BA Culture, Criticism and Curation has three distinct stages (years). Each stage consists of three 10-week terms. Knowledge and skills, history and theory are the threads running through the course.

Stage One provides a foundation in the histories and theories of culture from the late 18th century to the present day. It also offers an introduction to skills appropriate for the course including journalistic and academic writing, library research skills, group presentations in collaborative curatorial work, and appropriate digital technologies.

An important function of this stage is to encourage students to begin to research, explore and develop their individual strengths and approaches to their subject interest. Students study together as a whole class and in smaller seminar groups. Working collaboratively is a feature of all three stages of the course, to enhance bonding, trust and teamwork, and to adequately prepare students for the workplace.

Stage Two continues to explore the practices of BA (Honours) Culture, Criticism and Curation; students will also begin to develop a variety of approaches, demanding individual and experimental responses as they work on extended pieces of academic research and writing. Through a combination of seminars, lectures, personal research, independent study and team projects, students will explore the breadth of the subject and develop their individual talents in relation to it. Students have an opportunity to study a chosen subject in depth with students from the final year, and begin work on their dissertation.

Stage 3 is mostly organised in workshop and tutorial formats to support predominantly self-directed student learning. The focus is on the further development of independent working as students undertake their dissertation and final year project. They will also engage in further formal study of a chosen topic and work collaboratively with the whole year group towards the degree show, which is a major opportunity to curate an exhibition. The final year project and the degree show provide opportunities to respond to real project briefs, with the potential of connecting up with cultural and arts organisations.

Personal and professional development activities take place in all three stages of the course and aim to improve your capacity to understand what and how you are learning, and to help you to review, plan and take responsibility for your own learning. A considerable number of the skills learned in the academic context offer students transferable skills that are highly valued by employers.

For more information on the unit structure please consult the programme specifications by following the link below:

External partnerships

Working with cultural organisations on live briefs will give you valuable curatorial and project planning experience. In recent years, students have worked on creative briefs provided by a wide range of organisations, including National Trust, Soane Museum, Zabludowicz Collection and 198 Gallery. Recent projects have been with Paintings in Hospitals and the Foundling Museum.

By responding to live briefs, students gain experience of carrying out curatorial research, developing ways to fund, promote and publicise their project, and planning technical requirements. Project briefs can sometimes result in students’ work being taken forward for production, which can be a valuable first step in working professionally in a chosen discipline.