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Curating Collections and Heritage MA

  • Intro
  • Course
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  • Careers
  • Entry
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Intro

This vocational masters degree has been developed in partnership with the Royal Pavilion & Museums Trust, 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.

Find out about postgraduate events

Key facts

Location Brighton: Moulsecoomb

Full-time 1 year
Part-time 2 years

Apply online

Please review the entry requirements carefully and if you have any questions do get in touch with us.

Apply now for your place

Through the co-design and co-delivery of the University of Brighton’s MA programme in Curating Collections and Heritage, Royal Pavilion & Museums is excited to be supporting the development of the next generation of cultural sector workers. For us, the partnership is an opportunity to share our knowledge and expertise and also to extend our commitment to embedding social justice, diversity and environmental sustainability in the museum and heritage sector. 

Hedley Swain, CEO Royal Pavilion & Museums Trust, Brighton & Hove

Course content

Why study with us?

  • The course has been developed in partnership with the Royal Pavilion and Museums Trust, 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 Trust, 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.
  • We specialise in digital curating and digital approaches to museum and heritage practice are a central component of many of our modules.
  • Students can develop their understanding and practice by choosing business management modules and graduate with Curating Collections and Heritage with Management.

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  • 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.
  • 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. 

Alongside these modules, you will also conduct a major 60-credit research project. This can either be a traditional dissertation or respond to a live brief designed to respond to a particular problem or requirement of the heritage or collections sector. 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 that will take place in semester 2 and over the summer months.

See option modules tab for a list of options.

a student and a member of staff look through the dress history collectionProfessor Lou Taylor with a student in the Dress History Teaching Collection

Option modules 

  • Exploring Objects or Mediating Objects, both modules designed to get you thinking about material collections, their potential and how they are made meaningful.
  • 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.
  • History of Fashion and Dress: New Directions
  • Globalisation and Global Politics

If you wish, one of your options can be chosen from our other humanities MA programmes.

Management modules are taught by the university’s School of Business and Law 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
  • Managing People
  • Managing Organisational Behaviour
  • Entrepreneurship New Business Venturing
  • International Trade and Logistics
  • Marketing in an International Context

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.

two people view an art installation, six square pictures hung in grid on a white wall

Resources

Students on the MA will have access to our excellent collections and gallery spaces:

  • 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.
  • Our excellent art and design library, St Peters House, with its special collection containing rare, valuable, and delicate books, illustrated books, artists’ books and handmade items.
  • 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.
screen archive south east facilities

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.

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

Student in Design Archives

Students have access to our renowned Design Archives.

Meet the team

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 staff who teach on the course include: Dr Megha Rajguru, Dr Veronica Isaac, Dr Lara Perry, Dr Helen Mears, Head of Research at Royal Museums Greenwich, Dr Eliza Tan and Kevin Bacon, Digital Manager at Royal Pavilion & Museums Trust, Brighton & Hove.

Read a Q+A with Dr Eliza Tan about her career journey.

Dr Claire Wintle

Student views

Lisa Hinkins, graduate and Gallery Explainer and Visitor Service Officer at Royal Pavilion & Museums Trust

"This MA, co-designed and developed with museum staff, gave the course a unique academic and vocational learning programme that was very exciting to me. Further to this, I was able to take MBA optional modules. This allowed me to build on previous job experience and knowledge, enabling me to graduate with Management and to broaden my museum sector career opportunities.

"The excellent tutorial support and guidance gave me the confidence to push myself that resulted in me being a speaker at the Gayness in Queer Times Conference (Brighton) and a co-curator of the LGBTQ community led exhibition, Queer the Pier at Brighton Museum & Art Gallery (BMAG).

"I have also guest lectured on the Brighton design history undergraduate programme, bringing both my postgraduate learning and exhibition-making experience to students. I have also taken a workforce development placement assisting the curator for the Goal Power! Women and Football exhibition at BMAG."

Chloe Van de Velde, graduate

“My experience of the Curating Collections and Heritage MA was very enjoyable. I loved that the course was not purely lecture based and there were many points where we could have lively discussions with people who currently curate or work in museums. I have gained valuable insight into the heritage field whilst studying in a vibrant and creative city.

A.S.Kalume (aka BeKuto waSirya), graduate

"Working with The Royal Pavilion Trust opened me up to the world of curators during my tenure as part of a community project The fashion cities Africa exhibition; I was intrigued and accepted an opportunity to qualify for this MA course.

"My insight and perception has dramatically changed, gaining experience in research , project management, presentation and analysing data.

"I was head hunted for a curating post by a Chicago based organisation even before I had graduated. My tribe in Kenya has appointed me as the chief negotiator in returning Vigango the future looks Bright(on)."

Our latest news

Conservation Work Placement: A Patchwork of Skills

Conservation Work Placement: A Patchwork of Skills

Helping to de-install the mannequins used for Dame Vera Lynn: An extraordinary life at Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft MA Curating Collections and Heritage student Harriet Brown reflects on her work placement in textile conservation with Zenzie Tinker Conservation studio.

The Conflictorium: A radical museum experience

The Conflictorium: A radical museum experience

‘The wall of conflicts’ display at the Conflictorium, 2018, image by Shubhsadhwani, licensed under the Creative Commons MA Curating Collections and Heritage student Preksha Kothari reviews the Conflictorium in Ahmedabad, praising its politically engaged role in Indian political life.

Caring for Historic Dress Collections at Worthing Museum

Caring for Historic Dress Collections at Worthing Museum

MA History of Design and Material Culture student Chelsea Mountney describes how her current work with the historic dress collection at Worthing Museum draws upon the skills and ideas she developed during her MA, including the module ‘Caring for Collections and their Users’.

