Newcastle University

Art Museum and Gallery Education: 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)
Modules are also available on a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) basis.

Unique to the UK, these programmes were created to meet the growing national and international need for qualified visual arts educators. As a direct response to the demands of the sector, it is the only Art Museum and Gallery Education programme in the UK which:

• seeks to integrate educational practice with curatorial and public programming;
• offers an exciting opportunity for those wishing to pursue graduate-level professional training as gallery, art museum and freelance art educators; and,
• combines cutting edge research with the chance to learn directly from the practical experience of professionals from Tate Modern, BALTIC, Engage and others operating in the field.

Programme Structure

The full-time 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 practice.

You then proceed to take two compulsory specialist modules, Art Museum and Gallery Education 1 and Art Museum and Gallery Education 2.

After the specialist modules, 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.

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 collaboration with the educational team in the Baltic and an artist. 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 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.