optional courses
◾Objects in Motion 3: Restitution (semester 2)
◾Archaeological Theory and Interpretation (semester 2)
◾Approaching the Ancient World through Material Culture (semester 1)
◾Introduction to Museology (semester 1)
◾Art Crime (Semester 2 online)
◾Repatriation, Recovery, Return (summer online)
◾Independent Study (usually semester 2)
◾Work Placement (semester 2)

Career prospects

This Masters programme is intended to provide you with a strong foundation from which to embark upon a career in the visual arts, the art market, museums and galleries, heritage and historic properties.

Graduates have gone on to hold positions in museums and galleries (both public and private) in Scotland and elsewhere in the UK and have, more broadly, entered the commercial, cultural and heritage sectors in a number of roles. The programme also provides an excellent platform for you to move into PhD studies and an academic career..

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History is practised everywhere: by governments, private corporations, universities, museums and galleries, in the tourism and heritage industries, on television programmes and in newspaper columns, and through local history societies, community development projects, and genealogical associations. History and historians play important roles at the level of the both the nation and the neighbourhood, contributing to public debates, policy decisions and popular education and entertainment.

Public history is concerned with the practice of history outside of academia in all its myriad forms and public historians come in all shapes and sizes: they are consultants, museum professionals, archivists, preservationists and curators, cultural resource managers, policy specialists, and community activists, among many other roles. What they share is a commitment to making history relevant, beneficial, informative and instructive within the public sphere. The practice and significance of ‘public history’ has grown significantly in recent years, as historians become more aware of audiences beyond the academy, of the role of history in politics, of the need for their research and analysis to have an impact in the real world, and of the growing public and media interest in popular history and heritage.

This MA will introduce you to key aspects and issues of the practice of public history. It will provide you with the necessary theoretical and practical skills to undertake critical assessments of public history projects and interventions - as well as to create your own. Its focus on public history in practice will provide you with a wide range of examples of different types and methods of public history, from museums and material culture, to public history in the media, to the role of history in policy making. This MA aims to give you a sense of the wide range of public history, the variety of roles played by historians in public, and the importance and impact of public history in politics, culture, and society.

The compulsory modules will introduce you to the systematic study of historiography, the methodologies used in the analysis and interpretation of historical source material, and the contemporary practice of public history. You can explore the enormous breadth of research interests in the Department via the 2 option modules you choose, which are drawn across disciplines including archaeology, classics, the history of art and museology. Finally, the dissertation gives you the chance to pursue your own interests and undertake your own research and critical thinking under the supervision of a member of staff with relevant expertise.

The MA Public Histories provides relevant training for careers in media, education, museums and heritage, publishing, and policy, and it also provides rigorous training in the historical discipline suitable to prepare you for further personal or professional research, or research at MPhil/PhD level.

Why study this course at Birkbeck?

Arts and humanities courses at Birkbeck are ranked third best in London and 11th in the UK in the Times Higher Education 2015-16 World University Subject Rankings.
Many Birkbeck historians take very active public roles as policy consultants, columnists in newspapers, editors of digital history websites, and leaders in community history projects. Students on the MA Public Histories will be given the opportunity to benefit from their expertise.
Tutors and potential dissertation supervisors on the course could include Dr. Julia Laite, whose work focuses on aspects of women's history and policy and who is an expert in history online; Professor Matt Cook, who works extensively in community history, oral history and queer history and is a Director of the Samuel Raphael History Centre; Professor David Feldman, who has worked extensively in history and policy related to migration and minorities and is Director of the Pears Institute for the Study of Antisemitism; Professor Orlando Figes, an expert in oral history and the history of nineteenth- and twentieth-century Russia; and Dr. Fiona Candlin, an expert in museum studies, whose work focuses on small museums and public heritage.
MA Public Histories will be taught in Bloomsbury, at the heart of academic London, which contains one of the world's greatest concentrations of first-class library facilities, archives, museums, and heritage and public history organisations.
Our Department of History, Classics and Archaeology is one of the leading research and teaching departments for history in the UK. It is ranked 6th in the UK for the percentage of our research deemed world-leading or internationally excellent.
Our academic staff are international authorities in their fields, delivering stimulating, research-led teaching.
Our Department is home to thriving student societies and a number of affiliated research centres that actively run seminars, conferences and other events where some of the world's best scholars present their latest research. These include the Pears Institute for the Study of Antisemitism, the Raphael Samuel History Centre and the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities.
We are located 5 minutes' walk from the British Museum and the British Library, while the Museum of London is easily reachable. The Institute of Historical Research is located in Bloomsbury, near the main Birkbeck campus, and has an internationally renowned library collection and seminars that you can attend.
Birkbeck Library has an extensive history collection, including the major specialist journals, and access to online materials.

