About Public History and Heritage, MA - at Swansea University
The MA in Public History and Heritage is a flexible programme designed to offer academic training, for those interested in research careers, and the relevant employability skills needed for the heritage sector.
A range of stimulating modules cover topics such as museum studies, conflict heritage, Egyptology, ancient civilisations, medieval studies, and contemporary history.
Throughout your studies, you are encouraged to build your analytical and methodological awareness of key concepts, and approaches to communicating the past to different public audiences. You will also learn more about the history of heritage, and the lively role of public history and heritage within global debates.
You will draw on the expertise of internationally recognised scholars and gain practical, hands-on experience through a work placement programme. The organisations we work with include the National Trust, Cadw, the Canal and River Trust, and museums, archives, and galleries across South Wales. You could also work with charities, local heritage projects, and research institutions.
In the second part of the course, you have the choice of completing a 60-credit practice-based dissertation project or a 60-credit written dissertation project.
Why Public History and Heritage at Swansea?
Swansea University will connect you with respected external heritage organisations, allowing you to gain practical experience throughout your studies.
You will study on our stunning Singleton Park campus, in parkland overlooking Swansea Bay on the edge of the Gower Peninsula. The campus has a botanical garden and several historic buildings including Singleton Abbey, a Grade II 19th century mansion. The programme works closely with the University’s archives and collections including the world-renowned Egypt Centre, the South Wales Miners’ Library, the University art collections, and the Richard Burton Archives.
The programme is delivered within the School of Culture and Communication, home to the Graduate Centre which is designed to promote individual and collaborative research activity of an international standard, providing a supportive environment for students pursuing postgraduate research and taught master’s study.
We also offer postgraduate training to enhance academic and professional development, and facilitate seminar programmes, workshops, and international conferences through our research centres; CHART (the Centre for Heritage Research and Training), OLCAP (the Research Group for Object and Landscape Centred Approaches to the Past), and KYKNOS (the Centre for Research on the Narrative Literatures of the Ancient World).
You’ll be joining a leading department, with renowned research and expertise:
- 100% of our research impact is rated as world-leading or internationally excellent (REF 2021)
Your Public History and Heritage Experience
This programme is designed to offer flexibility for you to select modules around your interests and future goals.
A key aspect of the programme is the opportunity for you to engage with external heritage organisations and staff projects in heritage and public history.
If you have heritage and material culture interests, you can undertake modules such as ‘Understanding GLAM: Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums’ and ‘Debates and Approaches in Public History and Heritage’. If you have historical interests, you can undertake modules such as ‘Heritage and Conflict’, ‘Radical Histories’ and ‘Transformations in 20th C Wales.’ You will also be able to pursue the study of medieval manuscripts and ancient landscapes as part of the programme.
The modules offered develop skills that build towards the dissertation that you will write under the direction of a specialist supervisor.
The full-time course structure is split across the year with three modules offered in each academic semester, and a choice of a standard written dissertation or a practice-based dissertation completed over the summer.
If you study the course part-time, one compulsory and two optional modules are usually taken in the first and second years, with a dissertation also completed over the summer of the second year.
There is also an option to take an extended MA with a semester spent studying abroad, as the Extended MA is delivered in partnership with Appalachian State University.
Your study resources will include a main library that is particularly well stocked with heritage and public history sources, archaeological, tourism and management, sociology, politics, and relevant historical scholarship. Library collections include a wide range of general and specialist periodicals, and an increasing number of specialist digital resources. There is a postgraduate common room and an electronic resources room available in the James Callaghan Building.
You will also have access to the collections and resources in the Egypt Centre and the Richard Burton Archives on campus and benefit from our thriving Taliesin Arts Centre.
Public History and Heritage Employment Opportunities
This course will develop your employability by connecting you with external heritage organisations. You will develop an excellent understanding of different types of careers in the heritage sector and learn to present your ideas in different formats. Strong research, communication, and problem-solving skills will all boost your employment prospects.
