Museum Studies

Browse creative arts and design courses in UK

Critical and Cultural Studies

Arts University Plymouth is an arts university for the 21st century, preparing students who are uniquely placed to provide creative solutions to the complex global challenges of a changing world. Formerly known as Plymouth College of Art, we were granted full university title in Spring 2022. We are now the city of Plymouth’s first and only specialist arts university, allowing us to offer our students a dynamic and unique learning experience. In May 2022 we were awarded the Best Small or Specialist University at the 2022 WhatUni Student Choice Awards coming top in a list of well-respected specialist UK universities, and in 2023 were awarded Silver in the same category, based on unbiased and honest reviews from students across the UK, in a category that highlights the quality of our provision as a specialist creative university. MA Museum Studies at Arts University Plymouth offers a unique opportunity to reimagine the role of the museum within contemporary socio-political debates, working with The Box, Plymouth’s award-winning museum, art gallery and archive (also home to the South West Film & Television Archive), and a range of regional and national museums and collections including Tate St Ives, Tate Britain Archives, and RAMM Exeter. You will explore topics that include decolonisation and the repatriation of objects, distributed digital archives, the educational role of museums, and diversifying collections and audiences. With focuses on socially engaged practice, community building and creativity, your work will be situated in a city and region with a colonial and military heritage that is now emerging as a centre for contemporary art and culture. We’ll support you to pursue your own research directions, which could include: examining the complex process of design, museum curatorship and interpretation; interrogating theories of exhibition and display, audiences and museology; and initiating research projects focused on the practical, pedagogical and theoretical questions underpinning museum education and audience outreach. The Masters will prepare you for a wide range of roles in museums, curation, heritage and arts management, as well as for further postgraduate research.

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