Program Overview

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BA (Hons) Curating

Overview

This degree will advance your knowledge of contemporary art and nurture your skills for a career in curating and curatorial practice.

Why study BA Curating at Goldsmiths

• The degree will support you in developing a wide set of curatorial skills. Over three years you will work on a variety of assignments, closely mentored by course staff and practising curators. This will encourage you to become a more critical thinker and confident researcher, able to shape your curatorial projects successfully and communicate your work to a wide variety of audiences.
• Alongside compulsory modules on the history, theory and practice of curating, you will be able to choose from option modules in areas such art history, fashion, technology and performance, allowing you to focus your interests and get the most out of your degree. You will gain a good understanding of both the history of art and the history of exhibitions, learning how curatorial work shapes our understanding of visual culture.
• You'll become familiar with the dynamics of different professional settings – from large museums to volunteer-run organisations and digital spaces – through visits and on-site project experience.
• A core component of the course is a placement within an arts organisation during the second year. In the past, students have worked with the Wellcome Collection, Whitechapel Gallery, Sir John Soane’s Museum, Cubitt Artists, Women’s Art Library, Bethlem Gallery, The Showroom, Gasworks, Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA), Queens Museum (NY) and Goldsmiths Centre for Contemporary Art.
• In your third year, you'll work collaboratively with peers to organise a public exhibition with partner institutions, which will further develop your skills in planning, programming and publicising exhibitions and events.

Entry Requirements

• A-level: BBB
• BTEC: DDM
• IB: 33 points overall with Three HL subjects at 655
• UAL Extended Diploma: Merit overall
• Access: Pass with 45 Level 3 credits including 30 Distinctions and a number of merits/passes in subject-specific modules
• Scottish qualifications: BBBBC (Higher) or BBC (Advanced Higher)
• European Baccalaureate: 75%
• Irish Leaving Certificate: H2 H2 H2 H2

Alternative Qualifications and Experience

We welcome students with a range of educational experiences. If you believe you may not meet the standard qualification requirements we would still encourage you to apply because we consider all aspects of your application when making a decision.

International Qualifications

We also accept a wide range of international qualifications. Find out more about the qualifications we accept from around the world.

Fees and Funding

• Home - full-time: £9535
• International - full-time: £21200

What You'll Study

Year 1

• Compulsory modules:
  • Modernities (30 credits)
  • Curating and the Public Sphere (30 credits)
  • Seeing and Showing (30 credits)
  • Space and Time (30 credits)

Year 2

• Compulsory modules:
  • Curating, Education, and Research (60 credits)
  • Museums, Galleries, Exhibitions: Unpacking the Field (30 credits)
  • The Goldsmiths Elective (15 credits)
• Optional modules:
  • One optional module of 15 credits. This can either be the Goldsmiths Project Module or a 15-credit module from a list provided annually by the Department of Visual Cultures.

Year 3

• Compulsory modules:
  • Expanded Practices in Visual Cultures (60 credits)
• Optional modules:
  • 60 credits worth of optional modules from a list made available annually by the department.

Teaching Style

This programme is taught through scheduled learning – for example, through a mixture of lectures and seminars. You’ll also be expected to undertake a significant amount of independent study. This includes carrying out required and additional reading, preparing topics for discussion, and producing essays or project work.

Assessment

You’ll be assessed mostly through coursework. Normally this consists of essays, sometimes accompanied by creative projects, group projects, multi-media projects, presentations, symposia, reviews, and studio work.

Credits and Levels of Learning

An undergraduate honours degree is made up of 360 credits – 120 at Level 4, 120 at Level 5 and 120 at Level 6. If you are a full-time student, you will usually take Level 4 modules in the first year, Level 5 in the second, and Level 6 modules in your final year.

Careers

BA Curating is a great platform from which to launch a career in the cultural sector. The degree will prepare you for life after university, ensuring you graduate with the ability and confidence to forge a successful career. Graduates are well placed to pursue careers in:

• Galleries and museums – for example as curators
• The art world – for example as artists, art historians or theoreticians
• The cultural sector more widely
• Journalism and the media
• Teaching and research
• The commercial world

Skills

Through practical assignments and industry experience, students on the BA Curating degree will develop a number of attributes and skills that will prepare them to work in the cultural sector and beyond.

• Knowledge of contemporary art and culture
• The motivation and agile thinking required to get new projects off the ground
• Project management skills, including making things happen with small budgets and to tight deadlines
• Planning, programming and publicising exhibitions and events
• The ability to collaborate and forge strong working relationships with others
• The ability to communicate your work through presentations, digital platforms, and in writing
• A critical understanding of the opportunities and challenges of the cultural sector
• Strong research skills
• Critical thinking skills
• Creative thinking
• Resilience and resourcefulness
• The ability to question existing ideas and concepts
• A commitment to ethical and sustainable ways of living and working, to social justice and racial equity

Staff

• Dr Janna Graham - Senior Lecturer in Curating, Programme Leader BA in Curating
• Dr Lenka Vráblíková - Lecturer in Fine Art, Critical Studies
• Dr Alice Andrews
• Dr Yaiza Hernández Velázquez
• Dr Adnan Madani
• Dr Emily Rosamond
• Professor Irit Rogoff
• Dr Nicole Wolf

Student Work

• 'Model for a Virtual Exhibition', Palina Shturma (2020)
• 'Viva Las Projectionistas: ARLIS celebrates women's art through slides', Agata Hosnova and Marie Kordova (2019)
• 'Mapping Well/Being', Anika Tabachnick for the Ableism Research Group in collaboration with the Visual Cultures Society (2020)