• Offered for Year: 2026/27

• Module Leader(s): Dr Edward Juler
• Co-Module Leader: Professor Christopher Whitehead
• Other Staff: Dr Katie Markham, Dr Olga Smith, Dr Joanne Sayner, Professor Susannah Eckersley, Mr Alistair Anderson, Professor Rhiannon Mason, Mr Iain Wheeldon, Professor Areti Galani, Dr Stephen Moonie, Dr Dora Merai, Dr Emma Coffield, Dr Harry Weeks, Dr Antonio Gonzalez, Dr Katarzyna Falecka, Mr Alistair Robinson, Dr Bruce Davenport, Professor Richard Clay

• Owning School: Arts & Cultures
• Teaching Location: Newcastle City Campus

Semesters

Your programme is made up of credits, the total differs on programme to programme.

Aims

Please note:
This module is available to all students studying 4184 MA in Contemporary Art History and Curating, 4139 MA in Global Heritage Management, 4007 MA in Museum Studies and 4138 MA in Curating Art only.

The Research Project offers students the opportunity for in-depth engagement with a specialised topic of their choice. It enables students to apply advanced research skills and critical analysis in a sustained piece of self-directed writing on a focused topic defined by them in regular discussion with tutors. The topic(s) will relate to their primary discipline and lead to an independent thesis or extended piece of writing which represents the student’s critical understanding of said topic within a suitable methodological and theoretical framework which reflects the current state-of-play of the discipline. The module encourages students to apply interdisciplinary approaches relevant to contemporary academic concerns. Structured tutorial supervision and lectures/seminars/workshops will help students develop a clear understanding of their subject and research skills appropriate to producing an independent piece of writing on a specialist, in-depth topic in their chosen subject-area. This includes a detailed awareness of the appropriate scholarship and theory, advanced critical thinking, appropriate methodologies and the analysis of both primary and secondary sources.

By ‘research project’, the module allows students to produce a long-form piece of sustained writing, in the form of an 8000-word paper, modelled on a journal article in their discipline. In short, the aim of this module is to develop students as advanced scholars in their field of study.

Outline Of Syllabus

The course begins with a briefing and subsequent lectures, seminars and workshops will discuss critical skills relevant to developing a self-directed research project in either Contemporary Art History, Global Heritage Management, Museum Studies or Curating Art.

Indicative topics to be covered will include planning, ethics, literature review, methodologies, theories, analysis, referencing, writing and the ethical use of AI in an academic context.

Students will be allocated a supervisor, wherever feasible based upon their research topic and field of study. The supervisor works closely with the student in regular one-to-one tutorials, providing them with bespoke advice on the project and feedback on the research process and writing. The module has a series of deadlines to ensure that students keep up to date with the research and writing by submitting plans and work at regular intervals throughout the academic year. The Research Project handbook contains additional information relating to the syllabus and the supervisory framework.

Teaching Methods

Teaching Activities

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

The module uses a combination of Scheduled Learning and Independent Study to build key competencies and skills in the ability to produce self-directed research, apply critical analysis and the written articulation of key concepts and ideas.

Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities:

Module Briefing: This teaching activity will introduce students to the module and brief them about the knowledge learning outcomes, assessment and teaching methods.

Lectures: These will provide students with key information relating to the module, enabling them to understand, develop and implement core academic skills and competencies essential to the completion of the Research Project (K2, K3, K4, K5, S2, S3).

Workshops: These are a key component of the module through which students prepare for independent study and consolidate learning through engaging with set readings, directed tasks and peer-to-peer interaction. Workshops may also be supported by online content such as set readings and worksheets. (K3, K4, S3, S5, S8)

One-to-one tutorials: Regular in-person tutorials with a designated supervisor help students critically identify, design and develop their self-directed research project into a sustained piece or portfolio of writing. The tutorials will allow students to define their aims, define their subject area and show their grasp of the material involved. They will provide students guidance on the research, content, structure and presentation, and offer critical feedback on the strengths and weaknesses of the project. (K2, K5, S2, S4)

Guided Independent Study enables students to deepen core skills in planning and implementing self-directed research (which may include identifying an appropriate topic, undertaking a literature review and preparing a critical bibliography), developing an appropriate research methodology, time-management and critical thinking, and producing an extended piece of writing which reflect best academic practice in their field of study. (K1, K2, S1, S2, S3, S4, S5, S6, S7)

Assessment Methods

The format of resits will be determined by the Board of Examiners

Other Assessment

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

The Research Project provides students with the most appropriate means of demonstrating sustained scholarship, research, understanding, critical knowledge and ability in academic writing within the fields of either Art History, Global Heritage Management, Museum Studies or Curating Art.

The assessment is an 8000-word piece of sustained, independent writing which uses the standard form of an academic journal article as its template. Students engage in self-initiated study to develop a title, research question(s) and methodology and are supported to do so through lectures, small-group teaching and regular one-to-one tutorials with a supervisor. The size and scope of the research project is discipline-appropriate in approximating the length of professional scholarly articles in academic journals and enables the assessment of subject knowledge, theoretical understanding and students' ability to independently design, conduct and reflect on their own self-directed research. The assessment fosters independent learning, research skills, critical reflection, in-depth subject knowledge, time-management and writing proficiency. The final piece of self-directed writing may take a variety of appropriate forms, including an introduction, appropriate content sections, conclusion and bibliography, and provide research questions, theoretical framework, methodology, research findings and critical analysis. Students also submit a folder of appendixes including their completed project supervision record and a folder with all original data.

Additional task-specific assessment criteria:

- Evidence of identifying and understanding a discipline-appropriate topic/research problem evidenced through a sustained analysis of the research questions, methods, findings and context, including an explanation of the rationale underpinning the project as evidenced in the data folder/supervision record. (K1, K3, K4, K5)
- Quality of the theoretical and methodological framework as well as the criticality of the argument, and how theory and method can be deployed in addressing the research questions and the analysis of findings/evidence. (K1, K2, K3, K4, K5, S1, S2, S3, S4, S5, S6, S7)
- Awareness and utilisation of scholarship in developing a suitable academic frame through which to examine the research questions, evidenced via appropriate in-text referencing/citations, quotations and bibliography. (K1, K2, K3, S1, S3, S4, S5)
- The ability to draw upon a range of primary and secondary sources. (K2, K4, S5)
- Coherency of the written work, including using an appropriate academic tone for postgraduate-level research in the field of study, fluency of argument, suitability of research questions, clarity of structure, effective display of evidence/data/findings as well as general spelling and grammar. (K3, K4, K5, S2, S3, S6, S7, S8)

Reading Lists

• FIN8018's Reading List

Timetable

• Timetable Website: www.ncl.ac.uk/timetable/
• FIN8018's Timetable