MA Culture, Criticism and Curation

at University of the Arts London

MA Culture, Criticism and Curation promotes a community of practice which is central to students’ development. The course offers an open space for you to develop independent research and practice and a flexible framework for student-led and student-directed learning. In our vision, theory and practice work hand in hand within curatorial work, and we explore the different relationships between these two modes of knowledge production. 

Culture is studied through lectures, seminars, tutorial groups and reading groups led and co-designed by tutors and students. The curriculum is responsive to changing interests and priorities. Often interdisciplinary, the course encourages an integrated approach to critical, practical, peer-to-peer, group and independent work. Events at Programme, College and University level encourage students to engage with a wider culture of research and innovation and connect with others using curatorial thinking and the practice you are developing. 

The main independent work over the 45 weeks of study includes a dissertation and two group curatorial projects. The Dissertation helps you deepen your knowledge in an area of your choice. It can be written as an academic essay or divided into a portfolio of work to reflect individual professional or creative goals. The group projects ask you to engage with different models of curatorial practice: the first is around a collection/archive and is aligned with the University’s work in response to current social issues, such as decolonisation, anti-racism and decarbonising; the second, in partnership with external organisations, emphasises critical and conceptual approaches to collaboration, audience development and redefining ways of supporting, expressing and commenting on culture.  

Students learn to engage with and develop both group and individual practices.  

Unit 1: Curatorial Playground  

Unit 1 is composed of a series of intensive workshops, seminars and discussions that set the base for curatorial thought – that is, thought that emphasises the interrelations between disciplines, cultures and knowledges. The Unit is centered on hands-on experiences to familiarise you with the atmosphere and environment of Central Saint Martins as a creative space. You will learn how to respond to a creative brief and this will help you find your creative voice and set up your goals and aspirations for the year. Key themes of the Unit are experimentation, inter-cultural exchange and conversation within the cohort. 

Unit 2: Relational and Material Practices for Common Good 

This Unit addresses the theme of collaboration through co-operation with other Masters’ courses in the College. By working co-operatively with fellow students from parallel and contrasting courses, you will experience at first hand the value of cross-disciplinary thinking and problem-solving that is central to developing a curatorial practice. 

Unit 3: Curatorial Positions 

Through group work, individual research and a collection-based curatorial project, this Unit helps you establish and develop a sense of your position, in relation to your subject interests and practice area, in terms of social identities and institutional spaces. This is expressed through the production of curatorial and written work. The collaborative research and learning element of the Unit helps you establish a basis of knowledge around different definitions of culture, the relationship between culture and technology and the ethics of representation, collection and preservation.  

Unit 4: Curatorial Incubation 

This Unit spans the summer months and is dedicated to deepening your research on your dissertation and extending your curatorial practice by beginning a second group project, in collaboration with an external partner. It is based mostly on independent learning with support via online classes, synchronous and asynchronous. It is an essential period of independent work and student-directed study that you undertake both as an individual and in small groups. 

Unit 5: Curatorial Responsibility 

Unit 5’s theme of curatorial responsibility signals the ethical, practical and conceptual components of a well-developed curatorial practice. Your work during this unit will be dedicated to coming to define your practice through your work and the ways it sits in relation to others – your peers, your communities, your collaborators, your readers and audiences. The Unit will prompt you to reflect on your professional development and position yourself in relation to your chosen career pathway.

The standard entry requirements for this course are as follows:
 

• An honours degree in a relevant field: history; history of art; culture, communications or media studies; fine art or design; fashion (history and theory or design); multimedia or interactive design; curatorial, gallery, archive or museum work; research; collections management or interpretation; journalism (digital, broadcast, press and radio); art criticism or publishing; marketing and PR; retail or business if culturally related 
• Or an equivalent EU/international qualification

And at least one year of relevant professional experience.

AP(E)L – Accreditation of Prior (Experiential) Learning

Exceptionally applicants who do not meet these course entry requirements may still be considered. The course team will consider each application that demonstrates additional strengths and alternative evidence. This might, for example, be demonstrated by:
 

• Related academic or work experience
• The quality of the personal statement
• A strong academic or other professional reference

Or a combination of these factors.

Each application will be considered on its own merit but cannot guarantee an offer in each case.

English language requirements

IELTS level 7.0 or above, with at least 6.0 in reading, writing, listening and speaking

Home fee
£11,550

International fee
£23,610

The course will prepare graduates to work in the creative and cultural industries and/ or for doctoral work in Humanities subjects.

Within the cultural and creative industries there is increasing demand for people who have curatorial, research and writing skills and can work within this interdisciplinary sector. Employers now expect that MA graduates will be able handle intellectual, creative and practical projects, and demonstrate an enquiring mind.