MA The Arts of Africa Oceania and the Americas

Key details

MA THE ARTS OF AFRICA OCEANIA AND THE AMERICAS

Start Year

2020

Attendance

Full Time

Award

Degree of Master of Arts

Duration (years)

This flexible programme offers you a range of topics for your own essay-writing and dissertation. You’ll have the opportunity to take a research tutorial option, allowing the course to be tailored to your interests. Your dissertation also allows you to study a topic of your choice intensively, possibly as a precursor to PhD research.

Our department is one of the leading centres in the world for the study of art and material culture. It’s also the only centre in the UK concerned with the study of art worldwide. In the most recent Research Excellence Framework (REF 2014), UEA was ranked third in the UK for the quality of its research impact in Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory (Times Higher REF 2014 Analysis).

About

On this unique programme you’ll study the historical and contemporary arts of Africa, Oceania and the Americas. You’ll benefit from teaching that emphasises museum anthropology and material culture. At the same time you’ll engage with the issues involved in the analysis and display of these works of art, both in their original contexts and in museums and exhibitions.

This MA is cross-disciplinary. That means you’ll engage with regional developments and shared themes across anthropology, art history, archaeology and museology. Throughout the programme you’ll encounter contemporary theories and current methods of research.

You’ll also have the opportunity to study the world-famous collection of art held in the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, itself a celebrated icon of modern museum architecture. UEA’s Art History department is a world-leading art history department.

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At A Crossroads

Since 2011, researchers from UEA’s Sainsbury Research Unit have been conducting yearly archaeological field trips to the banks of the Niger River in northern Benin, West Africa, as part of the Crossroads of Empires research project.

Medieval Parish Churches of Norwich

Fifty-eight parish churches are known to have stood within the walls of medieval Norwich. Despite damage and loss, thirty-one remain today, which is the largest concentration of urban medieval churches north of the Alps.

Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts

The Sainsbury Centre is one of the most prominent university art galleries in Britain, and a major national centre for the study and presentation of art.

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Important Information

Whilst the University will make every effort to offer the courses listed, changes may sometimes be made arising from the regular review of course programmes. Where this activity leads to significant (but not minor) changes to programmes, there will normally be prior consultation of students and others. Changes may for example consist of variations to the content and method of delivery of programmes, courses and other services, to discontinue programmes, courses and other services and to merge or combine programmes or courses. The University will endeavour to keep such changes to a minimum, and will inform students.

Assessment for Year 1

You’ll be assessed across eight separate elements. These include, three short written presentations on an object or set of related objects in The Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, three longer written presentations on each of the three regions, a 72-hour timed essay on a general museology theme, and your dissertation.

Your dissertation will be a significant effort of independent, supervised, research. It will represent the culmination of your programme of study.

Structure

Your programme will consist of two main strands; three region-focused modules and the Core Course.

Your Core Course runs across your Autumn and Spring semesters, leading up to a museology timed essay and your dissertation. This is complemented by your region-focused modules, The Arts and Archaeology of Africa, The Arts of Oceania, and The Arts of the Americas.

In your Autumn Core Course, you’ll examine key topics and contexts regarding theoretical and methodological approaches to the study of art and material culture. You’ll focus on assembling, organising, documenting, disseminating and analysing collections.

Then in your Spring Core Course, you’ll delve deeper into these theoretical and methodological approaches. You’ll place special emphasis on curating collections, conceptualising exhibitions, and conservation. You’ll also become fluent in key concepts of agency, sociality, materiality, heritage, past, style, and analogy.

During your autumn and spring semesters you’ll go on several stimulating study visits to museums in the United Kingdom and France. These visits are an intensive learning experience, in which you’ll discuss and debate theoretical and practical aspects of museology in situ. You’ll also gain in-depth knowledge of museum exhibitions and develop your critical reasoning.

From early May to late July you’ll dedicate your time exclusively to the readings and research that will lead to your dissertation. Your dissertation is your opportunity to delve deeper still into the area or question which interests you most. You’ll complete a unique and substantial piece of research, supervised by two Sainsbury Research Unit (SRU) faculty members.

Teaching and Learning

Places on this course are restricted to a maximum of ten. As a result, you’ll benefit from an unusually high degree of regular individual supervision and tutorials.

Over the autumn and spring semesters you’ll attend a series of weekly lecture-discussions. You’ll cover Africa, Oceania and The Americas in three distinct modules. This is where you’ll develop the background against which you will write your pieces of coursework.

In addition to the three regional units, you’ll also cover diverse topics, broadly centred on material culture and museums. These will include display, the anthropology of art, style, value systems, looting and cultural property, the history of collections, authenticity, and the art market.

As well as having access to the Sainsbury Art Collection, you’ll travel to museums for guided study visits. When possible, these will also include temporary displays and auctions of ethnographic materials.

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Entry Requirements

Degree classification

UK BA (Hons) 2.1 or equivalent

Degree subject

Humanities or Social Sciences

Students for whom english is a foreign language

We welcome applications from students whose first language is not English. To ensure such students benefit from postgraduate study, we require evidence of proficiency in English. Our usual entry requirements are as follows:

IELTS: 6.5 (minimum 5.5 in all components)
PTE (Pearson): 58 (minimum 42 in all components)

Test dates should be within two years of the course start date.

Other tests, including Cambridge English exams and the Trinity Integrated Skills in English are also accepted by the university. The full list of accepted tests can be found here: Accepted English Language Tests

INTO UEA also run pre-sessional courses which can be taken prior to the start of your course. For further information and to see if you qualify please contact intopre-sessional@uea.ac.uk

Interviews

Interviews are required for students applying to the MA in The Arts of Africa, Oceania and the Americas. If you are living overseas, these may be undertaken by telephone/Skype at a mutually convenient time. Please note that applicants who have not yet met the English Language requirement will still be expected to conduct an interview in English.

Intakes

This course is open to UK, EU and International applicants. This course's annual intake is in September of each year.

Admissions Live Chat

At A Crossroads

Medieval Parish Churches of Norwich

Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts

The Sainsbury Centre is one of the most prominent university art galleries in Britain, and a major national centre for the study and presentation of art.

LEARN MORE >

Course Reference Number: 664238

Art, Media and American Studies

MA THE ARTS OF AFRICA OCEANIA AND THE AMERICAS

Key details

Year of Entry:

Attendance

Full Time

Award

Degree of Master of Arts

Duration (years)

Important Information

On this unique programme you’ll study the historical and contemporary arts of Africa, Oceania and the Americas. You’ll benefit from teaching that emphasises museum anthropology and material culture. At the same time you’ll engage with the issues involved in the analysis and display of these works of art, both in their original contexts and in museums and exhibitions. This MA is cross-disciplinary. That means you’ll engage with regional developments and shared themes across anthropology, art history, archaeology and museology. Throughout the programme you’ll encounter contemporary theories and current methods of research. You’ll also have the opportunity to study the world-famous collection of art held in the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, itself a celebrated icon of modern museum architecture. UEA’s Art History department is a world-leading art history department.

Admissions Live Chat

At A Crossroads

Medieval Parish Churches of Norwich

Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts

The Sainsbury Centre is one of the most prominent university art galleries in Britain, and a major national centre for the study and presentation of art.

LEARN MORE >

MA THE ARTS OF AFRICA OCEANIA AND THE AMERICAS