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Museology & Curatorship - HOA00031I

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  • Department: History of Art
  • Module co-ordinator: Dr. Nicola Sinclair
  • Credit value: 20 credits
  • Credit level: I
  • Academic year of delivery: 2022-23
    • See module specification for other years: 2021-22

Module summary

This module examines the museum, and in particular the temporary exhibition, as an institutional context in which works of art and architecture have been, and are, often produced, collected, displayed and interpreted.

Module will run

Occurrence Teaching period
A Summer Term 2022-23

Module aims

This module examines the museum, and in particular the temporary exhibition, as an institutional context in which works of art and architecture have been, and are, often produced, collected, displayed and interpreted.

The module offers the opportunity to evaluate the effect of the display context on the interpretation of works of art and architecture through firsthand experience at The Bowes Museum, The Hepworth Wakefield, and other local museums. On site we will engage with curators and other art world professionals working with both collections and exhibitions.

The module provides an enhanced understanding of art history as it operates beyond an academic context. It is assessed through a group project that uses the kind of tasks undertaken by museum professionals, as well as giving students some experience of the kind of group activity they might experience in a working environment.

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, a student should:

  • Have some understanding of the significance of the different ways in which art has been and is collected, housed, displayed and interpreted.
  • Have a greater awareness of the benefits and challenges of encountering art and architecture in museum and galleries.
  • Have some understanding of the range of art historical practice which takes place beyond the university.
  • Be able to work in a group.

Assessment

Task Length % of module mark
Essay/coursework
1,500 Word Assessed Essay		 N/A 50
Groupwork
Group Project Presentation		 N/A 50

Special assessment rules

None

Reassessment

Task Length % of module mark
Essay/coursework
1,500 Word Assessed Essay		 N/A 100

Module feedback

You will receive feedback on assessed work within the timeframes set out by the University - please check the Guide to Assessment, Standards, Marking and Feedback for more information.

The purpose of feedback is to help you to improve your future work. If you do not understand your feedback or want to talk about your ideas further, you are warmly encouraged to meet your Supervisor during their Office Hours.

Indicative reading

  • Edward Alexander, Museums in Motion: An introduction to the history and function of museums (Nashville: Amercan Association for State and Local History, 1987)
  • John Elsner and Roger Cardinal eds., The Cultures of Collecting (London: Reaktion Books, 1994)
  • Eilean Hooper-Greenhill, Museums and the Shaping of Knowledge (London: 1992)
  • Marcia Pointon ed., Art Apart: Art institutions and ideology across England and North America (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1994)
  • Kim Sloan ed., Enlightenment: discovering the world in the eighteenth century (London: British Museum Press, 2003)
  • Adrian Tinniswood, The Polite Tourist: A history of country house visiting (London, 1998)
  • Peter Vergo ed., The New Museology (London, 1989)


The information on this page is indicative of the module that is currently on offer. The University is constantly exploring ways to enhance and improve its degree programmes and therefore reserves the right to make variations to the content and method of delivery of modules, and to discontinue modules, if such action is reasonably considered to be necessary by the University. Where appropriate, the University will notify and consult with affected students in advance about any changes that are required in line with the University's policy on the Approval of Modifications to Existing Taught Programmes of Study.