Museum Cultures with Collections Management
Entry requirements
Our standard postgraduate entry requirement is a second-class honours degree (2:2 or above).
For students applying for the MA with a degree in a subject other than history of art, the one-year, part-time Graduate Certificate in Art History can be used as a conversion course. Students who successfully complete the Graduate Certificate with Merit will normally be guaranteed a place on this course.
Applications are reviewed on their individual merits and your professional qualifications and/or relevant work experience will be taken into consideration positively. We actively support and encourage applications from mature learners.
Months of entry
October
Course content
Our MA Museum Cultures with Collections Management combines study of the history and cultural significance of museums with opportunities for you to gain professional museum experience. You will explore the processes that lie at the heart of collections management by which museums ascribe value and meaning to objects, and the ideas, values and ethics which underpin these.
Why choose this course?
- This MA gives you the chance to acquire key foundational skills in collections management and a solid grasp of the related issues, learning from leading scholars in the field.
- It also offers you the chance to undertake a work placement in a museum, gallery or archive.
- You will visit leading London museums and galleries and meet a range of collections management experts to discuss their work, as well as engaging in hands-on activities relating to documentation, object handling and care.
- This course benefits from our close links, in teaching and research, with numerous museums, galleries, archives and heritage organisations across London and beyond.
What you will learn
You will master the wide range of methods and sources, including archives, collections, historical and contemporary texts, needed to understand how museums operate and how their role - and the role of the collections manager - is shifting in the twenty-first century. You will also draw upon museum theory and sector guidelines to document a bequest to museum accreditation standard and critically reflect on this process. This will give you advanced skills, much desired by many employers, in analysis, argument and communication.
You will be introduced to many critical issues facing the museum today and be able to take specialist option modules allowing you to explore a subject in depth. Subject-specific training in research skills is also provided.
How you will learn
This course is available to study full- or part-time. Regular classes, consisting of short lectures, seminars and small-group discussions and activities, are held in the evenings. The collections management module is taught during the day and intensively over a one-week period during the spring term. It includes organised visits to museums, galleries, archives, collection stores and heritage sites in London where you will have the opportunity to meet experts in the field.
You can then follow your interests choosing from a wide variety of option modules that may include organised visits to museums, exhibitions and cultural sites of interest. We also offer an exciting study trip abroad every spring, with cities we have visited previously including Paris, Venice, Rome, Florence, Berlin and Moscow.
You will devise your own research project for your dissertation, supervised by one of our specialists.
Highlights
- On this course we encourage vibrant debate which is enlivened by the diverse perspectives and experiences of our students, some of whom already work in the museum and gallery sector.
- You will have the opportunity to apply for a ten-week supervised work placement. Previously these have been offered at the V&A, Tate, British Museum, National Portrait Gallery, Sir John Soane’s Museum, Whitechapel Gallery, Westminster Abbey, London Transport Museum and Horniman Museum. Past students have documented collections previously uncatalogued, helped design and run school programmes, conducted visitor research and assisted curators in producing exhibitions.
- We offer a number of bursaries for postgraduate students. Funds are also available to support research expenses for your coursework on this MA.
- Birkbeck has an international reputation for its innovative approaches to the history of art, visual culture and museum studies, and attracts a rich programme of visiting scholars and practitioners. We are home to the History and Theory of Photography Research Centre, the Architecture, Space and Society Centre, the Centre for Museum Cultures and the Vasari Research Centre. You will also have access to the Centre for Film and Visual Media. We have state-of-the art cinema and exhibition spaces, all housed in a historic building that was a former home to key members of the Bloomsbury Group, including the author Virginia Woolf and the artist Vanessa Bell. Birkbeck Library has an extensive collection of books and journals in museum studies and history of art. You can also take advantage of the rich research collections nearby, including Senate House Library, the British Library and the National Art Library at the V&A.
- We host a range of events including information evenings for prospective students; the annual Murray Lecture where speakers have included Gabriele Finaldi, Director of the National Gallery, and Neil MacGregor, former Director of the British Museum; and exhibitions and displays at Birkbeck's Peltz Gallery and events at the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities.
- Birkbeck was ranked as one of the top four universities in the UK for its Art and Design research in the 2021 Research Excellence Framework.
On successfully graduating from this MA Museum Cultures with Collections Management you will have gained an array of important transferable skills, including:
- a sophisticated use of written and spoken English
- an advanced critical ability in understanding and applying theories
- facility and precision in the use of analytical tools.
Graduates can pursue career paths in the museums and heritage sector; arts management, conservation and policy; education, marketing and publishing; and research and academia. Possible professions include:
- museum or gallery curator
- museum registrar or collections manager
- arts administrator
- researcher
- advertising account executive
- lecturer in higher education.
Jobs gained by some of our BA and MA graduates include:
- Collections Officer, City of London
- Head of Learning, Design Museum
- Curator, Schools Programmes, Tate Modern
- Curatorial Assistant, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
- Curatorial Officer, National Army Museum
- Documentation Officer, V&A
- Project Curator, British Museum
- Collections Systems Lead, Victoria & Albert Museum
- Head of Campaign Management, Science Museum
- Curator, Handel House MuseumHead Curator, National Maritime Museum.
Read blogs by former students Danny Birchall, the Wellcome Collection's Digital Manager, and Carla Valentine, author and mortician.
We offer a comprehensive careers service - Careers and Enterprise - your career partner during your time at Birkbeck and beyond. At every stage of your career journey, we empower you to take ownership of your future, helping you to make the connection between your experience, education and future ambitions.
Information for international students
If English is not your first language or you have not previously studied in English, our usual requirement is the equivalent of an International English Language Testing System (IELTS Academic Test) score of 6.5, with not less than 6.0 in each of the sub-tests.
If you don't meet the minimum IELTS requirement, we offer pre-sessional English courses and foundation programmes to help you improve your English language skills and get your place at Birkbeck.
Qualification, course duration and attendance options
- MA
- full time12 months
- Campus-based learningis available for this qualification
- part time24 months
- Campus-based learningis available for this qualification
Course contact details
- Name
- Student Advice Service
- studentadvice@bbk.ac.uk
- Phone
- +44 (0)20 3907 0700