MA in Kunstgeschichte und Kuratieren

The MA in Art History and Curating is one of the few postgraduate programmes in the country that offers you the opportunity to work in a team with academic and museum professionals to develop a curatorial project such as a public exhibition. Our recent partners have included the Barber Institute of Fine Arts, in a unique partnership with the Royal Collection Trust, and Grand Union, an Arts Council England Portfolio organisation, working with contemporary artists

This unique programme enables you to develop the theoretical knowledge and practical skills required to conduct original research into art objects and the history, theory, and practice of curating historic and contemporary artworks.

As a result of the range of modules and practical experience offered, this unique programme will provide you with the knowledge, experience, and employability skills invaluable to the museum, commercial, and academic sectors whilst enabling you to establish professional networks in both.

Why Study this Course?

• Location – The University’s unique campus, where you find its rich collections, study and learning spaces, cafés, restaurants and shops, outdoor and indoor sports facilities in proximity to each other (so you can study and play hard), is located at the heart of a thriving city. Birmingham has a vibrant portfolio of established and emerging art galleries and arts organisations, and the city itself is in the middle of England, allowing easy access to London and beyond (it has an international airport as well as outstanding public transport with the University having its own train station).
• Join an active and vibrant student community – you will benefit from a lively, supportive, and intellectually stimulating postgraduate community, providing an ideal environment in which to study. You will have the opportunity to become active members of both departmental and university-wide research communities.
• Enhance your knowledge on a range of topics – you will develop sophisticated knowledge and understanding of a range of themes and theoretical discourses related to museum and art gallery practice, such as art interpretation; modes of display; marketing; access and learning; administration, and finance; and art handling.
• Extracurricular activities – Read our official blog, The Golovine , for an insight into life within the Department. You will have the opportunity to volunteer at the Barber Institute and regional art galleries and museums. After a long day of study, you can stretch and relax at the university’s Munrow Sports Centre on campus (with smaller venues nearby), which has been praised for its outstanding facilities and high-quality equipment that includes a large gym and an Olympic-size swimming pool.

Our College of Arts and Law Graduate School is a vibrant international community of over 1500 postgraduate students. We benefit from excellent research resources and a supportive environment that allows your research to flourish. Located in the Arts building at the main Edgbaston campus, our team of academic and operational staff is on hand to offer support and advice whenever you need it.

As a College, we have top class facilities that encourage interaction between disciplines and research areas so you’ll be amongst like-minded people, giving you the stimulation, support, and challenges you need to succeed.

The University of Birmingham

Birmingham is constantly developing and evolving in its desire to become a leading global university. This is being achieved through our enhanced research power and reach; the distinctiveness of our exceptional student experience; the breadth and depth of our academic portfolio; our size and the extent of our global networks.

The city of Birmingham

Birmingham is no longer transforming; it is transformed. With independent restaurants, shops and bars throughout the centre and popular districts around the city, this new and vibrant Birmingham is nestled among local markets, iconic buildings of our industrial heritage and contemporary architecture such as the new Library of Birmingham.

New bars and shops open frequently as the city continues to build its youthful and unique identity. There is so much diversity and history within Birmingham that the shops, food and venues reflect this. Old icons such as the Custard Factory host alternative shops and bars, just a short walk from the famous Birmingham wholesale fish and rag markets, all of which nestle close to the new Grand Central train station and shopping precinct.

Birmingham Law School

For almost a century Birmingham Law School has led the way in legal education and research. Today, we continue to provide our students with innovative, challenging, and research-driven education.

The Birmingham LLM takes one year (full-time) or two years (part-time) to complete and involves the study of six specialist modules and a dissertation. Applicants must have a good undergraduate degree in Law or equivalent.

The Birmingham LLM allows students to follow a general route, with complete flexibility in module selection, or follow one of our specialist pathways. When applying to the Birmingham LLM, students do not need to decide whether they wish to specialise at that stage, as pathway specialisms can be decided once students start on the course.

The Shakespeare Institute

The Shakespeare Institute, located in Stratford-upon-Avon, has been a beacon for international Shakespeare scholarship since its foundation in 1951.

The University of Birmingham is engaged in an exciting collaboration with the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC). This pioneering project is the result of the longstanding relationship between the RSC and the Shakespeare Institute at Birmingham.

The collaboration is rooted in a vision of theatre as an engine room for creative thinking and research, a place for the exchange of artistic and academic knowledge and practice, and a shared commitment to enriching student experience and contemporary Shakespeare studies.

Our students are at the heart of the collaboration and encouraged to study and create theatre in Shakespeare's own daring spirit. They benefit from the expertise of RSC artists and practitioners through innovative modules, masterclasses, workshops and projects.