Art History and Museum Curating (2014 entry)

MA, 1 year full time/2 years part time

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Subject overview

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Rated in the top 3 in the UK for research in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE). 100 per cent of our research was rated as recognised internationally or higher, with 70 per cent rated as internationally excellent or higher, and 45 per cent rated as world leading. 

Art history at Sussex is ranked 4th in the UK in The Times Good University Guide 2013 and 6th in the UK in The Complete University Guide 2014. 

The skills of our faculty represent a unique array across European and American art and culture, with an interest in material culture. 

Art history at Sussex has strong links with museums and galleries, both locally and nationally, especially with the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A), the National Portrait Gallery, the National Maritime Museum, the Brighton Museum & Art Gallery and Charleston House. 

For MA and research students alike, art history at Sussex provides a friendly and stimulating environment for the exchange of ideas, in which intellectual life and scholarly endeavour thrive. 

Specialist facilities

Facilities include a well-equipped slide library containing over 100,000 colour transparencies, an extensive database of digital images, access to computing and word-processing training, and a library well stocked with secondary literature in the discipline and with online access to the British Library and other repositories. 

You are encouraged, where appropriate, to take advantage of local sites of art-historical interest: extensive collections in the Royal Pavilion and the museums of Brighton & Hove; local country houses such as Petworth and Firle; and the Bloomsbury Collection and the Charleston Trust. 

Academic activities

A regular research seminar, to which outside speakers are invited, provides a major forum for debate. You are also encouraged to attend seminars in other disciplines such as history, English, philosophy and anthropology. 

The Department of Art History plays a part in the Centre for Visual Fields, the Centre for Early Modern Studies and the Centre for Byzantine Cultural History. These form foci for a range of lectures, conferences and funded research projects. 

Programme outline

This MA positions you to speak and write confidently about museums and curatorship, to think about the future of museums and how you can contribute to that future, and equip you with some key skills to support you in doing so. 

Teaching on this course is strongly informed by the Department of Art History’s cutting-edge research, and delivers a sound introduction to a series of curatorial topics that include: 

  • curatorial scholarship and its methodologies (including conservation-led research and technical art history) 
  • the histories of museums and their collections 
  • the ethical and legal frameworks within which curators and museums work 
  • the nature and politics of museum displays. 

You take two core modules and two options, and also undertake a work placement in a museum or gallery. You visit a number of museums in Sussex and several of the national museums in London, allowing you to learn first-hand about institutional histories, collections, permanent galleries and temporary exhibitions. You are taught and supported in your studies by a rich combination of Sussex tutors and external specialists who have, in the past, included senior staff from the Brighton Museum, the V&A and the Metropolitan Museum in New York. 

Throughout the course, you are encouraged to participate actively in the taught sessions and museum visits and to debate a range of ethical concerns facing museum curators with your coursemates, as well as developing your own research interests through the dissertation. Teaching is mainly seminar- and museum-based, with some more formal lectures from visiting specialists. 

Assessment

Assessed work includes term papers, several practical assignments, a learning journal (written during the placement as a reflection on that experience) and a 15,000-word dissertation. 

We continue to develop and update our modules for 2014 entry to ensure you have the best student experience.In addition to the course structure below, you may find it helpful to refer to the 2012 modules tab.

In the autumn and spring terms, you take two museum skills modules with seminars at Sussex and at local and national collections. These are taken alongside the core module Theories and Approaches in the autumn and an option in the spring. Options are frequently taught by academic faculty around specific museum collections. You may, with the agreement of the course convenor, take an option from another arts and humanities postgraduate course. The summer term is taken up with a work placement at a local or national museum or gallery. 

Full-time students work on the dissertation in the third term, and part-time students in the third and sixth terms. 

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Art and its Objects

30 credits
Spring teaching, year 1

This course explores the actual objects of art and raises questions about their appearance, reception and manufacture. You will also consider the use of the 'objects of art' and issues about how something may be considered a 'work of art' when another thing is not.

Art and the Interior

30 credits
Spring teaching, year 1

The interior as a context for works of art has recently been the focus of increasing attention. This module offers you a critical introduction to the range of primary sources employed in the study of the interior, the variety of methodologies used and the key issues that have influenced scholarship in this new field. Providing you with an understanding of the changing meanings of art objects and spaces, it will explore the factors that influenced the visual and material culture of the interior.

Art History Research Seminar

0 credits
All year teaching, year 1

Museum Skills I: Objects

30 credits
Autumn teaching, year 1

The module sets out to equip you with a range of core museum skills, above all in familiarity with the objects of display. Skills you will develop include how to describe an object in various ways depending on audience, how to handle an object, and how to look after an object. You will deal with issues such as materials and visual appearance such as style analysis, iconography/subject matter, describing an object, and thinking about where visual appearance of an object comes from. You will also cover issues relating to the practical interpretation of objects in museums (including catalogue entries of different sorts, web materials, labels, and exhibition publications) as well as touching on ethical and procedural issues such as accessioning and de-accessioning of objects within collections.

