History of Art with Collections Management MA

Our MA History of Art with Collections Management will absorb you in the rich and dynamic discipline of the history of art. It will also prepare you for the museum workplace with an intensive collections management module that will equip you with essential skills and experience.

Why choose this course?

* You will study with internationally recognised academics and meet experts in London museums and galleries to discuss their work, as well as engaging in hands-on activities relating to documentation, object handling and care.

* As well as regular gallery and museum visits, talks by visiting speakers and screenings, you will have the opportunity to gain further experience by applying for a 10-week supervised work placement in a museum, gallery or archive.

What will I learn?

This course will train you in key art historical approaches. You will gain a solid grasp of the key issues and fundamental, professional skills involved in collections management and an insight into different working practices.

You will develop a concrete understanding of the core processes by which museums and galleries ascribe value and meaning to artworks and objects and master a range of methods and sources, including archives, collections, historical and contemporary texts, and a broad spectrum of artistic media from cathedrals to digital installations. You will also develop an understanding of the role of the collections manager and draw upon museum theory and sector guidelines to document a bequest to museum accreditation standards.

How will I learn?

This course is available to study full- or part-time in the evenings, including lectures and seminars. The Collections Management module is taught intensively in the daytime over a one-week period during the spring term.

You will be able to follow your interests choosing option modules in painting, sculpture, print culture, architecture, digital art, photography and performance.

You will also devise your own research project for your dissertation.

Highlights

* You will have the opportunity to apply for a work placement in one of London's museums, galleries or archives. Previous work placements have been offered at the V&A, Tate, British Museum, National Portrait Gallery, 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.

* We also offer an exciting study trip abroad every spring. Cities visited include Florence, Paris, Venice, Vienna, Rome, Berlin and Moscow.

* Birkbeck is one of the leading universities for the study of the history of art as a culturally and historically engaged discipline and was ranked as one of the top four universities in the UK for its Art and Design research in the 2021 Research Excellence Framework.

* We offer a number of bursaries for postgraduate students. Funds are also available to support MA coursework research expenses. 

Careers and employability

On successfully graduating with this course you will have gained an array of transferable skills, including:

* highly developed visual skills

* an advanced critical ability in understanding and applying complex theories

* facility and precision in the use of analytical tools

* the ability to research and write professional documents

* strong skills and initiative in collecting and organising complex materials and writing up clear, well-presented assignments.

Graduates can pursue careers 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

* auctioneer

* researcher

* lecturer in higher education

* advertising account executive.