Course summary

This programme is an excellent entry point for a career in museums and galleries. It puts the physical object at the heart of curatorial training whilst placing specialist knowledge firmly within the context of the contemporary museum. The course offers a wide range of learning environments and exercises, from taught seminars to group projects and hands-on work experience, and encourages a wide range of expression, written and oral, from academic writing to public debates and gallery talks. This broad-based programme, which has run since 2007, attracts students with a range of interests, across all periods and media, with a strong focus on contemporary and innovative approaches to curating in public museums and galleries. The programme’s teaching draws widely on the expertise of the art history faculty, the conservation department and the staff of The Courtauld Gallery, and benefits from close relations and excellent connections with museums and galleries across London and the UK, and internationally. Curators and other professionals in museums are actively involved in the programme, leading practical exercises such as the Virtual Display. Individual placements are arranged for each student with museums and galleries in London: students work closely with mentors in a range of national museums, public galleries and other organisations in London, one/two days a week over a six-month period. There is a strong emphasis on collaborative working, in taught sessions and in the organisation of museum debates; field trips, in the UK and Europe, may be organised across the year (conditions permitting) to ensure the widest contact with curators, museum professionals and artists, as well as with exhibitions, displays and museum spaces. The programme culminates in a collaborative exhibition project, and the mounting of a public exhibition and related public events. The programme aims to address a wide range of interests and equip students with the expertise, research and professional skills for an equally wide range of career paths. Find out more here: courtauld.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/ma-curating-the-art-museum/