Museum Skills II: Contexts and Display

30 credits
Spring teaching, year 1

This module builds on the work from Museum Skills I. It introduces you to a range of further skills and issues in museum practice, both through seminar teaching and site visits and discussion. Areas to be covered will include exhibitions (how curators put an exhibition together, the role of an Education Department in disseminating different learning styles); the historical and political contexts of museums and how this affects display; how museums work on a practical level; and the museum as a research resource (collection databases, archives and stores, and accessions and policies).

Photography and 20th Century Visual Culture

30 credits
Spring teaching, year 1

Renaissance Painting and the Workshop Tradition

30 credits
Spring teaching, year 1

Art History Research Skills and Methods

0 credits
All year teaching, year 1

Theories & Approaches to Art History

30 credits
Autumn teaching, year 1

This module covers some of the central topics and methods of current art historical practice as applied to a wide range of specific geographic and historical contexts. Engaging with some of art history's historiographical and methodological approaches, you will evaluate diverse interpretive approaches, such as feminism, iconology, agency, gift giving, and post colonialism. The module develops your the ability to interpret, critique and apply a range of methodological positions and highlights the position of art history as a discipline both responding to and acting upon problems of understanding cultural practices. The module material may be contradictory or even explicitly oppositional, and you will be expected and encouraged to develop an independent position on it.

Visual and Material Cultures

30 credits
Spring teaching, year 1

This module considers modernity in the context of the 19th and early 20th century. You will consider visual culture in the context of this period of rapid change and explore interrelationships across cultures in Europe and North America, and imperial spaces beyond Europe.

You will consider the new institutions and mass media that disseminated the visual, addressing a variety of images ranging from paintings to new forms of popular mass culture. You will also have the chance to draw on primary material in the form of periodical collections held in the University of Sussex library.

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Entry requirements

UK entrance requirements

A first- or upper second-class undergraduate honours degree in art history or another relevant humanities or social science discipline.

Overseas entrance requirements

Overseas qualifications

If your country is not listed below, please contact the University at E pg.enquiries@sussex.ac.uk

CountryOverseas qualification
Australia Bachelor (Honours) degree with second-class upper division
Brazil Bacharel, Licenciado or professional title with a final mark of at least 8
Canada Bachelor degree with CGPA 3.3/4.0 (grade B+)
China Bachelor degree from a leading university with overall mark of 75%-85% depending on your university
Cyprus Bachelor degree or Ptychion with a final mark of at least 7.5
France Licence with mention bien or Maîtrise with final mark of at least 13
Germany Bachelor degree or Magister Artium with a final mark of 2.4 or better
Ghana Bachelor degree from a public university with second-class upper division
Greece Ptychion from an AEI with a final mark of at least 7.5
Hong Kong Bachelor (Honours) degree with second-class upper division
India Bachelor degree from a leading institution with overall mark of at least 60% or equivalent
Iran Bachelor degree (Licence or Karshenasi) with a final mark of at least 15
Italy Diploma di Laurea with an overall mark of at least 105
Japan Bachelor degree from a leading university with a minumum average of B+ or equivalent
Malaysia Bachelor degree with class 2 division 1
Mexico Licenciado with a final mark of at least 8
Nigeria Bachelor degree with second-class upper division or CGPA of at least 3.0/4.0
Pakistan Four-year bachelor degree, normally with a GPA of at least 3.3
Russia Magistr or Specialist Diploma with a minimum average mark of at least 4
South Africa Bachelor (Honours) degree or Bachelor degree in Technology with an overall mark of at least 70%
Saudi Arabia Bachelor degree with an overall mark of at least 70% or CGPA 3.5/5.0 or equivalent
South Korea Bachelor degree from a leading university with CGPA of at least 3.5/4.0 or equivalent
Spain Licenciado with a final mark of at least 2/4
Taiwan Bachelor degree with overall mark of 70%-85% depending on your university
Thailand Bachelor degree with CGPA of at least 3.0/4.0 or equivalent
Turkey Lisans Diplomasi with CGPA of at least 3.0/4.0 depending on your university
United Arab Emirates Bachelor degree with CGPA of at least 3.5/4.0 or equivalent
USA Bachelor degree with CGPA 3.3-3.5/4.0 depending on your university
Vietnam Masters degree with CGPA 3.5/4.0 or equivalent

If you have any questions about your qualifications after consulting our overseas qualifications, contact the University at E pg.enquiries@sussex.ac.uk

English language requirements

IELTS 6.5, with not less than 6.5 in Writing and 6.0 in the other sections. Internet TOEFL with 88 overall, with at least 20 in Listening, 20 in Reading, 22 in Speaking and 24 in Writing.

For more information, refer to English language requirements.

Visas and immigration

Find out more about Visas and immigration.

