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Museum Studies MA


Christine_Des

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I am about to start a museum studies MA in UK (Newcastle University) but I have recently fount out about a relative Master Degree in Neuchatel in Switzerland - but applications are already closed so I should wait for next academic year.

Has anyone heard any of these 2 Universities? I would like a second opinion before my final decision….

In addition, after the Master Degree I would be interested in a PhD. Is it generally easy to follow a PhD in a different University from the first one that you obtained the Master?

Any information would be really helpful!!!! 

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- What is your end goal? Do you want to the academic or curatorial route? If you are interested in a PhD in Art History, a museum studies MA is not really a good stepping stone. You may take an art history class or two on the route to earning a museum studies MA, but the focus will be on museum practice rather than the academic study of art history. My MA university had separate programs in Art History and Museum Studies and they were taught by completely different faculty with little to no overlap, save for the occasional museum studies student in one of our seminars. 

It is also important to keep in mind that curators at prestigious and regionally recognized museums have their PhD in Art History; education and support staff have museum studies degrees. It is safe to that a museum studies MA will not get you a job as a curator. I am actually pretty torn over whether or not the museum studies MA is worthy investment at all. Out of my classmates from undergrad who wanted to work at a museum the ones who chose a museum studies degree vs. those who took an entry level museum job after college there seems to be very little difference in outcome.

- I am not familiar with either of those programs. In my limited experience the top european MA programs if you want to do a US PhD are Oxbridge, Manchester, Birmingham and obviously Courtauld.   

- In my experience and observing the experiences of my classmates, there is no way to predict whether or not it will be easy or hard to stay at/switch programs after the MA. It is very program and student specific. There is a stigma attached to leaving some programs, while at others it is pretty much expected that you leave. The latter is generally the case for terminal/stand alone MAs. 

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Thank you a lot for your reply. Actually I am willing to work at a museum but I think nowadays a high standard education level is always appreciated, this is why I was thinking of having a PhD later on. I also enjoy a lot research...

I will check all the above info you gave me in detail...

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  • 1 month later...

@Christine_Des Not sure if you are still around but I'm also applying for a MA in Museum Studies. My background is two and half years of museum experience, including, internships, volunteering, and a manager position. All the job postings seem to at least require a Masters so I'm heading off to grad school. I'm applying to 6 schools. I'm also not trying to become a curator. I want to become a director for community outreach so our end goals may be different. 

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