Museum Studies (Taught)

This Masters offers you the opportunity to develop the knowledge, understanding and skills required to become a versatile museum professional. The programme draws on staff research and expertise in museums, archives, libraries, galleries and digital cultural heritage. Co-taught with cultural heritage professionals, including staff from The Hunterian Museum, Glasgow Museums, the National Library of Scotland, the programme combines interdisciplinary academic and practitioner input. Glasgow’s national, civic and university museum collections provide students with privileged access to rich and diverse resources of international standing.

WHY THIS PROGRAMME

• We are the only Museum Studies programme in the UK accredited by CILIP, the Library and Information Association.

• Opportunities for shorter postgraduate programmes focusing on key professional skills through PGDip and PGCert

• Glasgow’s civic and university collections are some of the richest and most diverse in Europe and are of international standing. The University’s own Hunterian Museum is the oldest public museum in Scotland and has extensive holdings covering fine art, geology, anatomy and the history of medicine.

• You’ll be able to choose from a range of courses involving staff from The Hunterian, Glasgow Museums and the National Library of Scotland, giving you a strong insight into professional and practical issues in the museum and cultural sector.

• Our facilities at Kelvin Hall provide opportunities for developing professional skills including collection management, object-handling, interpretation and public engagement.

• Our partnerships with local and international museums and heritage organisations, including Museums Galleries Scotland and the Smithsonian, provide great opportunities to gain practical experience, including work placements.

• Shared teaching with our sister programme MSc Information Management and Preservation provides students with a broad overview of the cultural heritage sector.

• The Museum Studies Teaching Team have been awarded a College Teaching Excellence Award.

• Teaching methods include lectures, seminars, guest speakers, workshops, individual and group project work. A series of visits provides complementary experience of varied museum institutions and collections, while placements and group project-based learning activities offer opportunities for professional skills development.

• Meet our MuSEs: Learn how our students gain skills in exhibition tours while working alongside curators, technicians and front of house staff at the Hunterian.

• Listen to our podcast: Stories from Glasgow – Tracing Glasgow's Imperial Past with Dr Rosie Spooner.

PROGRAMME STRUCTURE
MSc: You will take 4 core courses, one recommended course and one optional course. You will also complete a dissertation.

PgDip: You will take 3 core courses, one recommended course and two optional courses.

Semester 1
Core Courses
Introduction to Museology
Museum Skills and Professional Practice
Managing and Using Collections

Semester 2
Core Course (MSc only)
Research Design and Methods in Information Studies

Recommended Courses
Exhibition Development (The Hunterian)
Museum Studies Work Placement
Learning and Engagement in Cultural Heritage

It may be possible to take an additional optional course in place of one of the recommended courses in consultation with the Programme Convenor and subject to availability.

Optional Courses
2D Digitisation: Theory & Practice (PGT)
Empire and its Legacies in Memory Institutions
Curating the Sciences
Digital Cultural Heritage

Alternatively, you may choose one of your elective options from any appropriate course (level 5) offered by the College of Arts & Humanities, subject to availability. Please note that not all optional courses may be available every year.

Summer
MSc students will undertake either:

Museum Studies Dissertation
Museum Studies Applied Dissertation