Art Museum and Gallery Studies: programme outline
MA:12 months full-time; 24 months part-time (180 credits)
Postgraduate Diploma: 9 months full-time; 18 months part-time (120 credits)
MPrac: 24 months full-time; 48 months part-time (260 credits)
Modules are also available on Continuing Professional Development (CPD) basis
Art Museum and Gallery Studies (AMGS) is intended to train students to work in a variety of roles in public sector institutions ranging from major national and local authority art museums to small independent galleries. This programme will:
- expose you to many types of curatorship, from the care of historic collections to the development of exhibitions of contemporary art;
- give you the understanding of where your professional vocation lies – to find your ideal place in the sector;
- allow you to develop flexible skills so that you can work in different kinds of institutions, and with different kinds of art; this will help you when looking for work or career development.
Who is this Programme for?
Alumni of the Art Museum and Gallery Studies programme have followed a variety of career paths, ranging from curators of contemporary art, craft and historical paintings to exhibitions officers, registrars and managers. The Masters in Art Museum and Gallery Studies is also an excellent preparation for students who would like to pursue doctoral research in the field.
Programme Structure
The programme begins with the compulsory modules Issues and Ideas, Management and Communication and Interpretation. These modules offer you an important opportunity to develop your awareness of the workings of the museum, gallery and heritage sector as a whole and the common concerns and interests across it. While you will rub shoulders with students from other programmes, you will also engage in programme-specific seminars in which we will consider the particular ways in which the sector-wide issues relate to art museum and gallery work.
You then proceed to a further compulsory specialist module, Art Curatorship 1: working with histories, objects, and agendas, followed by Art Curatorship 2: exhibitions and exhibiting. Between these two modules you will develop curatorial skills relating to the care, interpretation, display and exhibition of art both historical and contemporary.
After the elective module, you undertake an 8-week Work Placement in an art museum or gallery. This in turn is followed by the Dissertation assignment (masters students only), in which you will produce a 12,000-15,000-word dissertation on an aspect of museum, gallery or heritage studies to be agreed with your supervisor.
MA/PgDip full-time study (12 months) |
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Autumn Term |
Spring Term |
Summer Term |
Issues & Ideas |
Dissertation |
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Management |
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Communication & Interpretation |
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MPrac full-time study (24 months) |
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Year 1 |
Year 2 |
Students follow the MA schedule |
Gallery work-based Placement |
Programme delivery and assessment
All modules in these programmes are delivered through lectures, seminars, workshops and study visits. Specialist modules include hands-on practical sessions, and project work in the form of an exhibition to be held at the Hatton Gallery. You will also have a lot of opportunities to have discussions with professionals in your field.
Assessments in these programmes include essay and report writing, presentations, group-work based projects such as an exhibition development and self-reflective statements.
Are you interested in applying?
Information about entrance requirements, tuition fees and funding opportunities for these programmes is available on our How to Apply section.