MA Public History and Heritage

Birkbeck, University of London

This MA Public History and Heritage offers you the chance to understand public history and heritage and all its dynamism and diversity. You will explore public historians’ shared commitment to making history relevant, beneficial, informative and instructive. This course also equips you with the tools to critically engage with the challenges, controversies and possibilities of the field. Why choose this course? This course is taught by experts in areas such as critical heritage studies, public history and policy, creative public history, community and family history, archaeological heritage, heritage futures, heritage and decolonisation. The impressive scope of this expertise ensures you can study history, from prehistory to the present, from a global and local perspective. You will join a vibrant and diverse cohort, studying alongside students who have a range of experience in the public history and heritage sector as well as those from our museum cultures and archaeology and heritage courses. You will also have the opportunity to undertake a work placement in public history and heritage, and complete a creative portfolio project alongside your dissertation. What you will learn This MA will introduce you to key aspects and issues of the practice. You will also develop the necessary theoretical and practical skills to undertake critical assessments of public history projects and intervention, and to create a project of your own. Its focus on public history in practice will provide you with a wide range of examples of different types and methods of public history, from museums and material culture, to public history in the media, to the role of history in policy making. You will also be able to follow your interests by specialising intensively in public history and heritage and choosing option modules from a wide range of historical subjects. How you will learn On this course you will learn through a mixture of seminars, lectures, workshops and site visits. Classes follow an evening timetable and some modules may be available to attend online as well as on campus. You will also have the opportunity to undertake a work placement to help you gain valuable work experience and networking opportunities in one of the most respected heritage sectors in the world. This course is part of our Birkbeck Flexible Master’s UK, which gives you the choice of how you want to study - on campus, online or via flexible learning, which combines both. If you require a Student visa to study in the UK, you will only be able to apply for the on-campus study option for this course. Online and flexible options will not be available to you because they may affect the conditions of your visa.

School of Historical Studies