Curating Collections: Critical Approaches

Your Honours degree or equivalent should be in a relevant subject. Ideally, students should have a 2:1 or above in their first degree. We will consider students with a 2:2, but the programme is not recommended for those with a low or borderline 2:2 (or equivalent) in their first degree.

English language requirements

If English is not your first language you must have one of the following qualifications as evidence of your English language skills:

• IELTS Academic or UKVI 6.0 with a minimum of 5.5 in each sub-skill.
• Pearson Test of English (Academic) 60 overall with a minimum of 59 in each sub-skill.
• IBT TOEFL 78 overall with a minimum of 17 in listening, 18 in reading, 20 in speaking and 17 in writing.

This module will enable you to:

1. Demonstrate familiarity with aspects of the history, theory, and practice of curating collections.
2. Understand that curating and collecting shapes how people relate to objects and invest them with significance, meaning, and value.
3. Apply comparative insight from exploring different institutional, disciplinary and regional settings to critically interrogate philosophies and procedures of curating collections in museums and heritage.
4. Offer an informed response to the future of curating collections by evaluating how these practices can adapt and contribute to addressing global present-day challenges.
5. Critically analyse the social, economic, political, and cultural ‘work’ of curating collections in past and present-day society.

Each week there will be a thematic seminar that requires reading and preparation (including viewing of recorded content) in advance. With particular attention to contemporary collecting, some of the other indicative topics include contexts for collecting (past and present), infrastructures of collecting, curating profusion, collections beyond museums, and vibrant collections.

The module is delivered through a blend of learning content accessed through the University Portal and in-person seminars on campus. Seminars will use small-group discussions, guest speakers, and are enhanced through a field trip. The module will be assessed by means of a 20% recorded presentation on contemporary collecting and an 80% written report based on your own ‘micro-collection’.

Assessments evaluate knowledge of key concepts, inclusion and use of critical scholarship, and construction of arguments, amongst other skills.

Jennie Morgan

The module is designed to promote a critical understanding of the role of curating collections in the past and present. It will enhance knowledge and skills for employability in museum, heritage and related sectors by equipping students to consider the role of curating collections in responding to diverse global challenges, from community building and inclusion to decolonisation and sustainability.