History of Design and Material Culture MA

at University of Brighton

Course structure
 

Your MA will be structured around two core modules: Exploring Objects and Mediating Objects (20 credits each). 
 

Over two semesters, these modules will enable students to understand and use current theoretical frameworks in the interpretation of material worlds and their myriad representations. Collectively seminar working, close reading and wide ranging discussion are the key learning and teaching strategy of these two modules, with the aim of support and developing students’ skills of expression and articulacy.
 

Alongside your core modules, you will also take a Research Methods module (20 credits) and embark upon your own research towards an 18,000 to 20,000 word dissertation. Supported by one-to-one supervision, students develop their an original piece of writing often based on archival investigations of ethnographic study.
 

To complete your degree and cater to your specialist interests and learning requirements, you choose three further option modules, one in semester 1 and two that will take place in semester 2.
 

Syllabus 
 

You will take six taught modules over your MA studies and one key piece of independent research, a dissertation.
 

The taught modules include two core modules Exploring Objects and Mediating Objects, and four option modules that enable you to explore specific aspects of the History of Design and Material Culture such as textiles, graphics and exhibition practice, or broaden your studies with modules in history, politics and philosophy.
 

The centrepiece of your MA studies is your dissertation. You will be supported through tutorials to investigate a subject or perspective of your own within the History of Design and Material Culture, undertaking primary research and making new critical interventions in this interdisciplinary field.
 

Previous dissertation subjects include:

• Workwear as Fashion and Anti-Fashion
• Representations of the Holocaust: the rejected works of Arnold Daghani
• Photography and Jewellery: Older women and the practices of keeping things
• The Fetishization of Women’s Hair in Victorian Material Culture
• Japanese Gardens in England
• Political Posters and the Children of Mao’s China

The entry requirements listed here are our typical offer for this course if you wish to begin studying with us in 2022. They should be used as a general guide. 
 

Degree and experience

Normally a 2:1 undergraduate degree in a relevant subject. Candidates with a 2:2 or lower or who do not have a degree will still be considered for admission if they can demonstrate suitable professional experience or substantial experience of the subject area. 
 

English language requirements

IELTS 6.5 overall with a minimum of 5.5 in each element. 

International (full-time) - 15,462 GBP

The course has an excellent track record in helping students to pursue careers in related areas as well as further study.
 

Many of our postgraduates have found work as lecturers, curators, journalists, designers and design consultants, while many others have pursued doctoral research, some also securing prestigious funding from the AHRC (Arts and Humanities Research Council).