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Museum Cultures with Curating at Birkbeck, University of London - UCAS

Course options

2025 - 20262026 - 2027
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There are other course options available which may have a different vacancy status or entry requirements – view the full list of options

Course summary

Museums establish powerful narratives of progress and primitivism, knowledge and ignorance, inclusion and exclusion. Our MA Museum Cultures with Curating offers you the chance to combine study of the history and cultural significance of museums with opportunities for professional museum experience. 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 You will learn about the role and impact of the museum and the curator and benefit from an intensive week of daytime classes studying curating issues and practices. You will also master 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 have the opportunity to attend training on digital design platforms such as ThingLink. This will give you advanced skills in analysis, argument and communication. How you will learn You can study this course full- or part-time. 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 can tailor this course to suit your interests by choosing from 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. As well as regular gallery and museum visits, we offer a study trip abroad every spring. Cities previously visited include Moscow, Berlin, Paris, Vienna and Florence. Highlights
  • 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 as well as funds to support research expenses for your coursework.
  • We host events including information evenings; the annual Murray Lecture; 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.
Careers and employability On successfully graduating from this course you will have gained an array of transferable skills, including:
  • a sophisticated use of written and spoken English
  • an advanced ability in understanding and applying complex theories
  • the use of analytical tools
  • collecting and organising complex materials and writing up 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.

Modules

For information about course structure and the modules you will be studying, please visit Birkbeck’s online prospectus.

Assessment method

Coursework only, consisting of essays of up to 5000 words, a work placement project and a 15,000-word dissertation.

How to apply

International applicants

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.

Entry requirements

Our standard postgraduate entry requirement is a second-class honours degree (2:2 or above). For students with a degree in a subject outside the arts and humanities, 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.

Fees and funding

Tuition fees

England £11070 Year 1
Northern Ireland £11070 Year 1
Scotland £11070 Year 1
Wales £11070 Year 1
International £20340 Year 1

Tuition fee status depends on a number of criteria and varies according to where in the UK you will study. For further guidance on the criteria for home or overseas tuition fees, please refer to the UKCISA website .

Additional fee information

Students are charged a tuition fee in each year of their course. Tuition fees for students continuing on their course in following years may be subject to annual inflationary increases.
Museum Cultures with Curating at Birkbeck, University of London - UCAS