New MA in Arts Management and Heritage Studies launched

A new MA at the University of Leeds will offer students the opportunity to study Arts Management and Heritage Studies, combining theory and practice to produce highly employable graduates and future researchers and academics.

The MA in Arts Management and Heritage Studies is an exciting, new programme developed by the School of Fine Art, History of Art and Cultural Studies, in collaboration with the School of Performance and Cultural Industries. The School of Performance and Cultural Industries have taught Arts Management for a significant number of years, and this programme has allowed us to combine the University of Leeds expertise in this subject with our significant research and teaching in heritage studies.

This new course aims to investigate the key concepts behind the emerging academic fields of arts management and heritage studies, focusing students on applying academic ideas in the workplace.

Head of the School of Fine Art, History of Art and Cultural Studies, Dr Abigail Harrison Moore, said of the new MA course:

‘Building on the University’s successful MA in Art Gallery and Museum Studies we have created this new MA to offer a different strand to students who specifically want to focus on arts management. As some museums move to the role of ‘manager’ rather than ‘curator’, the programme will ensure that graduates both qualify for and critically analyse such changes in the profession.’

Students on both MA courses become members of the Centre for Critical Studies in Museums, Galleries and Heritage and enjoy the opportunities that membership offers, from networking events and links to alumni, to conferences, seminars and reading groups.

Harrison Moore continued:

‘Our MA programmes benefits from their location at the heart of a city and region that host a very wide range of cultural organisations and events. As this new MA course starts, the two collaborating schools already have excellent partnerships within Leeds and further afield.

‘Our students already work with museums, galleries, heritage organisations, charitable trusts and theatres across Yorkshire, nationally and internationally, and our research and research-led teaching is frequently founded in mutually beneficial cultural collaborations. Students awarded a place on the new MA will be able to gain hands-on access to a wide variety of organisations through placements and project work, and will be encouraged to synthesise their theoretical and professional experience through their dissertation research.

‘As a result of the combination of work experience and critical thinking, our graduates are highly employable, as demonstrated by the success of many of our alumni.’

Applications to the MA in Arts Management and Heritage Studies opened on 1 November. For further details about this new course and the MA Art Gallery and Museum Studies, see the website at the University of Leeds.