New MA in Museums, Heritage and Material Culture Studies launched

An exciting new Masters programme has been launched at SOAS. This is an innovative interdisciplinary degree, convened and taught jointly in the Department of Anthropology and School of Arts. It brings together anthropological, art historical and archaeological perspectives to explore the interconnecting fields of museums, heritage and material culture studies. The MA disprivileges Western museum and heritage discourses and practices, and explores tangible and intangible cultural heritage as spheres of global interaction.

The programme, which is being led by Professor Paul Basu (Anthropology) and Dr Louise Tythacott (History of Art & Archaeology), will equip students with a theoretically-informed critical understanding of museums, heritage and material/visual culture, and provides an opportunity for students to engage in current debates in World Art and World Heritage. Students will be introduced to a wide range of thematic and theoretical issues, and will have the opportunity to curate a small exhibition in the Curating Cultures module, and put into practice anthropological research techniques in the Ethnographic Research Methods course.

Situated in London’s ‘Museum Mile’, a few hundred meters from the British Museum, and with its own Brunei Gallery, SOAS provides a unique environment in which to study the cultural heritage of Asia, Africa and the Middle East, and to place this heritage within transnational/transcultural contexts.

The MA is available as a 1-year full time, or 2-year part-time, programme. Applications are now being invited for entry from September 2017. Full details about the programme are available on the SOAS website. Enquiries should be directed to Paul Basu or Louise Tythacott