Museum Cultures with Curating
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
Why choose this course?
- You will develop professional skills in curatorial practice, including how to design and pitch your own exhibition proposal and how to write text for diverse audiences.
- This course provides you with close personal tuition, mentoring and supervision from leading scholars in the field.
- You will have the opportunity to take a ten-week supervised work placement in a museum, gallery or archive.
- You will visit leading London museums and galleries and meet a range of curatorial experts to discuss their work.
What you will learn
On this course you will learn about the role and impact of the museum and the curator, thus preparing you for a wide range of careers in the sector. You will benefit from an intensive week of daytime classes studying current curating issues and practices. You will also 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 curator - is shifting in the twenty-first century.
You will draw upon curatorial theory to design and pitch your own exhibition proposal and will have the opportunity to attend optional training on digital design platforms such as ThingLink. This will give you advanced skills, much desired by many employers, in analysis, argument and communication.
How you will learn
You can study this course either full- or part-time. Regular classes are held in the evenings and these consist of short lectures, seminars and small-group discussions.
The curating module is taught intensively in the daytime over a one-week period during the spring term. It combines classroom learning complemented by organised visits to museums, galleries, archives and heritage sites in London. You will have the opportunity to meet experts in the field and engage in hands-on activities relating to exhibition development, object interpretation and public engagement.
You will be introduced to many critical issues facing the museum today and can tailor this course to suit your interests by choosing from a range of option modules allowing you to explore a subject in depth. Subject-specific training in research skills is also provided. In your final year, you will devise your own research project for the dissertation, supervised by one of our specialists.
As well as regular gallery and museum visits, we also offer an exciting study trip abroad every spring with cities previously visited including Moscow, Berlin, Paris, Vienna and Florence.
Highlights
- You will have the opportunity to apply for a ten-week supervised work placement in a museum, gallery or archive. Previous placements 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 that were previously uncatalogued, helped design and run school programmes, conducted visitor research and assisted curators in producing exhibitions.
- You will benefit from our close links, in teaching and research, with the numerous museums, galleries, archives and heritage organisations across London and beyond.
- 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 Curating, 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 complex theories
- facility and precision in the use of analytical tools
- strong skills and initiative in collecting and organising complex materials and writing up clear, well-presented assignments and fluent critical arguments.
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/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:
- Head of Learning, Design Museum
- Curator, Schools Programmes, Tate Modern
- Curatorial Assistant, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
- Curatorial Officer, National Army Museum
- Collections Systems Lead, Victoria & Albert Museum
- Head of Campaign Management, Science Museum
- Curator, Handel House Museum
- Head Curator, National Maritime Museum
- Director, Foundling Museum
- Curator, British Art 1850-1915, Tate Britain
- Courses and Events Programmer, National Gallery.
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