Heritage at York

Global expertise in a heritage city.

Heritage matters. It makes sense of our past and informs our response to current and future challenges.

York's Faculty of Arts and Humanities has a history of intellectual excellence and creative practice in heritage. This includes groundbreaking expertise in critical heritage, immersive technologies and buildings conservation. The city of York and our campus provide living laboratories for applied work in urban regeneration, climate change adaptation and the reuse of historic buildings and landscapes.

Our work is underpinned by strong collaborative relationships with a diverse array of partners, locally and across the globe. These links are vital for our research, practice and teaching.

We're also supporting future heritage professionals. Almost half of the Faculty's student intake in 2025 was to heritage-related courses.

Our expertise

We're pioneering heritage research and conservation, with a commitment to diversify and decolonise institutions and collections. We're also exploring the implications of AI and data privacy in heritage contexts, difficult histories and complex cultural dilemmas.

Our work also includes:

music, craft and printing heritage
public history, museum studies and curating
built heritage and conservation
archives and literature
digital heritage.

A staff member giving a practical session in the Department of Archaeology's YEAR Centre.

Financial impact

Our Faculty secured research grants worth £25.3m for heritage-related projects between 2022 and 2025. Nationally, heritage work contributed roughly £44.9 billion gross value added to the UK economy in 2022.

Research excellence

All the subject areas in the Faculty of Arts and Humanities are highly rated for the quality of their research. In the Times Higher Education’s ranking of the latest REF results (2021) five were in the UK top 10.

UNESCO City of Media Arts

The historic city of York is the only city in the UK to be given the award. The city's many events include the Festival of Ideas, which is organised by our University.

A group of students at the National Railway Museum, York.

Heritage partnerships

We have a diverse range of exciting partnerships with institutions in the UK and across the world. These include:

strategic partners (national galleries, heritage organisations)
city and regional partnerships (York Minster, York Conservation Trust)
student-facing opportunities (Heritage Planning Studio)
industry and professional networks.

Research and impact

Research takes place in our academic departments and in interdisciplinary research groups in the following areas:

decolonisation and heritage justice
sustainable heritage
intangible heritage
critical heritage
digital heritage
materials, collections, communities and public engagement.

Explore some of our key research projects and collaborations.

Study heritage at York

We offer Masters courses that explore heritage across many different subjects. These include how we present the past, including public history, curating, conservation and heritage management.

Explore our specialist courses