TheMuseumsLab 2022: MA Curating Graduate Experience

TheMuseumsLab 2022: MA Curating Graduate Experience

MA Curating Collections and Heritage alumni Tony Kalume reports on how his dissertation was a springboard for attending TheMuseumsLab’s prestigious international programme, including a residency in Stuttgart TheMuseumsLab 2022 Fellowship: What is it?

Read more from our blog

Careers

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.

students work in the Design Archives, surrounded by shelves of catalogued items

Entry criteria

Entry requirements

Degree and experience
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.

English language requirements
IELTS 6.5 overall with a minimum of 5.5 in each element. Find out more about the other English qualifications that we accept.

International students whose language skills do not match the IELTS scores set out here should consider applying for this course through our Extended Masters programme.

Fees

Course fees

UK (full-time) 8,100 GBP

International (full-time) 15,800 GBP

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 your fees, while studying a course in the School of Humanities and Social Science in the 2022–23 academic year are listed here.

  • For some assessments you may be required to print large format posters for presentations at a cost of £5–£10 per poster.
  • Most coursework submissions are electronic but you may wish to print notes and should budget up to £100 for printing.
  • Course books are available from the university but you may wish to budget up to £200 to buy your own copies.
  • Some courses include an optional placement module for which students will need to cover the costs of travel to and from the placement and DBS checks as required.
  • For the Humanistic Psychotherapeutic Counselling PGDip and Psychotherapeutic Psychodynamic Counselling PGDip, the following course-related costs are not included in the tuition fee:
    • Supervision fees: £1,170 for each full year. Estimated based on £45 per hour with fortnightly meetings. In some agencies, supervision will be provided at no cost. Where students have to pay, the cost will only begin when supervision begins.
    • Personal counselling/therapy: £2,000–£2,800 over the course. Estimated based on £40 per hour.
  • 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.

You can chat with our enquiries team if you have a question or need more 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 2023–24.

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.

Location and student life

Campus where this course is taught

Moulsecoomb campus

Two miles north of Brighton seafront, Moulsecoomb is our largest campus and student village. Moulsecoomb has been transformed by a recent development of our estate. On campus you'll find new Students' Union, events venue, and sports and fitness facilities, alongside the library and student centre.

Over 900 students live here in our halls, Moulsecoomb Place and the new Mithras halls – Brunswick, Goldstone, Hanover, Preston and Regency.

Moulsecoomb has easy access to buses and trains and to all the exciting things happening in our home city.

Two people walking past Mithras halls

Accommodation

Brighton: Moulsecoomb

We guarantee an offer of a place in halls of residence to all eligible students.

Halls of residence
We have self-catered halls on all our campuses, within minutes of your classes, and other options that are very nearby.

You can apply for any of our halls, but the options closest to your study location are:

  • Mithras Halls are stylish new high-rises in the heart of the student village at our revitalised Moulsecoomb campus with ensuite rooms for more than 800 students.
  • Varley Park is a popular dedicated halls site, offering a mix of rooms and bathroom options at different prices. It is around two miles from Moulsecoomb campus and four miles from the city centre, and is easy to get to by bus.

Want to live independently? We can help – find out more about private renting.

Relaxing in halls

Modern accommodation at Moulsecoomb

Mithras halls room with a view

Relaxing in halls near the campus

Student Union social space

Student Union social space at Moulsecoomb

Local area

About Brighton

The city of Brighton & Hove is a forward-thinking place which leads the way in the arts, technology, sustainability and creativity. You'll find living here plays a key role in your learning experience.

Brighton is a leading centre for creative media technology, recently named the startup capital of the UK.

The city is home to a national 5G testbed and over 1,000 tech businesses. The digital sector is worth over £1bn a year to the local economy - as much as tourism.

All of our full-time undergraduate courses involve work-based learning - this could be through placements, live briefs and guest lectures. Many of these opportunities are provided by local businesses and organisations.

It's only 50 minutes by train from Brighton to central London and less than 40 minutes to Eastbourne. There are also daily direct trains to Bristol, Bedford, Cambridge, Gatwick Airport, Portsmouth and Southampton.

Map showing distance to London from Brighton
Brighton Beach sunset

Maps

Moulsecoomb campus map

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Support and wellbeing

Your course team

Your personal academic tutor, course leader and other tutors are all there to help you with your personal and academic progress. You'll also have a student support and guidance tutor (SSGT) who can help with everything from homesickness, managing stress or accommodation issues.

Your academic skills

Our Brighton Student Skills Hub gives you extra support and resources to develop the skills you'll need for university study, whatever your level of experience so far.

Your mental health and wellbeing

As well as being supported to succeed, we want you to feel good too. You'll be part of a community that builds you up, with lots of ways to connect with one another, as well having access to dedicated experts if you need them. Find out more.

Students talking in a social area

Sport at Brighton

Sport Brighton

Sport Brighton brings together our sport and recreation services. As a Brighton student you'll have use of sport and fitness facilities across all our campuses and there are opportunities to play for fun, fitness or take part in serious competition. 

Find out more about Sport Brighton.

Sports scholarships

Our sports scholarship scheme is designed to help students develop their full sporting potential to train and compete at the highest level. We offer scholarships for elite athletes, elite disabled athletes and talented sports performers.

Find out more about sport scholarships.

Students playing frisbee

Stay in touch

Find out about postgraduate events

Ask a question about this course


If you have a question about this course, our enquiries team will be happy to help.

01273 644644

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