History of Design and Material Culture MA

The MA History of Design and Material Culture examines objects and images from the eighteenth to the twenty-first century, exploring how things are created and how they circulate through global cultures.

There is a focus on everyday life as critical interpretation through a lens of current debates about materiality and visuality, affect and agency, gender and identity, memory and history, the post human and the Anthropocene, and the de-colonisation of design history.

Since its inception in the late 1990s, the MA has maintained a high international reputation and contributes to shaping the future of design history and material culture in the university and museum sectors.

We've made some changes to the way our courses are taught to keep everyone safe, connected and involved in university life. Now, students have a blend of on-campus and digitally enabled remote learning that provides lots of opportunities to interact and engage with lecturers and other students.

The course has an excellent track record in helping students to pursue careers in related areas as well as further study. Many of our postgraduates have found work as lecturers, curators, journalists, designers and design consultants, while many others have pursued doctoral research, some also securing prestigious funding from the AHRC (Arts and Humanities Research Council).