Program Overview

MA History of Art (Art Curating)

The MA History of Art (Art Curating) program at the University of York is designed to equip students with the practical skills needed to succeed in the field of art curating. This one-year full-time or two-year part-time program allows students to explore the power of curating and sharpen their skills for the job market.

Overview

The program is offered by the Department of History of Art and is available for students to start in September 2026. The program is taught through a combination of lectures, seminars, and one-to-one meetings with lecturers or supervisors.

Course Content

The program consists of a core module, Research Skills in History of Art, and a dissertation. Students will also choose four option modules, two of which must be from the curating list. The option modules available include:

• JMW Turner
• Ceramic Arts of the Islamic World: Curating Histories
• Who Owns Antiquities? The Politics of Museology and Archaeology
• American Carnage: Politics, violence and Subjectivity in Art, 1990-Now
• Art and Imagery in York Minster
• South Asian Renaissance: Early Modern Indian Court Painting
• Makers, Making, and Modes of Fashion Production since 1765
• Art, Magic and the Miraculous in Renaissance Italy
• Painting on Light: Stained Glass in the Medieval Tradition
• Rethinking Aestheticism
• The Modern Woman: Fashion and Global Modernities

Fees and Funding

The annual tuition fees for the program are:

• £12,000 for UK (home) students (full-time)
• £26,900 for international and EU students (full-time)
• £6,000 for UK (home) students (part-time)
• £13,450 for international and EU students (part-time)

Teaching and Assessment

The program is taught through a combination of lectures, seminars, and one-to-one meetings with lecturers or supervisors. Students will be assessed through a 4,000-word essay per option module and a dissertation portfolio.

Careers and Skills

The program is designed to equip students with the skills needed to succeed in a range of careers, including curator, collections manager, exhibition designer, art consultant, gallery manager, auction house specialist, provenance researcher, university lecturer, arts program coordinator, and editor and publisher.

Entry Requirements

The typical offer for the program is a 2:2 or equivalent undergraduate degree. English language requirements include:

• IELTS (Academic and Indicator): 6.5, minimum 6.0 in each component
• Cambridge CEFR: B2 First: 176, with 169 in each component
• Oxford ELLT: 7, minimum of 6 in each component
• Oxford Test of English Advanced: 136, minimum 126 in each component
• Duolingo: 120, minimum 105 in all other components
• LanguageCert SELT: B2 with 33/50 in each component
• LanguageCert Academic: 70 with a minimum of 65 in each component
• Kaplan Test of English Language: 478-509, with 444-477 in all other components
• Skills for English: B2: Merit overall, with Pass with Merit in each component
• PTE Academic: 61, minimum 55 in each component
• TOEFL: 87, minimum of 21 in each component
• Trinity ISE III: Merit in all requirements

Learning Outcomes

The program is designed to equip students with a range of skills and knowledge, including:

• Demonstrate in-depth understanding of current research, theoretical approaches, context, sources and advanced scholarship at the forefront of curatorial and art historical studies
• Synthesise information in a sophisticated and mature fashion and critically analyse a wide range of materials by rigorously applying observational, descriptive, analytical and methodological skills
• Formulate independent research questions stemming from the accurate location and evaluation of archival, written, and visual sources and informed by knowledge of scholarly arguments, histories of curating, and relevant disciplinary approaches
• Analyse and critique the assumptions, theoretical principles and the use of evidence employed in present and past scholarship and curatorial projects, and situate them within larger art historical and curatorial dynamics
• Confidently present relevant information and sophisticated arguments verbally and visually to a high professional standard to a range of academic and public audiences
• Initiate, conduct, and take responsibility for independent research projects, drawing on skills honed by graduate-level research training

Research Areas

The program allows students to explore a range of research areas, including:

• Intersections of curating with decolonisation
• The future of “universal” and “encyclopaedic” museums
• Community engagement
• Exhibition and collecting histories
• Auction houses and the antiquities market

Facilities

The program is based at the University of York, which offers a range of facilities, including the Grade II listed Heslington Hall, which provides exhibition and teaching spaces. The University also has an impressive 900+ piece art collection, which students can engage with throughout the program. The Norman Rea Gallery, the only student-run gallery in the UK, provides a platform for local and regional artists and gives students a unique work experience in a contemporary campus-based art gallery.