Material and Visual Culture MA

UCL (University College London)

The Material and Visual Culture MA critically examines human-made and modified objects and visual media, including art, design, architecture, landscape, heritage, photographs, film, fashion and performance, to understand how cultures and societies work, preparing you for global professional practice. This one-year (or two-year if part-time) programme will give you a practical and theoretical grounding in applying anthropological, humanities and natural and social sciences approaches to the analysis of the objects, materials, and visual media that humans use to survive, to define relationships, to represent our identity and to benefit our wellbeing and social standing. The Material and Visual Culture MA will give you the skills to research, analyse and interpret cultures of art, heritage, design, photography, landscape, architecture, film and media. You will examine production, exchange and consumption across different societies and cultures, both contemporary and historical. You will join a world-leading research community and benefit from research-embedded teaching in museum anthropology, technology, architecture, fashion and the cultures of materials, and graduate equipped with the latest knowledge and insights in studying material and visual forms. You will specialise in the elements of material and visual culture that interest you most, choosing from a range of optional modules to enhance your learning experience. Through your independent research project and dissertation, you will develop skills highly sought after by employers, including data analysis and interpretation and the communication of complex ideas. These will also prepare you for PhD level study should you wish to pursue it. The Material and Visual Culture MA is best suited to students looking to gain a qualification and training in anthropological approaches to understanding humanity through the material world as a foundation for professional practice or doctoral research, or for graduates from other fields or careers looking to supplement their existing knowledge and experience. Material and Visual Culture MA students have a strong interest in exploring culture through forms, material things, substances, aesthetics or institutions which shape our material environment, or other aspects of it.