About

On this MA, you’ll work with academics and museum professionals – these have previously included senior staff from the Brighton Museum & Art Gallery, the V&A, the National Trust, the Science Museum, and the Metropolitan Museum and Museum of Modern Art in New York – to explore the history, theory and politics of art institutions and to build a critical framework for the practice of curating.

This MA introduces you to:

• curatorial scholarship and its methodologies (including conservation-led research and technical art history)
• the histories of museums and their collections
• the ethical and legal frameworks within which curators and museums work
• the nature and politics of museum displays.

You visit a number of museums in Sussex and in London, allowing you to learn first-hand about institutional histories, collections, permanent galleries and temporary exhibitions.

Key facts

• 100% of our research was rated world leading, internationally excellent or internationally recognised in the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF).
• You will be taught by academics who have long-standing relationships with museums across the UK and direct experience of curating exhibitions and permanent collections in the museums and galleries sector.
• You will benefit from our long-standing partnerships with local and national museums and collections – including the V&A, the National Portrait Gallery, Historic Royal Palaces, the National Trust, Brighton Museum & Art Gallery and Charleston – providing access to expertise, art objects and research materials.

Careers

You gain knowledge about objects and collections, and develop a critical awareness of museum practices.

You develop communication and project management skills. These skills provide the practical and theoretical foundation for careers in:

• museums
• galleries
• heritage at curatorial level
• the cultural sector more broadly.