Art and Visual Culture MA

Program Overview

Art and Visual Culture MA

Overview

The Art and Visual Culture MA is part of the Cultural and Literary Studies Suite, a cluster of four MAs that bring together academics, curators, and practitioners who share a commitment to investigating modern and contemporary culture from aesthetic, critical, literary, and experiential perspectives.

Course Structure

The Art and Visual Culture MA is delivered in both full-time and part-time modes, with both September and January start dates. The course is modular, with each single module valued at 20 credits, and the dissertation at 60 credits. For the MA, you'll be required to accumulate the total of 180 credits over the course of your degree.

Core Modules

• Contemporary Art and Visual Culture: Critical introduction to history and theory of visual culture. Philosophical and theoretical perspectives are used to explore vision as a social and cultural process, investigating the ways in which the meanings of the 'seen' are explored, constructed and contested in construction, display and discourse.
• Critical Approaches to Art and Visual Culture: Exploration and critical examination of the key theoretical debates that have contributed to the field of art and visual culture studies. Topics include the politics of representation, the gaze, the reproduction of images, regimes of surveillance, and the discourse of the 'other'.
• Dissertation: Development, execution, and writing-up of an independent research project on a topic chosen by the student. All students will attend regular research seminars. Individual supervision will provide topic-specific guidance.

Option Modules

• Capitalism and Culture: Beginning with Marx’s famous account of the commodity in the first chapter of Capital, this module explores a range of theoretical accounts of capitalism and examines their significance to the analysis of different cultural forms, including film, literature, and the contemporary visual arts.
• Digital Cultures: This module addresses one of the most urgent and, at the same time, elusive contemporary issues: the relationship between culture and the rise of digital media. It explores the production, circulation and cultural impact of digital technologies and considers how their emergence influences society, contemporary culture, and the relationship between the two.
• Engaging the Archive: This module examines the practical and theoretical issues of using archives for the purposes of academic and professional research. With privileged access to the unique collections of the University of Westminster Archive, the module combines knowledge from the professional practice of archiving and from key archival theorists.
• Heritage in Action: This module focuses on issues of tangible and intangible cultural heritage in the UK and globally, expanding knowledge beyond museums and galleries. It looks at the processes of heritage making, the politics and uses of heritage across the world, and the concepts, theories, and the practices of heritage creation.
• Management in Cultural and Heritage Institutions: This module is a critical exploration of the structure of the culture and heritage sector, the different kinds of institutions represented within it (e.g., large galleries, heritage sites, small local authority museums), and their relationships with political bodies, funders, and the leisure and tourism industry.
• Museum Narratives, Audiences and Programming: This module looks in detail at the Museum of London. On each session a guest curator will present their individual approach to curating. You will discuss the many ways that museum exhibitions are constructed, how texts and displays are designed and why learning and education is a central part of the museum’s narrative.
• Representing World Cultures: This module explores the issues and practices involved in the representation of world cultures. It focuses in particular on the visual representations of non-western cultures within a western context, and examines the ways in which these representations produce meanings about the ‘Other’.
• Urban Cultures: Using a range of theoretical, historical, literary, visual and other cultural texts, this module explores the idea of urban culture as it has developed since the mid nineteenth century. Focusing, in particular, on the distinctive concept of the modern metropolis, the module considers a variety of different representations of the city and critically examines the divergent ways in which they understand the specificity of urban experience itself.
• Work Placement in Cultural Institutions: This module aims to enable you to gain first-hand experience of working within a context relevant to their career objectives; to enhance the opportunities for translating theoretical and practical knowledge into professional skills and to encourage you to make beneficial connections within a professional context.
• Art Institutions and Contemporary Culture: This module examines how leading art museums and galleries define their roles and priorities within the contemporary art world. The module examines how different approaches to collecting and exhibiting art reflects an institution’s priorities and ideologies.

Entry Requirements

• A minimum of a lower second class honours degree (2:2) in a relevant discipline, including arts and humanities, fine arts and performing arts, as well as some social science subjects.
• Relevant work experience might also be taken into consideration, especially in the case of applicants who don’t meet the standard entry criteria.
• Applicants may be asked to respond to a specific article.
• If your first language is not English you should have an IELTS 6.5 with at least 6.0 in all components.

Fees and Funding

• UK tuition fee: £9,700 (Price per academic year)
• International tuition fee: £17,500 (Price per academic year)
• Alumni discount: This course is eligible for an alumni discount.
• Funding: There is a range of funding available that may help you fund your studies, including Student Finance England (SFE).
• Scholarships: The University is dedicated to supporting ambitious and outstanding students and we offer a variety of scholarships to eligible postgraduate students.

Research Groups

• Institute for Modern and Contemporary Culture

Supporting You

• Study support: workshops, 1-2-1 support and online resources to help improve your academic and research skills
• Personal tutors: support you in fulfilling your academic and personal potential
• Student advice team: provide specialist advice on a range of issues including funding, benefits and visas
• Extra-curricular activities: volunteering opportunities, sports and fitness activities, student events and more

Course Location

• Our Regent Campus is composed of three sites, situated on and around Regent Street – one of the most famous and vibrant streets in London.
• Our Humanities subjects are based at 309 Regent Street, which includes recently refurbished social spaces, gym facilities and our Regent Street Cinema.