Museum, Gallery and Heritage Studies, MPhil, PhD

Newcastle University, the United Kingdom

Study options for this course

The award	How you will study	Study duration	Course start	Domestic course fees	International course fees
MPhil, PhD	Full-time, Part-time	12 - 72 months	find out	find out	find out

About Museum, Gallery and Heritage Studies, MPhil, PhD - at Newcastle University

This programme enables you to carry out an original piece of research in museum, gallery and heritage studies. As a research student you will join an interdisciplinary group of researchers and academics at the International Centre for Cultural and Heritage Studies, fully supported by world expert supervisors.

MPhil and PhD students in Museum, Gallery and Heritage Studies are based in the International Centre for Cultural and Heritage Studies (ICCHS), a leading academic centre for research and teaching at Newcastle.

ICCHS is internationally renowned for its research, securing significant support (around £3m since 2008) from a variety of funders, such as the UK Research Councils and the European Commission. We have a thriving, high-profile interdisciplinary research community made up of postgraduate research students and experienced academic researchers who are key figures in their fields.

Our academic supervisors have significant experience and expertise in interdisciplinary research and practice in the UK and abroad. Through our emphasis on empirical research and having a grounding in professional practice, our research alumni have been successful in securing careers in academia, governmental organisations, and the cultural and creative industry sectors worldwide.

Our research students pursue a variety of topics that explore both historical and contemporary issues with local, national and international dimensions. They have also consistently achieved high submission and completion rates in their chosen programme of study. Recent student research topics in ICCHS include:

attitudes towards human remains
constructions and uses of Welsh identity in American museums
the social roles and regulation of art museum education in China and Taiwan
the management and interpretation of archaeological sites in Turkey
meaning making around historic photographic collections on Flickr.

Key research themes

Our key research themes are:

Cultural politics and policy

factors that determine how cultural policy is constructed, institutionally, locally, regionally, nationally and internationally
how management strategies affect heritage resources
the impact of large-scale constitutional change upon cultural policy
intended and unintended consequences of implementing international conventions, charters and instruments
contribution of research to cultural policy construction
the intersection of political movements and agendas with heritage
definitions and attributed values of heritage.

Identity, community and place

construction and representation of identities, places and communities through heritage
how heritage is used by, and for, communities
relationships between notions of place and identities, communities, and heritages locally regionally, nationally and internationally
principles of community museology and ecomuseology practice in different contexts
relationships between heritage tourism and identities, communities and places
identities produced through the consumption of heritage
relationship between identity construction and wellbeing.

Media and representation

how media works in heritage organisations and how organisations work as media
factors shaping the production, morphology and consumption of media and media representations in heritage organisations
representations made possible through institutional technologies specific to heritage organisations and how they are analysed to understand culture, society and knowledge
study and design of digital heritage applications and digital cultural engagement

Delivery

Attendance on this programme is flexible and agreed between you and your supervisors depending on the requirements of your research project. The main focus of the programme is a piece of independent research carried out by you with the support of your supervisory team.

You will also undertake research methods training and be encouraged to participate in our research activities. You will be able to carry out fieldwork away from Newcastle, in other UK locations or abroad.

Facilities

As a research student in ICCHS, you will have access to a dedicated study space with networked PCs, printing and photocopying facilities. You can also use the ICCHS common room and kitchen to meet with fellow researchers and academics.

The ICCHS facilities complement the variety of study and research facilities available at Newcastle for all students, plus the extensive cultural resources available on campus and in the city:

our libraries
the Great North Museum: Hancock, located on campus, houses the collections that previously made up the Hancock Museum, the Shefton Museum of Greek Art and Archaeology (an internationally-renowned collection of over 1,000 Greek and Etruscan artefacts), and the Museum of Antiquities
the Hatton Gallery, located on campus, has been at the heart of cultural life in the North East since the early 20th century
the Language Resource Centre, a specialist language facility providing free access to self-study materials in 50 languages
computing facilities with access to relevant databases and over 1,400 fully networked PCs
the Gertrude Bell Archive
non-campus facilities, often used for student projects, include Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums and the Victoria Tunnel.

In addition, the city of Newcastle and the wider region offers a wonderful resource with two World Heritage Sites, and over 80 regional museums and galleries. Much of the region's countryside is designated as National Park or Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Notes about fees for this course

See Fees and Funding tab in the Programme information in our online Prospectus. https://www.ncl.ac.uk/postgraduate/courses/degrees/museum-gallery-heritage-studies-mphil-phd/?utm_source=referral-study-link&utm_medium=course-listing&utm_content=museum-gallery-heritage-studies-mphil-phd&utm_campaign=PG3PL-study-link#fees&funding

Entry requirements

A 2:1 honours degree and preferably a merit master's degree, or an international equivalent. We may ask you to attend an interview either in person, via telephone or Skype.

International Students

To study this course you need to meet our Band 7 English Language requirements:

Direct Entry: IELTS 6.5 overall (with a minimum of 6.0 in all sub-skills)

If you have lower English Language scores, you may be accepted onto a pre-sessional English course.

Our typical English Language requirements are listed as IELTS scores but we also accept a wide range of English Language tests.

The equivalent academic qualifications that we accept are listed on our country pages.

Pre-sessional English Course Requirements

6 week Pre-sessional entry: IELTS 6.0 overall (with 6.5 in writing and a minimum of 5.5 in all other sub-skills)
10 week Pre-sessional entry: IELTS 6.0 overall (with 6.0 in writing and a minimum of 5.5 in all other sub-skills)

You can study a pre-sessional English course at our INTO Newcastle Centre.

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Museum, Gallery and Heritage Studies, MPhil, PhD

Study options for this course

About Museum, Gallery and Heritage Studies, MPhil, PhD - at Newcastle University

Notes about fees for this course

Entry requirements

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Postgraduate pathways and pre-masters at other institutions

Other courses at Newcastle University

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