For more information about the admissions process at Sussex

For pre-application enquiries:

Student Recruitment Services
T +44 (0)1273 876787
E pg.enquiries@sussex.ac.uk

For post-application enquiries:

Postgraduate Admissions,
University of Sussex,
Sussex House, Falmer,
Brighton BN1 9RH, UK
T +44 (0)1273 877773
F +44 (0)1273 678545
E pg.applicants@sussex.ac.uk 

Fees and funding

Fees

Home UK/EU students: £7,3001
Channel Island and Isle of Man students: £7,3002
Overseas students: £16,2003

1 The fee shown is for the academic year 2013.
2 The fee shown is for the academic year 2013.
3 The fee shown is for the academic year 2013.

To find out about your fee status, living expenses and other costs, visit further financial information.

Funding

The funding sources listed below are for the subject area you are viewing and may not apply to all degrees listed within it. Please check the description of the individual funding source to make sure it is relevant to your chosen degree.

To find out more about funding and part-time work, visit further financial information.

Chancellor's International Scholarship (2014)

Region: International (Non UK/EU)
Level: PG (taught)
Application deadline: 1 May 2014

25 scholarships of a 50% tuition fee waiver

Fulbright-Sussex University Award (2014)

Region: International (Non UK/EU)
Level: PG (taught)
Application deadline: 15 October 2013

Each year, one award is offered to a US citizen for the first year of a postgraduate degree in any field at the University of Sussex.

Leverhulme Trade Charities Trust for Postgraduate Study (2014)

Region: UK
Level: PG (taught), PG (research)
Application deadline: 1 October 2013

The Leverhulme Trade Charities Trust are offering bursaries to Postgraduate students following any postgraduate degree courses in any subject.

Santander Scholarship (2014)

Region: International (Non UK/EU)
Level: PG (taught)
Application deadline: 1 May 2014

Two scholarships of £5000 fee waiver for students studying any postgraduate taught course.

USA Friends Scholarships (2014)

Region: International (Non UK/EU)
Level: PG (taught)
Application deadline: 3 April 2014

Two scholarships of an amount equivalent to $10,000 are available to nationals or residents of the USA on a one year taught Master's degree course.

Faculty interests

Our research interests cover a broad chronological spread – from Byzantium to the present – and a wide range of subjects – from 20th-century photography to women art critics, Tudor architecture, and art and travel. 

Research interests are briefly described below. For more detailed information, visit the Department of Art History. 

Dr Benedict Burbridge History and theory of photography, photography and contemporary art. Co-editor of Photoworks magazine. Co-curator of the Brighton Photo Biennial (2012). 

Dr Meaghan Clarke 19th- and early 20th-century painting, photography and print culture in Europe and North America. Recently carried out a collection review at the Brighton Museum & Art Gallery. 

Dr Charlotte de Mille 19th- and 20th-century painting, music and philosophy. Former Programming Committee member for Late Night Openings at the Courtauld Gallery. 

Dr Flora Dennis Visual culture of 15th- and 16th-century Italy; domestic interiors. Co-curator of the V&A exhibition At Home in Renaissance Italy (2006-2007). 

Professor Maurice Howard Tudor art and architecture; French architecture 1500-1600; the history of ornament. President of the Society of Antiquaries and Senior Subject Specialist for the V&A’s British Galleries. 

Professor Liz James Classical and Byzantine art, light and colour, gender. Consultant on the Royal Academy exhibition Byzantium 330-1453 (2008-2009). 

Professor David Mellor 20th-century painting, film and photography; cultural and visual representation. Curator of The Bruce Lacey Experience (2012); contributor to Tate exhibitions on Henry Moore (2010). 

Dr Michelle O’Malley Renaissance painting, commissioning, production and consumption. Former Head of Education for exhibitions at the Royal Academy. 

Dr Geoffrey Quilley 18th-century art, travel and empire. Curator of the National Maritime Museum exhibition Art for the Nation: The Oil Paintings Collection of the National Maritime Museum (2006). 

Dr Carolyn Sargentson 18th-century French art and furniture. Former Head of Research at the V&A, currently cataloguing the V&A’s collections of French furniture. 

Careers and profiles

You will develop skills in acquiring knowledge about collections and objects, communicating about objects in a variety of formats, and project management. These skills provide the practical and theoretical foundation for careers in museums, galleries, heritage at curatorial level, or in equivalent fields in the academic or heritage sectors. 

For more information, visit Careers and alumni.

School and contacts

School of History, Art History and Philosophy

The School of History, Art History and Philosophy brings together staff and students from some of the University's most vibrant and successful departments, each of which is a locus of world-leading research and outstanding teaching. Our outlook places a premium on intellectual flexibility and the power of the imagination.

Grace Ryan, Course Co-ordinator,
School of History, Art History and Philosophy, Arts A,
University of Sussex, Falmer,
Brighton BN1 9SH, UK 
T +44 (0)1273 678899 
E  g.l.ryan@sussex.ac.uk 
Department of Art History

Postgraduate Open Day 2013

4 December 2013, 1pm-4pm
Bramber House, University of Sussex

  • talk to academic faculty and current postgraduate students
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