(Full time / Part time) 2019 start
Arts Management and Heritage Studies MA
Overview
Through combining arts management with heritage studies, students will develop a sophisticated understanding of the changing political, policy and practice contexts within which the arts and heritage sectors operate today.
Core modules explore the nature of heritage and how meanings of objects, artworks and buildings change in different contexts. You will examine the challenges faced by arts managers and cultural leaders, and the changes that have led some museums to move towards the role of the ‘manager’ rather than the ‘curator’.
You will choose from optional modules to tailor your degree to your interests or career plans – including the opportunity to undertake a work placement or consultancy project role in either arts management or heritage. Previous students have undertaken placements focused on collections, digitisation work, digital interpretation and community engagement.
Supported by our Centre for Critical Studies in Museums, Galleries and Heritage, you will benefit from our partnerships with major arts and cultural organisations to find out what it means to work in this challenging sector.
You will study in the heart of a cultural hub for this diverse and vibrant region. Leeds is home to a wide variety of world-leading and innovative arts and heritage organisations, from the Royal Armouries, Opera North, Leeds Playhouse and Northern Ballet through to nine council-run museums, galleries and heritage sites and many contemporary art spaces.
We are also close to everything the rest of Yorkshire has to offer, from The Hepworth Wakefield to the National Science and Media Museum, Yorkshire Sculpture Park and the Brontë Parsonage Museum. We have close links with many of these cultural institutions to support your practical learning.
Interdisciplinary learning
This exciting programme has been developed in close collaboration with the School of Performance and Cultural Industries and allows students to undertake core and optional courses in both Schools. Students become members of the Centre for Critical Studies in Museums, Galleries and Heritage and enjoy the opportunities that membership offers, from networking events and links to alumni, to conferences, seminars and reading groups.
Course tutors include researchers with a background in arts management, theatre, arts galleries, museums and heritage, including collections, curatorial, education and engagement work:
Course content
In Arts Management and Cultural Leadership, you will examine theoretical concepts in the emerging field of arts management and the challenges faced by arts managers and cultural leaders. Dialogue with our arts and cultural partners will give an insight into the exciting possibilities opened up by bringing theory and practice together. You can deepen your learning in this area through optional modules that explore a variety of key issues, such as audience engagement and impact, cultural entrepreneurship, and contemporary cultural strategies, technologies and media.
In Interpretations, you will work on a interpretative intervention with one of the archives and collections on campus. This experience prepares you for the option of undertaking a negotiated work placement or optional modules exploring audiences, participation or engagement in semester 2.
In Critical Issues, you are supported to locate interpretive, conservation, curatorial or marketing practices in the context of current academic and professional debates. Through a number of tailored strands – covering contemporary art, heritage, and curating science and technology – you will develop your own mini-research project which prepares you for your dissertation.
Through our Advanced Research Skills modules, you are equipped to undertake assessments and ultimately develop your own research project. The modules build to a symposium in semester 2 where you can present initial research findings towards a dissertation on a research topic of interest.
In addition, students choose from a range of optional modules offered by the School of Fine Art, History of Art and Cultural Studies and the School of Performance and Cultural Industries. These include the opportunity to complete a placement or consultancy project role in either arts management or heritage. Previous students have undertaken placements focused on collections, digitisation work, digital interpretation and community engagement.
We use a range of teaching and learning methods to allow students to benefit from the expertise of our staff. These include weekly seminars, group learning sessions, tutorials and lectures.
Students will also benefit from the expertise of visiting speakers, visits off campus and practical experience. Independent study is also vital to this course, allowing students to develop individual skills and prepare for taught sessions
Course structure
The list shown below represents typical modules/components studied and may change from time to time. Read more in our Terms and conditions.
Modules
Year 1
Compulsory modules
- Advanced Research Skills 1 5 credits
- Advanced Research Skills 2 5 credits
- Interpretations 15 credits
- Critical Issues 15 credits
- Arts Management and Cultural Leadership 30 credits
- Arts Management and Heritage Studies Dissertation 50 credits
Optional modules (selection of typical options shown below)
- Jewish Museums and the Display of Cultural Difference 30 credits
- Unfinished Business: Trauma, Cultural Memory and the Holocaust 30 credits
- Movies, Migrants and Diasporas 30 credits
- Intersecting Practices: Questioning the Intersection of Contemporary Art and Heritage 30 credits
- Art & Money: the modern and contemporary art markets 30 credits
- Encountering Things: Art and Entanglement in Anglo-Saxon England 30 credits
- Anthropology, Art and Representation 30 credits
- Individual Directed Study 30 credits
- Placements in Context: Policy, Organizations and Practice 30 credits
- Creative Work 30 credits
- Performance and Collaborative Enterprise 30 credits
- Audience Engagement and Impact 30 credits
- Derrida and Deconstruction 30 credits
Learning and teaching
We use a range of teaching and learning methods to help you benefit from the expertise of our staff. These include weekly seminars, group learning sessions, tutorials and lectures. You will also benefit from the expertise of visiting speakers, visits off campus and practical experience. Independent study is also vital to this programme, allowing you to develop your individual skills and prepare for taught sessions.
