Curating Collections and Heritage MA

Why study with us? 

• The course has been developed in partnership with the Royal Pavilion & 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 from the Royal Pavilion Museums, the Design Archives and Screen Archive South East.
  
  
• Students can gain industry experience on the course, either through a placement or through the week-long practical module, Collections Intensive, at a partner organisation.
  
  
• Those already working or volunteering within the sector can increase their career prospects 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 textiles.
  
  
• 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.

Course structure

Your MA will be structured around two core modules: Museums and Collections in Context and Caring for Collections and their Users (20 credits each). Over two semesters, these modules 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.

Alongside your core 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 three further option modules, one in semester 1 and two 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 

Semester 1 – choose one 

• Heritage in a Global Context
• Strategy, Planning and Commissioning*
• Issues in Graphic Design: Modernity, Identity and Meaning
• Cultural Memory: Concepts, Theories, Methods
• Globalisation and Global Politics
• Aesthetics and Cultural Theory

Semester 2/summer – choose two 

• Digital Curating (online/distance learning) 
• Critical Reflection on Contemporary 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.  
• History of Fashion and Dress: Method, Theory and Interpretation
• Collections Intensive, this module is taught over one week during the summer behind the scenes in a museum or collection
• Exploring Partnership Working*
• Managing Finance in Different Contexts*
• Marketing and Communication*
• Leadership with Ethics*
• Managing People*

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

* These modules are taught by the university’s Business School which specialises in management in the not-for-profit sector. They are taught intensively over one week and can be taken by students who already have relevant experience in a position of some responsibility. If you choose business modules amounting to 60 credits across both semesters, this will be reflected in the award you graduate with, Curating Collections and Heritage with Management MA.

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.

Location

Campus where this course is taught

Accommodation

Maps

Accommodation

University building

Grand Parade campus map