Successful applicants will normally have a BA(Hons) degree at level of 2:1 or higher, or its international equivalent, in a related subject such as history of art, history or anthropology. Candidates from other disciplinary backgrounds are encouraged to apply.
Candidates with 2:2 awards or equivalent professional experience will also be considered. For example, employment or voluntary experience in fields related to museums, galleries, public art, heritage, education and publishing will be taken into consideration.
Applicants who wish to take business modules as part of their programme will also need to demonstrate three years’ management experience as an employee or volunteer in a related organisation.
This vocational masters degree has been developed in partnership with the Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove in response to current priorities within the museums and heritage sector.
It aims to support future generations of practitioners to understand, investigate, question and debate the contemporary museum and heritage sector and its wider contexts.
Through wide-ranging module choices, it caters both for candidates working in the museums and heritage industry wishing to progress their careers, as well as those wishing to move into the sector. Students can choose to take up to 60 credits of business modules and have that reflected in the award they graduate with – Curating Collections and Heritage with Management MA.
Modules cover themes crucial to building a successful career in curating collections and heritage. They will challenge you to consider a range of theoretical and methodological approaches and all feature practical learning and experience at their heart.
This MA will appeal to those with a broad range of interests, from curating design, dress and screen to visual culture, heritage and exhibitions
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Your MA will be structured around three compulsory modules:
Museums and Collections in Context and Caring for Collections and Their Users (20 credits each) are partner modules that will support you to consider the critical questions of the museum and collections sector, exploring and debating the role and purpose of museums and collections, the ethical responsibilities involved, and key issues in collections care, learning, inclusivity and audience development. The modules feature seminar discussion, guest lectures and hands-on workshops dealing with conservation and disaster planning. They are also designed to support students who are undertaking or hope to take their Associateship of the Museums Association qualification, and can be taken as freestanding modules.
Heritage in a Global Context is the third compulsory module in which students will consider what constitutes heritage and explore how historical, aesthetic and cultural value is attributed to material forms of the past. The unit combines theoretical and political debate with the opportunity to analyse well-known international examples of heritage, from Stonehenge to Robben Island, and to create local case studies that involve the documentation of site-specific material culture, the identification of techniques of interpretation, and reflection upon the meaning of heritage. Please note that MA Curating Collections and Heritage with Management students do not take Heritage in a Global Context and instead take three 20-credit option modules with the Brighton Business School.
Alongside these modules, you will also take a Research Methods module (20 credits) and conduct a major 60-credit research project. This can either be a traditional dissertation or respond to a live brief co-designed by a heritage or collections organisation. It might relate to, for example, a collections management issue, a marketing concern or educational provision.
To complete your degree and cater to your specialist interests and learning requirements, you choose two further option modules, one in semester 1 and one that will take place in semester 2 and over the summer months.
Option modules
Digital Curating
Critical Perspectives on Exhibitions
Professional Placements in Collections and Heritage – a 150-hour placement that can be arranged according to host and student preference across semester 2 and the summer months, in a block or over a longer period of time. Students are either supported to arrange their own placement, locally, nationally or internationally, or can choose from a placement with one of our partner organisations.
Exploring Objects
Mediating Objects
History of Fashion and Dress: New Directions
Issues in Graphic Design: Modernity, Identity and Meaning
If you wish, one of your options can be selected from other MA programmes in the School of Humanities. These include:
Cultural Memory: Concepts, Theories, Methods
Globalisation and Global Politics
Aesthetics and Politics
Cultural Theory and Politics
This MA is designed to respond to current industry requirements. You will have unique access to museums and heritage professionals though behind-the-scenes working and guest lecturers.
Students choose option modules and develop areas of specialism but all leave with skills to begin or progress a career in the collections and heritage sector. A combination of practical work experience, industry connections and scholarly knowledge will provide an excellent springboard for working in roles such as traditional and digital curating, collections and business management, marketing, media and communication, partnerships and fundraising.
Insurance – Single: 300 GBP per year