Assessment
Depending on the modules you choose, you may experience a range of different assessment methods. These usually include essays, individual and group presentations, digital interpretation projects, portfolio building, in-course assessment and project work. You may also be asked to complete a reflective log for your projects, allowing you to look back and critically assess your own practice.
Applying, fees and funding
Entry requirements
A bachelor degree with a 2:1 (hons).
We expect students to have some experience of volunteering or working in a relevant field. We are not looking for extensive periods working in the sector but we do want students to be able to critically reflect on the experience they do have in their personal statement and at interview. We accept a range of international equivalent qualifications. For more information, please contact the School of Fine Art, History of Art and Cultural Studies admissions team.
We accept a range on international equivalent qualifications. For more information, please contact the School of Fine Art, History of Art and Cultural Studies admissions team.
English language requirements
IELTS 6.5 overall, with no less than 6.0 in any component.. For other English qualifications, read English language equivalent qualifications.
Improve your English
International students who do not meet the English language requirements for this programme may be able to study our postgraduate pre-sessional English course, to help improve your English language level.
This pre-sessional course is designed with a progression route to your degree programme and you’ll learn academic English in the context of your subject area. To find out more, read Language for Arts and Humanities (6 weeks) and Language for Social Science and Arts: Arts and Humanities (10 weeks).
If you need to study for longer than 10 weeks, read more about our postgraduate pre-sessional English course.
How to apply
This link takes you to information on applying for taught programmes and to the University's online application system.
If you're unsure about the application process, contact the admissions team for help.
Documents and information you need
- Your degree certificate and transcripts, or a partial transcript if you’re still studying
- Two academic references
- A personal statement
- Evidence of your English language qualifications if English is not your first subject.
- You may also choose to submit a CV.
Read about visas, immigration and other information in International students. We recommend that international students apply as early as possible to ensure that they have time to apply for their visa.
Admissions policy
University of Leeds Taught Postgraduate Admissions Policy 2019
Fees
- UK/EU: £9,000 (total)
- International: £19,000 (total)
Read more about paying fees and charges.
For fees information for international taught postgraduate students, read Masters fees.
Part-time fees are normally calculated based on the number of credits you study in a year compared to the equivalent full-time course. For example, if you study half the course credits in a year, you will pay half the full-time course fees for that year.
Additional cost information
There may be additional costs related to your course or programme of study, or related to being a student at the University of Leeds. Read more about additional costs
Scholarships and financial support
If you have the talent and drive, we want you to be able to study with us, whatever your financial circumstances. There may be help for students in the form of loans and non-repayable grants from the University and from the government. Find out more at Masters funding overview.
The School of Fine Art, History of Art and Cultural Studies is offering 3 Head of School Excellence Scholarship (International) awards for students joining in September 2019.
The value of each award is £1,000.
International applicants must apply for this award by 31st May 2019.
Career opportunities
This degree is designed to equip you to fill a gap in the current market and become a cultural leader of the future. We encourage you to build up a portfolio of project work to help with future job applications, and you have opportunities to gain practical work experience.
As well as the in-depth subject knowledge you will gain, you will improve your skills in research, analysis, communication and critical and cultural awareness. You will also benefit from the contacts gained through work with partner organisations and the Centre for Critical Studies in Museums, Galleries and Heritage.
Graduates from our School have gone onto work as heads of collections, curators and educators in a range of organisations such as local authority museums, national heritage organisations like the National Trust and charitable trusts. They have also found success in arts marketing and public relations. Others have also continued with their research and PhD level, many of whom work in academia in the UK as well as the US, Hong Kong and Korea.
Careers Support
We encourage you to prepare for your career from day one. That’s one of the reasons Leeds graduates are so sought after by employers.
The Careers Centre and staff in your faculty provide a range of help and advice to help you plan your career and make well-informed decisions along the way, even after you graduate. Find out more at the Careers website.
Study abroad and work placements
Creative Work, Enterprise and Work Placements
All students have a choice of two optional modules. A number of these modules have a work or enterprise component to gain first-hand experience of contemporary museum and gallery practice. If you have a particular ambition in mind for a work placement, we try to find a role that suits you.
The programme has close links with a number of important institutions both in the city and the region and previous students have worked on projects at a wide variety of museums and heritage organisations including Leeds Museum, Leeds Art Gallery, Harewood House, the Henry Moore Institute, the National Science and Media Museum, the Leeds Playhouse, Leeds Grand, Lotherton Hall, Abbey House Museum and the Royal Armouries as well as the University’s own museums and archives, including the Stanley and Audrey Burton Gallery and the Marks and Spencer Archive.