Postgraduate Taught Degrees

The one-year course provides students with detailed knowledge of the visual arts, contemporary and historical, of the three geographical areas (Africa, Oceania and the Americas). It also highlights the methodological and theoretical issues involved in their analysis and display, both in their original contexts and in the contexts of museums and exhibitions.

Consideration of this material occurs at the interface of anthropology, art history, archaeology and museology. The MA course is therefore essentially cross-disciplinary to frame regional developments and important shared themes (e.g., traditions in art and architecture, making, ritual, social/power relations, colonialism, contemporary arts). Throughout the programme, there is a strong emphasis on comparison and examination of current theory, while highlighting the complexity of each area.

The flexible range of topics for essays and the dissertation, and a research tutorial option, allows the course to be tailored to a student's interests. Thus someone wishing to focus, for example, on the anthropology of art, archaeology, or Mesoamerica can weight the course in that direction by selecting essay subjects in that area. Working closely with academic staff, the dissertation (max. 15,000 words) also allows students to study intensively a topic of their choice, possibly as a precursor to doctoral research. Places on the course are restricted to a maximum of eight, allowing an unusually high degree of regular individual supervision and small-group tuition.

Course structure

The programme consists of three taught regional units (30 credits each), tuition leading up to a timed essay (10 credits) and the dissertation (80 credits). A student wishing to conduct advanced pre-PhD study can substitute one of the regional units with a research tutorial option (30 credits), on a specific theme approved by staff.

Taught units 

Over the fall and spring terms, academic staff present a series of weekly lecture-discussions. The sessions, besides providing students with a survey of each area's visual arts, also introduce the main methodological and theoretical issues raised in the area literature, and develop the background against which coursework by students will be delivered. For each of the three units, the student produces two essays: a research seminar and a gallery talk (on a Sainsbury Collection object). Practical instruction is provided in presentation and teaching techniques, so that students become experienced in presenting written and visual material to an academic audience.

Series on museums and material culture 

In addition to the regional units, the MA course also provides instruction on diverse topics broadly centred on material culture and museums: display(s), anthropology of art, style, value systems, looting and cultural property, the history of collections, authenticity, the art market, and the Sainsbury Collection. These directions are enhanced by guided visits to museums (e.g., London, Paris, Cambridge, Oxford) and, where feasible, to temporary displays and auctions of ethnographic materials. These sessions culminate with a timed essay assessment but they are also to help develop other work (essays, dissertation).

Supplementary sessions

Strong emphasis is placed on the development of skills and training through special interactive sessions on: research techniques, library use, bibliographic research, object handling and conservation, computing, work presentation, editing, design and other professional matters. In addition, students are encouraged to attend lectures and seminars, in programmes organised by the School, SRU and the Sainsbury Centre.

For additional information, please consult the SRU website or contact the SRU academic secretary (admin.sru@uea.ac.uk), or by telephone +44-(0)1603-592498.

Course Organiser:Dr. George Lau

Our teaching received a 96% satisfaction rate in both the 2012 National Student Survey and the 2013 Guardian University Guide league table.

Our students are able to study a wider range of artistic cultures, periods and forms than in any other art history department in the UK. The School is particularly renowned for its broad approach to art, encompassing ancient, medieval, Renaissance, baroque, modern and contemporary European art, American art, African art, Asian art and Pacific art. Staff, students and researchers in the School are interested in the history of art, as well as archaeology, anthropology, cultural heritage, and museum studies.We engage with all forms of visual and material creativity from oil painting, sculpture and drawing through to architecture, photography, video and installation art. We teach small groups of students in a friendly, supportive and open environment, supported by great facilities. This is why the Guardian University Guide consistently ranks us among the top departments in the UK for student satisfaction with teaching and feedback, for staff-student ratio and for the quality of student resources.

The School has a long-standing international reputation for excellence; ranked 1st in the UK for world-leading research in the latest Research Assessment Exercise, we are one of the most important and highly-rated History of Art departments in the UK. Our graduates go on to high profile posts in such prestigious institutions as the British Museum, V&A, Tate and Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, as well as leading History of Art departments, publishers and the commercial art world.

The School of Art History and World Art Studies is based in Norman Foster’s world-famous Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, an icon of modern design, which contains an astounding art collection with major internationally-renowned works by artists such as Francis Bacon, Edgar Degas, Jacob Epstein, Henry Moore and Pablo Picasso. Students work in close proximity to this collection, “perhaps the greatest resource of its type on any British campus” according to the Times Good University Guide.

• 95% of our History of Art graduates (and 88% of the School’s BA graduates overall) go on to work and/or postgraduate study within 6 months of graduating. We are therefore the highest-rated department in England (and joint first in the UK) for History of Art graduate prospects
• 100% of our History of Art graduates (and 97% of the School’s BA graduates overall) said they thought staff had made the subject interesting. This figure was matched by just one other History of Art department in England
• Almost 90% of the School’s BA graduates said that they had received the advice and support they needed to do well in their studies, a figure exceeded by just two other History of Art departments in the UK. This is probably because – as the survey reveals – our students get more lectures, seminars, tutorials and general contact time with academic staff than students at many other leading History of Art departments in the UK
• 96% of our History of Art graduates said they had been provided with the IT resources they needed for their studies, a figure matched by just one other History of Art department in the UK
• Finally, 94% of the School’s BA graduates overall said they were highly satisfied with the quality of their degree course, continuing our tradition of providing a first-class university education in History of Art as well as Archaeology, Anthropology, and Museum and Gallery Studies.

Disclaimer

Whilst the University will make every effort to offer the modules listed, changes may sometimes be made arising from the annual monitoring, review and update of modules and regular (five-yearly) review of course programmes. Where this activity leads to significant (but not minor) changes to programmes and their constituent modules, there will normally be prior consultation of students and others. It is also possible that the University may not be able to offer a module for reasons outside of its control, such as the illness of a member of staff or sabbatical leave. Where this is the case, the University will endeavour to inform students.

Entry Requirements

Degree Subject:

Humanities or Social Sciences

Degree Classification:

UK BA (Hons) 2.1 or equivalent

Students for whom English is a Foreign language

Interviews

Interviews are required for students applying to the MA in The Arts of Africa, Oceania and the Americas. If you are living overseas, this may be undertaken by telephone at a mutually convenient time.

Intakes

The School's annual intake is in September of each year.

Assessment

All applications for postgraduate study are processed through the Admissions Office and then forwarded to the relevant School of Study for consideration. If you are currently completing your first degree or have not yet taken a required English language test, any offer of a place will be conditional upon you achieving this before you arrive.

Fees and Funding

Tuition fees

Tuition fees for Postgraduate students for the academic year 2013/14 are £5,000 for Home/EU students and £12,500 for International Students.

If you choose to study part-time, the fee per annum will be half the annual fee for that year, or a pro-rata fee for the module credit you are taking (only available for Home/EU students).

We estimate living expenses at £600-£650 per month.

Scholarships and Awards:

There are a variety of scholarships, studentships and other awards available to those applying for places on our taught postgraduate degrees.

Click on the link below to see what is currently available.

Funding for Masters Degrees and Diplomas

Applications for Postgraduate Taught programmes at the University of East Anglia should be made directly to the University.

You can apply online, or by downloading the application form.

Further Information

To request further information & to be kept up to date with news & events please use our online enquiry form.

If you would like to discuss your individual circumstances prior to applying please do contact us:

Postgraduate Admissions Office
Tel: +44 (0)1603 591515
Email: admissions@uea.ac.uk

International candidates are also encouraged to access the International Students section of our website.