Hello my name is Grace and I am a
student in the MA Art History and
Curating programme here at the University
of Birmingham. In this video I'd like to
share a little bit about my programme and
give you insight into what we study so
that you can be more prepared when you
apply. Throughout this video I'm going to
give you an overview of the programme, 
some of the benefits of choosing the
University of Birmingham for your
studies and also some insight into our
curatorial practices module which is one
of the main courses for the programme and
some of the additional modules you'll
get to choose from. So what is the MA Art
History and Curating programme at the
University of Birmingham? Well it's for
people who are interested in pursuing a
career in the museums or public art
sector. If you've ever wondered what it's
like to put together an exhibition and
if you like visiting museums, then this
programme is for you. The MA in Art History
and Curating programme is actually one of
the few programmes in England that offers
students the opportunity to curate an
exhibition in addition to their academic studies.
So this means that you'll get to
work with academics and museum
professionals throughout the programme.
You'll enhance your knowledge in
commercial and academic sectors while
establishing networks across both sides
and you'll gain insight into the
theoretical discourse and practical
experience related to museum and gallery
practice. So this means that you'll get
experience in art interpretation,
different modes of display, the marketing
aspect of curating an exhibition, 
the administration's and finances,
art handling and you'll get experience in
curating historic objects, well
contemporary art works. So what are the
benefits of choosing the University of
Birmingham? Well first the location.
Birmingham is a major metropolitan city
in England. It happens to be the second
most populated city in the country.
This means that we have access to numerous
museums and heritage sites throughout
the city. By entering the University of
Birmingham you'll also take part in an
active and engaging academic community
of postgraduate students. We are a
lively and supportive group. Everyone is
excited to learn and excited to
encourage you to learn your subject as
well. Because the University only accepts
about 20 students in our programme each
year this facilitates a small learning
size which means that every student gets
to have access to professors and
receives individual attention. 
And this is great,
especially when you're doing your
dissertation where you'll need more
one-on-one support. A third benefit of
the programme is that you'll get to
strengthen your employability skills.
You'll gain curatorial experience
alongside your academic programme and
you'll also have opportunities to do
placements throughout the region with
museums or galleries in Birmingham.
So places such as the Birmingham museums
trust, the icon gallery which is a
contemporary gallery in Birmingham and
also regional museums such as the Walsall
new art gallery or the Wolverhampton
Art Gallery. In addition the University
has its careers Network which offers
career support to students throughout
the programme and up to two years after
graduation. So if you still need help
with your CV, if you want to practice
your interview skills or if you would
like to gain insight into jobs that are
available in the area, the careers
network is there to help you. The fourth
benefit of the programme is that we have
numerous extracurricular activities for
students to participate in such as the
Golovine which is our departments
journal where you can write and publish
your work and also the art histories
official department blog. We have
volunteer opportunities throughout the
city at local museums but also at our
campuses own Barber Institute of Fine
Arts where you can gain insight into
public programmes or the marketing. 
The University has over 250 societies
including our postgraduate and mature
Students Association ensuring there is
something for everyone to find. 
And finally we have many campus events
throughout the year
open to all students both undergraduate
and postgraduate. Events such as the
insight into creative arts industry
sessions where they bring professionals
throughout these fields to come and sit
on panels, do Q&A sessions with students,
we have workshops, academic sessions and
also guest speakers so for instance last
year they brought the director of the
Victoria & Albert Museum to come and
give a presentation on his work.
The University also has its Cadbury research
library which is a great resource for
students who want access to high-quality
primary research material and the
University also draws from the Cadbury's
research collections for its exhibitions
such as collections in manuscripts and
also our Egyptian artifacts.
So I'd like  to give you a little bit of insight into
our curatorial practices module. This is
one of the main courses that students
enrolled in our MA Art History and
Curating Programme will take. You'll have
the option to choose from two different
sites to curate an exhibition with
classmates in collaboration with staff
and professors. These two sites are Grand
Union and the Barber Institute of Fine Arts
So first I'll talk about Grand Union. 
