MA Cultural Heritage and Museum Studies
Course options
Key Details
- Attendance
- Full Time
- Award
- Degree of Master of Arts
- Course Length
- 1 year
- Course Start Date
- September 2025
Course Overview
Museums and heritage organisations bring material worlds into existence. They shape ideas and interpretations through cultures of preservation and display. They lead debates on challenging political, social, and ethical concerns. Based in the world-famous Sainsbury Centre. The Cultural Heritage and Museum Studies Master course places you at the centre of these conversations. You’ll become part of a unique community. We're the only Art History Department in the UK located within a world-renowned art museum.
You’ll develop a unique combination of theory and practice. You’ll be able to connect the present to the past and the future. You’ll use the Sainsbury Centre's collection of world art to address big issues. Learning from world-leading experts, you’ll gain insights into both museum and heritage sectors. You’ll consider global and local perspectives on art, history, culture, communication, and identity.
A distinctive feature of the course is short-term work placements. This provides you with real-world opportunities to develop your professional skills. You’re supported every step of the way and choose a location that suits your interests. Over fifteen days, you experience at first-hand how museums address collections and visitors. You’ll examine how museums and heritage organisations communicate to different audiences.
You’ll learn through an inter-disciplinary approach. This includes museum studies, art history, archaeology, history, and anthropology. You can immerse yourself in the historic city of Norwich and its heritage sites, including the Norwich Castle Museum. You’ll connect with our many partner organisations across the region. Your work placement will foster a wealth of relevant and transferable skills. The course thus prepares you for a variety of careers in the museum and heritage sectors.
Our ethos is about inclusion and partnership. The Sainsbury Centre, Norfolk Museums, and Ipswich Museum are formal partners. We have associations with National Trust, Norfolk Archaeology Trust, and South Asia Collection. Other links include the Britten Pears Arts and the Norwich Historic Churches Trust. These organisations run diverse programmes of cultural activity which you can contribute to. Representatives from the Museums Association are often involved in our training programmes. Many of our alumni now work with these partner organisations. We look forward to welcoming you to join our community.
Study and Modules
Structure
Your learning experience will incorporate the two facets of the degree, namely (1) cultural heritage and (2) museum studies, throughout. The course includes a number of compulsory taught modules, and it concludes with your end-of-year optional module. The first half of your modules encourage you to gain an understanding of general issues, and their histories, trajectories, and impact. Modules are delivered through interactive seminar sessions, and they involve both group work and independent study. For students who are new to the field of museum studies, these modules will enable you to think in ways that reflect current interests and priorities within the sector. You’ll develop excellent organisational and communicative skills that can be applied in latter phases of the programme and beyond. You’ll develop knowledge about the many complex issues that press upon processes of cultural interpretation and representation. You’ll learn about the evolving relationship between marginalised and majoritarian forms of culture, as well as the complexity of such issues as repatriation.
In the second half of the programme, you’ll get an opportunity to study on an optional module as well as a deep understanding of the topic of World Heritage. These modules will help you to prepare the ground for your Dissertation, should you choose this as your end-of-year option. Alongside these two modules, during the Spring Semester you’ll be involved in a series of training sessions. Overall, you’ll need to be able to devote to this programme the equivalent of approximately four working days per week, as a minimum. This is because you’ll need to find ways to combine your intellectual interests with your practical work, and to do so in such a way that your expertise develops across both the heritage and the museum studies fields. At the end of the Spring Semester, you’ll be encouraged to start work on your end-of-year module. This will lead you either onto the Dissertation route, or else along the Critical Practice pathway. This optional module gives you an excellent opportunity to pursue your own skills agenda. It focuses on your capacity to learn new practical elements, such as podcasting, exhibition design, translation, or social enterprise. As with the Dissertation, your Critical Practice workplan will be supported by a diverse academic team.
Compulsory Modules
Optional A Modules
(Credits: 20)Optional B Modules
(Credits: 60)Whilst the University will make every effort to offer the modules listed, changes may sometimes be made arising from the annual monitoring, review and update of modules. Where this activity leads to significant (but not minor) changes to programmes and their constituent modules, the University will endeavour to consult with students and others. It is also possible that the University may not be able to offer a module for reasons outside of its control, such as the illness of a member of staff. In some cases optional modules can have limited places available and so you may be asked to make additional module choices in the event you do not gain a place on your first choice. Where this is the case, the University will inform students.