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Who is this programme for?:

The programme is ideal for students wishing to pursue a career in the museum, heritage and arts sectors with a focus on non-Western art and culture, and both tangible and intangible heritage. It will suit practicing museum and heritage professionals who are interested in strengthening their knowledge of contemporary debates in critical museology, critical heritage studies and material culture studies. With its interdisciplinary focus, it will suit students interested in broadening their expertise across anthropology, art history and archaeology. It will also provide an excellent postgraduate foundation for students interested in pursuing PhD research concerned with museums, heritage, and material/visual culture in Asian, African, Middle Eastern and transnational/transcultural contexts.

This interdisciplinary programme brings together anthropological, art historical and archaeological perspectives to explore the interconnecting fields of museums, heritage and material culture studies. The MA disprivileges Western museum and heritage discourses and practices, and explores tangible and intangible cultural heritage as spheres of global interaction.

The MA will equip students with a theoretically-informed critical understanding of museums, heritage and material/visual culture. Taught across the Department of Anthropology and School of Arts, the MA provides a unique opportunity to learn about current debates in World Art and World Heritage, combining ethnographic, art historical and archaeological approaches.

Students will be introduced to a wide range of thematic and theoretical issues, and will have the opportunity to curate a small exhibition in the Curating Cultures module, and put into practice anthropological research techniques in the Ethnographic Research Methods course.

Situated in London’s ‘Museum Mile’, a few hundred meters from the British Museum, and with its own Brunei Gallery, SOAS provides a unique environment in which to study the cultural heritage of Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

Programme Overview

The programme consists of 180 credits in total: 120 credits of modules and a dissertation of 10,000 words at 60 credits.

All students are expected to take the core and compulsory modules listed here - https://www.soas.ac.uk/anthropology/programmes/ma-museums-heritage-and-material-culture-studies/

Students are advised to take one or both of the recommended modules listed below or may wish to select from the Department of Anthropology and Sociology or the School of Arts (Departments of Centre for Media Studies, History of Art and Archaeology or Music) options lists.

The remaining credits can be selected from the Department of Anthropology and Sociology list or the School of Arts options. See below for a detailed programme structure.

Language Entitlement Programme:

Many students choose to pursue a language through the SOAS Language Entitlement Programme (LEP). Languages normally available include Arabic, Chinese, French, Hebrew, Hindi, Japanese, Korean, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swahili, Turkish and Urdu. Others may also be offered.

Teaching & Learning

Students taking the MA in Museums, Heritage and Material Culture Studies will have the opportunity to achieve:

- A critical awareness of contemporary theoretical debates in museum studies, cultural heritage studies, and material/visual culture studies;
- A familiarity with the distinctive contributions of anthropology, art history and archaeology to these interdisciplinary fields;
- A critical awareness of World Art/World Cultures/World Heritage, with an emphasis on SOAS’s regional specialisms (Asia, Africa and the Middle East) as well as transnational/diasporic contexts;
- An understanding of ethnographic approaches to tangible and intangible heritage research;
- Experience of object-based knowledge and museological research methods.

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The Faculty of Information combines strengths in the stewardship and curation of cultural heritage (libraries, archives, and museums) with leadership in the future of information practice as society is transformed by the rise of digital technologies.

The Master of Museum Studies program prepares students for future involvement in museums and related cultural agencies. The program examines the theoretical body of knowledge of museology as a necessary context for professional practice. The Faculty of Information also provides a Concurrent Registration Option whereby students may register concurrently in the Master of Information and Master of Museum Studies programs.

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This programme is designed to help you to develop as an interdisciplinary, creative designer in a direction that aligns with your interests and career aspirations.

A practice-led approach involves undertaking projects in areas of exhibition design that interest you. These could include trade shows, museums, international expositions, cultural events, retail and leisure environments, theatre, television and film stage sets, heritage sites and visitor centres.

In preparation for a career in this sector, you will have the opportunity to explore the social and cultural context of exhibitions and the chance to develop a critical understanding of current theory in design and museology, as well as advancing your marketing, communication and project management skills. You will be able to negotiate a programme of projects tailored to meet your individual interests, and have the opportunity to broaden your network of industry contacts and compile your own individual portfolio.

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Why choose this course:
-You want to be taught by lecturers at the cutting edge of international research in social archaeology
-You enjoy working in small groups to explore current 'hot topics' and exciting new debates
-You are looking for state-of-the art research training that will prepare you for a PhD and develop transferrable skills

Archaeology at Manchester is internationally recognised as a centre for social archaeology. The MA in Archaeology thus facilitates a fascinating journey into the material and social world of past human societies. By combining theory with practice, we are able to ask fundamental questions about the complex web of inter-relationships between societies, individuals, animals and plants, the built environment as well as the material world. This socially-focused approach also encourages a critical and self-reflective attitude towards the politics and practice of archaeology today. Working at the forefront of knowledge and interpretation, the MA brings together researchers of international calibre with specialization in a wide range of geographical areas and chronological periods, and thus offers a unique and stimulating environment for postgraduate study.

This MA programme fosters strong student-led research. By encouraging you to propose your own essay, presentation and dissertation topics, the MA allows you to pursue your specific archaeological interests throughout all our modules.