This is a contemporary independent
arts gallery located in the Digbeth
neighbourhood of Birmingham. It's an
urban center northeast of campus that
collaborates with local artists to
Commission new work, experimentation and
also support career development for both
artists and curators who are interested
in the arts sector. Grand Union provides
visual artists an opportunity to work in
a studio where they can strengthen their
work and do lots of experimentation
with the community as well. And Grand
Union provides an ambitious programme of
exhibitions, talks and events which
encourage community collaboration.
Students who choose this site for their
exhibition will get the opportunity to
participate in the selection of artists
for the exhibition each year at Grand
Union and they'll get to do studio
visits with living artists and work with
the Grand Union staff to work on
programming, the financial aspect of
curating an exhibition and also the
artworks selection and how those
artworks will be set up in the gallery.
The second site that students can choose
from is the Barber Institute of Fine
Arts. This is located on the University
of Birmingham's own campus. The Barber
features an impressive collection of
European artworks all the way from the
post-medieval era through to the 20th
century. We have artworks by familiar
artists such as Rembrandt, Turner, Vigee-
LeBrun, Degas, Gauguin, Kollwitz, Picasso
and Whistler. Students who choose the
Barber get to collaborate with the royal
collections trust who are the curators
who take care of the Queen's private collection.
While we won't be working with
living artists, you'll get the
opportunity to handle historic artworks
and talk with the curators at the Royal
Collection trust about the objects that
you select for the exhibition.
Compared to Grand Union the Barber is a
more traditional art museum and gallery
and it also offers a full program of
events like Grand Union such as music
performances, gallery talks, tours, family events
and community classes. Both sites are
great opportunity to strengthen your
curatorial experience. If you're
interested in contemporary artwork or
historic objects we have something for
both interests. So that's the Curatorial
Practices Module. There are three other
modules as students will enroll in. The
Postgraduate Research Training and
Methods course prepares you for research
and writing of your dissertation and
takes course over two terms. In addition
you'll enroll in the criticisms and
methods in art history which will
introduce you to the historiography
methods of theoretical underpinning of
contemporary practices in artistic and
visual analysis. This means that you'll
gain an understanding of theories such
as iconography, feminists and queer
theory and also post-colonialism.
And the fourth course you'll enroll in
is your dissertation. This culminates in
a fifteen thousand word dissertation
research project of your choice.
In addition to these four courses you'll
have the opportunity to choose two
additional modules. I've listed four in
this video but keep in mind that this
will change from year to year. The
placements course offers the students an
opportunity to do an internship for 11
weeks at a regional Museum and in the
past the university has partnered with
over 14 different places for students.
Aesthetics and philosophy introduces you
to Hegel Kant's and the aesthetics of
looking at art and British art
introduces you to the ideas of national
identity in British art so you'll get to
visit different galleries and museums
throughout England with the department
paying for those trips. And finally
exhibition cultures which introduces you
to different exhibition projects such as
the blockbuster exhibition, the white
cube theory and also solo exhibitions.
So these are great courses for any students
who are interested in museums or
galleries and they also overlap in the
content that they cover so that they're
great supplement to each other. So over
the past five years over 98% of our
history of art post graduates have
entered work or further study within six
months after graduation. We have an
impressive list of locations that
students have gone on to work for such
as the British Museum, Grand Union,
National Portrait Gallery and the
National Trust. In conclusion I'd like to
a little bit about why I chose the
programme. I chose the University of
Birmingham because I really like the
aspect of gaining curatorial experience
alongside my education. This gave me
practical insight into the careers and
different fields that I'd like to go into for
instance curatorial work is different
than collections management and here
at the University I've learned those
differences and what interests me most. 
I really love the location because there's
so many museums here and close by and I
like how it's a small programme. This
ensures that I get access to professors
and I also have a great opportunity to
participate in discussions in the
classrooms. If you'd like to know more
about the programme you can visit the
university's website at www.birmingham.ac.uk
and visit our art history department.
Feel free to email faculty and staff
in research questions that 
may align with your research interests
so that when you're applying you 
can talk about those interests as well.
I hope this has given you insight and 
encouragement to apply to our programme
and good luck with your University research.
