10Feb
PostgraduateCourse summary
Looking across time and place, this interdisciplinary MA in Visual Culture offers you the opportunity to develop your knowledge of visual culture and arts and your understanding of how we perceive and interact with objects and images around us. By studying examples such as fine art, film, photography, architecture as well as scientific imaging practices, you will be able to explore the uniqueness of objects, images and events, understand how to appreciate them and consider how other people may respond to them in the context of the working practices found in cultural institutions including museums, galleries and heritage organisations. The course is delivered over one year full-time and two years part-time through a mixture of lectures, interactive seminars, skills development workshops and field trips. It consists of core and optional modules and a dissertation which will cover both theory and practice in visual culture. Your learning will benefit hugely from the University’s strengths in the subject, including the Centre for Visual Arts and Cultures, which hosts a wide range of events and brings together researchers across departments and faculties. You will also have access to University institutions such as the Oriental Museum and Palace Green Library. This course has been created to prepare you to be able to continue your studies in visual culture at a higher level with a view to pursuing a research career in academia but it will also provide you with a qualification which will act as a springboard to a career in the vibrant and fascinating cultural sector. Course structure Core modules: All the MA programmes offered by the Faculty of Arts & Humanities consist of three components:
- a Major Research Project to the value of at least 60 credits
- Core Modules to the value of 0-90 credits, depending on the programme
Modules
You will choose 60 credits of elective modules from across the Faculty of Arts & Humanities so that your total number of credits adds up to exactly 180.
Assessment method
Assessment is rigorous and may include a book review exercise, an exhibition to analyse for your fieldwork report and an object, which will be the subject of a critical commentary that you will write. You will also complete a dissertation of between 12,000-15,000 words. In your assessments, you will apply the contents of the seminars in order to explore an aspect or aspects of visual culture that particularly appeal to you.
How to apply
International applicants
If you are an international student who does not meet the requirements for direct entry to this degree, you may be eligible to take a pre-Masters pathway programme at the Durham University International Study Centre.
Entry requirements
Students will normally be required to have an Honours Degree, usually at 2:1 level or higher or overseas equivalent from a recognised national or international university in an arts, humanities or social science subject. The course assumes no prior knowledge of visual arts and culture, but previous interest or experience of visual culture would be an advantage.
English language requirements
Durham University welcomes applications from all students irrespective of background. We encourage the recruitment of academically well-qualified and highly motivated students, who are non-native speakers of English, whose full potential can be realised with a limited amount of English Language training either prior to entry or through pre-sessional and/or in-sessional courses. It is the normal expectation that candidates for admission should be able to demonstrate satisfactory English proficiency before the start of a programme of study, whether via the submission of an appropriate English language qualification or by attendance on an appropriate pre-sessional course. Acceptable evidence and levels required can be viewed by following the link provided.
English language requirements
https://www.durham.ac.uk/study/international/entry-requirements/english-language-requirements/
Fees and funding
Tuition fees
| England | £12500 | Year 1 |
| Northern Ireland | £12500 | Year 1 |
| Scotland | £12500 | Year 1 |
| Wales | £12500 | Year 1 |
| Channel Islands | £12500 | Year 1 |
| EU | £27500 | Year 1 |
| International | £27500 | 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
The tuition fees shown are for one complete academic year of study and are set according to the academic year of entry. Fees will be subject to an annual inflationary increase and are expected to rise throughout the programme of study. The fee listed above is for the first year of the course only.
Sponsorship information
For further information see the course listing on the Durham University website.
Provider information
Durham University
The Palatine Centre
Stockton Road
Durham
DH1 3LE