The MA in Archaeology will appeal to:
-Those wishing to explore the following themes: history, theory and practice of archaeology; the archaeology of cultural identity; landscape, monuments and architecture; technology and society; death and the body; archaeological heritage and the contemporary significance of the past.
-Those interested in the following geographical areas or chronological periods: Mesolithic, Neolithic, and Iron Age Britain, Neolithic and Bronze Age Near East, Cyprus and Greece, Africa, Pacific and historical/colonial archaeology, as well as the role of the past in contemporary societies.
-Those whose first degree was in a related discipline (eg Anthropology, Museology, History of Art, History) and now wish to take a postgraduate degree in Archaeology in order to gain a solid grounding in the discipline.
-Those who have a first degree in Archaeology (single or joint honours) who wish to advance their knowledge, understanding and skills in an exciting research led environment at the forefront of new developments and discoveries.

Aims

The Programme aims are to:
-Enable you to develop their understanding of the interrelationship between archaeological theory, interpretation and practice
-Provide you with an overview of a range of theoretical approaches to artefacts, architecture and landscape, and encourage you to explore these in relation to specific case studies
-Encourage you to develop their critical skills concerning inference and interpretation
-Encourage you to develop a critical awareness of the contemporary social and political context of archaeology
-Enhance and amplify previously acquired disciplinary and transferable skills
-Enable you to undertake self-critical original research (through the MA dissertation)

Coursework and assessment

In addition to the compulsory core module `Archaeologies of the Past, Present and Future', students take three option course units and complete a 12,000-15,000 word dissertation. Most teaching will take place in small interactive seminar groups, involving, as appropriate, directed-reading, staff and student presentations, discussion, debate, problem-solving and group-work. Assessment is both formative and summative. Most courses are summatively assessed by a 6,000-word essay. Oral presentations, poster presentations, self-reflective learning reports and assessed group work may also be used and additional formative feedback is given throughout.

Career opportunities

In addition to subject-specific content and approaches, this Masters degree teaches and develops a wealth of transferable skills that are appreciated by employers in all walks of life. Pursuing this degree thus enables students to keep open a very wide range of career options. This MA provides an excellent vocational foundation for those wishing to pursue a career in archaeology or hoping to embark upon a research degree, but is also a great general degree that teaches a diverse range of transferable skills highly sought after by employers, such as critical thinking, oral presentation, and team work.

Recent graduates have gone on to PhDs in Archaeology, to working in Archaeological Units, to teaching, to contract researching, or to work in local or central government, commerce or industry.

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The MA in Contemporary Art Theory is for those with a special interest in contemporary art, and an aptitude for theoretical work in the subject- http://www.gold.ac.uk/pg/ma-contemporary-art-theory/

The programme offers a challenging and advanced scheme of study, which explores a range of theoretical perspectives that shape attitudes towards visual art in the late 20th/early 21st centuries.

Invigorated by current research, the programme encourages you to explore conceptually and creatively the ways in which contemporary artistic practice and critical theory interrelate. It aims to expand your knowledge of contemporary artistic developments as well as to deepen your understanding of the interdisciplinary nature of academic discourses on visual culture.

The programme draws variously upon the fields of performance studies, art history, philosophy, museology, queer theory, post-colonial studies and cultural studies in addressing the critical challenges posed by artistic practice.

Contact the department

If you have specific questions about the degree, contact Mark Fisher.

Overview

The programme comprises a non-assessed introductory module, the Common Core Module Readings/Processes, and four assessed components: two Special Subjects, the MA Symposium and the MA Dissertation. Students also attend the guest lecture programme. You have the option of auditing another special subject should you wish to do so, subject to availability and in agreement with the course tutor.

The taught part of the programme runs from the end of September to the end of March, with additional guest lectures or workshops in May and June. It offers a framework to help you focus and develop your own understanding of contemporary art practice and its wider cultural significance. It is designed to develop your understanding of a range of critical and theoretical approaches that inform the heterogeneous field of visual art production whilst, at the same time, enabling you to identify and prepare the area of independent research you will carry out in your dissertation project.

Thematic pathways through the MA will be offered on a yearly basis. These will connect the annually changing themes of the core courses with the annual roster of special subjects. In any specific year three themes will be operative. They may include Global Arts; Sound; Politics and Aesthetics; Performance and Live Art; Critical Thought.

Full-time students attend on Thursday and one other day each week (determined by the choice of special subject); part-time students attend on one day each week in the first year and on Thursday in the second year.

Assessment

Having already produced an assessed oral presentation on your topic you work on your dissertation over the summer and submit your completed project for assessment early in September. Assessment: one 12-15,000-word dissertation.

Requirements

If you have little or no formal training in art history or a related humanities discipline, you may need to take a preparatory year of study on the Graduate Diploma in Contemporary Art History. You may also be required to attend an interview.

Funding

Please visit http://www.gold.ac.uk/pg/fees-funding/ for details.

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