Curating Collections and Heritage MA

Why study with us? 

• The course has been developed in partnership with the Royal Pavilion and Museums, Brighton & Hove, and responds to employers’ demands for the collections and heritage workforce.
• Part-time study and flexible learning means the course can be incorporated into workplace professional development. Elements of the programme are designed to support applicants who are undertaking or hope to take their Associateship of the Museums Association qualification.
• Teaching staff include respected University of Brighton academics who develop leading research on the museums and heritage sector, and curating professionals including from the Royal Pavilion Museums, the Design Archives and Screen Archive South East.
• Students can gain industry experience on the course through a 150-hour placement as well as practical workshops with partner organisations.
• Students can develop their understanding and practice by choosing business management modules and graduate with Curating Collections and Heritage with Management.
• Students have access to internationally important collections including the Royal Pavilion and Museum’s collections of decorative art, world art and natural history and University of Brighton-held collections relating to design history, screen history, and historic dress and live briefs.
• Off-site study visits, live briefs and hands-on sessions in all modules bring insight into contemporary practice.
• Part-time students can arrange an individual programme of study which suits their needs.
• You will be welcomed into a vibrant research community, featuring visiting researchers and practitioners, reading groups, lectures and workshops. Recent speakers have included practitioners from the V&A, the British Museum, the Museum of Transology, Whitechapel Gallery, and the Museums Association.

Course structure

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.

See option modules tab for a list of options.

Vintage fabric from the university's on-site Dress History Teaching Collection.

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

Management modules are taught by the university’s Business School which specialises in management in the not-for-profit sector. These include:

• International Management and Leadership
• Managing Talent, Performance and Reward
• Sustainable Strategic Management
• Managing Finance in Different Contexts
• Marketing and Communication
• Leadership with Ethics

Some of these modules are MBA modules and require previous management experience. Others are available for all students.

Option modules are indicative and may change, depending on timetabling and staff availability.

Materials from the Design Archives, based on campus.

Facilities 

Students on the MA will have access to our excellent collections, based on campus.

• Our world-class Design Archives, an internationally significant research base with a curatorial team that initiates and promotes collaborative activity through a programme of projects
• Excellent art and design library
• Screen Archive South East, a moving image archive collection of magic lantern slides, films, video, and associated materials capturing the many varied aspects of life, work and creativity from the early days of screen history to the present day
• Dress and Textiles Teaching Collection, a vast collection of garments from the eighteenth century onwards.

Students have access to the moving image archive of the Screen Archive South East.

Professional development 

The following modules are all available as freestanding modules for individuals who would prefer to work towards an MA over time, or take individual modules as continuing professional development.

• Museums and Collections in Context: this module focuses on museums as institutions, exploring the role and impact of museums, the policy context for museum practice, the ethical responsibilities of museums, and how museums are governed and operate.
• Caring for Collections and their Users: this module engages with museum collections and their users, exploring the development, care, management and research of collections, as well as learning, public engagement and audience development.
• Digital Curating
• Collections Intensive

If you are interested in taking a freestanding module, contact pghumanities@brighton.ac.uk +44(0)1273 643089.

Students have access to our renowned Design Archives.

Staff profile

Dr Claire Wintle, course leader

Dr Claire Wintle’s research focuses on objects, collecting and museums and examines the ways in which collections interact with the politics of empire, nationalism and decolonisation. She has a particular interest in the interpretation of India in museums and galleries, in the UK, the US and in India itself.

She has worked in collections and public programmes at National Museums Liverpool, Manchester's Museum of Science and Industry, and Royal Pavilion and Museums, Brighton & Hove.

Other teaching staff on the course include: Dr Louise Purbrick, Dr Megha Rajguru, Nicola Ashmore, Dr Lara Perry, Helen Mears, Keeper of World Art at Brighton Museum & Art Gallery and Kevin Bacon, Digital Manager at Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove.

Course fees

Scholarships, bursaries and loans

We offer a range of scholarships for postgraduate students. Bursaries and loans may also be available to you.

Find out more about postgraduate fees and funding.

The Change Studentship will be awarded to a African diaspora, Asian Diaspora or ethnically diverse Curating Collections and Heritage MA applicant. Find out how to apply...

What's included

You may have to pay additional costs during your studies. The cost of optional activities is not included in your tuition fee and you will need to meet this cost in addition to your fees. A summary of the costs that you may be expected to pay, and what is included in the fee, while studying a course in the School of Humanities are listed here.

• For a number of courses you will have the opportunity to attend field trips and off-site visits. These are optional and are not required to pass your course but under normal circumstances we would expect a budget of approximately £150 per year will cover the costs of particular trips. The amount spent would be based on location and number of trips taken.
• You will have access to computers and necessary software, however many students choose to buy their own hardware, software and accessories. The amount spent will depend on your individual choices but this expenditure is not essential to pass any of our courses.
• In most cases coursework submissions are electronic but you may wish to print notes and should budget up to £150 per year for printing.
• Course books are available from the university but you may wish to budget up to £200 to buy your own copies.

You can chat with our enquiries team through the Stay in touch panel at the end of this page if you require further information. Or check our finance pages for advice about funding and scholarships, as well as more information about fees and advice on international and island fee-paying status.

Info

The fees listed here are for full-time courses beginning in the academic year 2021–22.

Further tuition fees are payable for each subsequent year of study and are subject to an annual increase of no more than 5% or RPI (whichever is the greater). The annual increase for UK students, who are subject to regulated fees, will increase no more than the statutory maximum fee.

You can find out more about our fees in the university's student contract and tuition fee policy (pdf).

The tuition fee you have to pay depends on a number of factors including the kind of course you take, and whether you study full-time or part-time. If you are studying part-time you will normally be charged on a pro rata basis depending on the number of modules you take.

Campus where this course is taught

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