Teaching and Learning
Your learning experiences will revolve around regular coursework tasks, which will feed into your summative assessments. The tasks will be focused on different facets of the module, from detailed investigations of ideas and approaches to more general and reflective responses to certain displays. Throughout there will be excellent opportunities for you to benefit from high calibre teaching as well as from the community of learners based in the Department. Many of the teaching staff have direct experience of curating exhibitions and developing purposeful connections with a host of relevant heritage organisations. They're well-placed to share knowledge and insights with you and are very keen to enable you to reach your full potential as an advanced learner.
Many of our modules are team taught, and some, involve a great variety of external speakers. We bring complementary and diverse perspectives and experiences into your remit, so that you can gain as broad and holistic understanding of these sectors as possible. As we're part of the Sainsbury Centre, we have unrivalled access to a wide variety of artistic cultures and together with our students we actively generate experiential attitudes to interpretation. Throughout your degree you’ll be excited by the diverse challenges presented by each of the modules, for example on the question of scale: how far do interpretations of culture and identity travel, and what factors accelerate or else impede the range and scope of these trajectories?
Whilst your learning will be closely geared towards the outlines generated by your tutors, you have a lot of bandwidth to generate your own topics and to develop your own research. Whether at the level of specific examples, which can be addressed in class, or at the level of specific questions, which can be taken up via your own essay writing, you're encouraged to take an active lead. The range of materials and case-studies that are relevant to the topics that you cover, especially in the latter phases of the degree, is extensive. Your development as an advanced learner will become apparent as you navigate your way through different research possibilities.
Assessment
You’ll be assessed exclusively on coursework. Formative work is used to help prepare you for submission of summative coursework. Most of your coursework will be essay-based, requiring fully referenced academic prose. For some assessments you might need to deliver an in-class presentation, a project, or piece of reflective writing.
Entry Requirements
- This course is open to
This course is open to UK, EU and International applicants. This course's annual intake is in September of each year.
- Typical UK Entry Requirements
Degree classification
Bachelors degree - 2.2
Degree Subject
Humanities or Social Sciences
- Admissions Policy
Our Admissions Policy applies to the admissions of all postgraduate applicants.
- This course is open to
This course is open to UK, EU and International applicants. This course's annual intake is in September of each year.
- Typical International Entry Requirements
Degree classification
UK Bachelors degree - 2.2 or equivalent
Degree Subject
Humanities or Social Sciences
- English Foreign Language
Applications from students whose first language is not English are welcome. We require evidence of proficiency in English (including writing, speaking, listening and reading):
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IELTS: 6.0 overall with minimum 6.0 in Writing & Speaking and 5.5 in Listening & Reading
Test dates should be within 2 years of the course start date.
We also accept a number of other English language tests. Review our English Language Equivalencies for a list of qualifications that we may accept to meet this requirement.
If you do not yet meet the English language requirements for this course, INTO UEA offer a variety of English language programmes which are designed to help you develop the English skills necessary for successful undergraduate study:
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- Admissions Policy
Our Admissions Policy applies to the admissions of all postgraduate applicants.
Fees and Funding
Tuition fees for the Academic Year 2025/26 are:
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UK Students: £10,675
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International Students: £22,700
If you choose to study part-time, the fee per annum will be half the annual fee for that year, or a pro-rata fee for the module credit you are taking (only available for Home students).
We estimate living expenses at £1,136 per month.
Further Information on tuition fees can be found here.
Scholarships and Bursaries
The University of East Anglia offers a range of Scholarships; please click the link for eligibility, details of how to apply and closing dates.
Course Related Costs
Please see Additional Course Fees for details of course-related costs.
How to Apply
How to apply
Applications for Postgraduate Taught programmes at the University of East Anglia should be made directly to the University.
To apply please use our online application form.
Further information
If you would like to discuss your individual circumstances prior to applying, please do contact us:
Postgraduate Admissions Office
Tel: +44 (0)1603 591515
Email: admissions@uea.ac.uk
International candidates are also encouraged to access the International Students section of our website.
Employability
After the Course
By the end of the course, you’ll have acquired a balanced combination of practical experience, theoretical and historical knowledge, and critical awareness. This will make you attractive to arts and heritage organisations, cultural heritage sites, historic properties management, as well as to those involved in museum curation, collections care, learning, and development.
Careers
Examples of careers that you could enter include:
- Curator/assistant curator
- Collections and research manager
- Conservation manager/assistant
- Education and outreach manager/assistant
- Media manager/assistant
- Property/site manager
Discover more on our Careers webpages.