MA Cultural Heritage
- MA
Overview
The cultural heritage sector, which encompasses museums, historical sites, monuments, and the visual arts, as well as intangible elements such as traditions, languages, and rituals, plays a crucial role in enriching public understandings of culture and history. The field is experiencing rapid change and institutions are looking for researchers and professionals that can tackle some of its most current and pressing challenges. This programme trains you to look back critically on the histories that have informed our cultural institutions, both in the UK and globally, and to use this knowledge to explore how inclusive and innovative practices can shape this sector in the future.
The combination of practical and theoretical teaching on a range of topics relating to cultural heritage will equip you with the skills to move into a career in the sector or pursue further research in the field. You will work with a broad range of cultural heritage institutions, via collaborative projects with partners and skills-based teaching, providing you with hands-on experience that could lead to a wide variety of careers, including exhibition curating and design, collections management, community engagement, development, fundraising, digital interpretation and further study.
Located in the city of Bristol, one of the most important cultural hubs in the UK, and housed in the world-leading School of Humanities, you will benefit from the School's teaching and research strengths in historical and visual studies, as well as the wealth of museums and heritage organisations on your doorstep.
Through a range of innovative teaching methods, you will:
- Acquire a comprehensive understanding of the major debates and challenges in this rapidly developing field.
- Collaborate with University of Bristol heritage partners on projects relating to their collections and institutions, gaining hands-on experience working with museums, galleries, and heritage sites. Current partners include the National Trust and the RWA gallery.
- Learn how to communicate your research and knowledge to public audiences in a variety of formats, from exhibitions to digital projects and community engagement initiatives.
- Explore issues of representation and sustainability in the cultural heritage sector and encounter inclusive practices that are being pioneered by heritage organisations in Bristol and beyond.
- Deploy theoretically informed frameworks to analyse current heritage practice, while appreciating the complexities of local and global contexts.
- Work across disciplines to understand the challenges facing the heritage sector and gain skills and resilience for a successful career in this field.
Programme structure
The core unit in Teaching Block 1, Critical Perspectives on Cultural Heritage (20 credits), provides a wide-ranging introduction to the field of cultural heritage and trains you to analyse past and current heritage practice. You will be taught in collaboration with heritage experts and undertake site visits to cultural institutions in the UK, exposing you to the practice of professionals working in these environments. You will also choose one of several optional units taught across the School of Humanities (40 credits) to develop your interdisciplinary knowledge of the field.
In Teaching Block 2, on the unit Collaborative Professional Practice (40 credits), you will work with one of our long-standing partners on a project with a heritage-related, public-facing output, such as an exhibition, community engagement initiative, collection catalogue or digital project based on first-hand research. Alongside this, you will hone your skills-based learning by choosing one of our creative skills units (20 credits), such as Digital Content Creation, which explores the role of emerging technologies in interpreting heritage and the arts.
The programme culminates in a supervised dissertation (60 credits): either a 12,000-word essay on an issue related to cultural heritage; or a practice-based dissertation consisting of a project and a 4,500-word essay reflecting on the project's contribution to the field.
Part-time students take Critical Perspectives on Cultural Heritage and Collaborative Professional Practice in year 1 and the remaining units in year 2.
Entry requirements
You will typically need an upper second-class honours degree or international equivalent in any discipline.
If you are currently completing a degree, we understand that your final grade may be higher than the interim grades or module/unit grades you have achieved during your studies to date.
We will consider your application if your interim grades are currently slightly lower than the programme's entry requirements and may make you an aspirational offer. This offer would be at the standard level, so you would need to achieve the standard entry requirements by the end of your degree.
We will also consider your application if your final overall achieved grade is slightly lower than the programme's entry requirement.
If your achieved grade is lower than our entry requirements, your application may be more likely to receive an offer if you have additional qualifications. If you have additional qualifications, please include your CV (curriculum vitae / résumé) when you apply, showing:
- a postgraduate qualification in any discipline.
See international equivalent qualifications on the International Office website.
Read the programme admissions statement for important information on entry requirements, the application process and supporting documents required.
If English is not your first language, you will need to reach the requirements outlined in our profile level C.
Further information about English language requirements and profile levels.
Fees and funding
- Home: full-time
- £13,100 per year
- Overseas: full-time
- £29,300 per year
- Home: part-time (two years)
- £6,550 per year
Fees are subject to an annual review. For programmes that last longer than one year, please budget for up to an 8% increase in fees each year.
More about tuition fees, living costs and financial support.
Alumni discount
University of Bristol students and graduates can benefit from a 25% reduction in tuition fees for postgraduate study. Check your eligibility for an alumni discount.
Funding and scholarships
Further information on funding for prospective UK and international postgraduate students.
Career prospects
This programme is designed to equip you with the knowledge and skills to move into a wide range of heritage roles that include (but are not limited to): curating, collections and buildings management, community engagement, development, fundraising, cultural policy, digital heritage, education, exhibition design, communications and marketing. It also provides a strong foundation for those wishing to pursue further academic research at doctoral level and beyond, by providing advanced independent research skills and a foundational knowledge of the field.
Contact us
- Contact
- Enquiries Team
- Phone
- +44 (0) 117 394 1649
- choosebristol-pg@bristol.ac.uk
- Faculties
- Schools