The University Museum and Art Gallery and the Faculty of Arts at the University of Hong Kong have recently established the region’s first Master of Arts in Museum Studies—an interdisciplinary degree that will prepare individuals for professional positions across the cultural sector. Hallmarks of the programme include practical training by museum professionals and international networking with established partners. The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area has long played a crucial role in Asia’s cultural transformation. As key players in the emerging cultural market, museums will continue to provide diverse career opportunities in related fields such as curation, management, education, design, communication, and preservation.

 

Works of art tell stories from the past and the present, and museums provide a space in which to experience these narratives. The field of Museum Studies seeks to understand how these narratives are connected and how they can be communicated to diverse audiences through physical and online exhibitions. Additionally, the discipline focuses on the ways in which individual objects are collected, researched, archived, and preserved for future generations.

 

The Museum Studies program trains students to become proficient in collecting, curating, exhibiting, mediating, and preserving cultural and scientific objects, whether in public or private collections. Students will also develop a critical approach to handling source materials, such as artifacts, archival documents, and oral records. Through observation, interpretation, and exchanging ideas in an academic setting, students will improve their scientific argumentation and basic comparative research skills, with a focus on the objects themselves.

 

Methodologically, the discipline employs physical, textual, and theoretical analysis, combining academic study with practical problem-solving. The MA programme is well suited for students with a strong undergraduate foundation in Museum Studies, Art History, History, Archaeology, Cultural Studies, or Global Creative Industries. Like other MA programmes at HKU, the course of study is flexible enough to accommodate students with less prior experience who also wish to transition into a museum career, or for applicants seeking to acquire qualifications for curatorial and other specialised positions in the education, leisure, culture, and tourism sectors, as well as for individuals preparing for doctoral studies in Museum Studies, Art History, History, or Archaeology.