Our Programme
Look behind the scenes.
Understand the complexities of Museums.
Gain practical experience.
Museum Studies at HKU is the only programme in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area organised as a single track with compulsory and elective courses that provide students the opportunity to focus on various aspects of museology, as students can specialise within the large and diverse discipline by choosing courses that will provide scholarly expertise, professional knowledge, and the foundations for further education in fields like museum administration, registration, curation, conservation and education.
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All students will take the core course, Studying Museums: Historical Developments, Ongoing Purposes and Emerging Functions (MUSE7001), and four elective courses before writing an academic dissertation and engaging in practical internships. In completing their studies, students will develop competencies in organising and managing cultural institutions, caring for collections, and communicating and engaging with the public.
This newly acquired knowledge will provide a solid foundation for working in museums, galleries, and heritage sites, as well as private galleries and auction houses. Employers will benefit from employees with competencies enhanced by training in understanding complex organisations and work processes, handling valuable historical objects and archival materials, and creating public displays and educational programmes with sensitivity and authority.
In addition to fulfilling academic ambitions, students will benefit from unparalleled exposure to colleagues and cultural institutions, as well as workshops, lectures, and internships, paving the way for advancement in the professional job market. The course supports students who are interested or already working in the fields of education, leisure, culture, and tourism—core sectors of the emerging local economy and important global sectors. The internships will be professional work placements that serve practically as first jobs which may lead to paid employment.
The rigor of the new programme will also prepare students for doctoral research by developing their understanding of theoretical and methodological aspects of the discipline and scholarly writing. Graduates from the MA may continue their doctoral research at HKU or join overseas PhD programmes. Important components include the opportunities students have to study a focused programme with scholars in their field and to engage with a postgraduate community at HKU, as well as with professionals in the region and abroad.
Programme Structure
To obtain the 60 credits, the MA curriculum comprises five semester-long courses, a dissertation, and an internship distributed in the following way:
1 required core course (9 credits)
4 elective MA courses (9 credits each)
1 MA dissertation (9 credits)
1 Internship (6 credits) or 1 elective cross listed with taught postgraduate (6 credits) or undergraduate course (6 credits)
All instruction is conducted in English and assessments are based entirely on coursework, which may include discussions, oral presentations, research essays, and various forms of short writing assignments.
Courses
Core Course
MUSE7001. Studying Museums: Historical Developments, Ongoing Purposes and Emerging Functions (Core Course)
MUSE7001. Studying Museums: The Historical Development, Ongoing Purpose and Ever-developing Functions of Museums (Core Course)
This core course examines a range of themes and issues critical to contemporary museum practice. The goals of the course are to familiarize students with how scholars and practitioners have worked to develop both individual collections and entire museums; how they have brought purpose to public institutions; and how they have served functions that advance the vision and fulfil the evolving missions of cultural institutions. Students will come to understand the organizational structure of museums and the roles within. They also will become familiar with the characteristics of different cultural institutions and how they work together and benefit one another.
Assessment: 100% coursework
Electives
MUSE7002. Museums and Curatorial Strategies (9 credits)
MUSE7002. Museums and Curatorial Strategies (Elective Course)
This course offers a thorough introduction and critical analysis of diverse curatorial philosophies and artistic and academic developments that are used to create museum displays—both in permanent galleries and temporary exhibitions. It delivers fundamental knowledge of different project types, along with their development and purpose, to gain confidence in initiating and researching exhibition topics by collaborating with artists or by studying museum collections. The sources of display material and its cultural context are crucial for practicing visual and oral communication techniques that respect established legal and ethical standards. This ensures that the exhibit is educational, accessible, and beneficial to the community it serves.
Assessment: 100% coursework
MUSE7003. Languages of an Exhibition: Curatorial Practices and Exhibition Design (9 credits)
MUSE7003. Languages of an Exhibition: Curatorial Practices and Exhibition Design (9 credits)
In this course, the individual elements of an exhibition are presented, from research to the first draft, from planning, calculation, production to the process, documentation and follow-up. How can important contemporary issues be transferred to exhibitions? Which languages of the exhibition (associative, explorative, narrative, etc.) are used? Which media should be used and what is conveyed and how? The curatorial strategies, the design and the concepts of the communication of the exhibition are analyzed and discussed on the basis of historical case studies and some visits to exhibitions in art institutions in Hong Kong. The interaction between artists, curators and collectors, the art market and auction houses is also discussed. The participants of the course no longer get to know exhibitions from the point of view of consumers, but from the point of view of curators, producers and designers.
Assessment: 100% coursework
MUSE7004. Museum Education and Community Engagement (9 credits)
MUSE7004. Museum Education and Community Engagement (Elective Course)
Building upon the previous two courses, this class offers insights into the importance of public education and community engagement. Essential to any public cultural institution is its outreach programme and the varied strategies employed to cater to the needs, imagination and educational practices used to entertain, educate and stimulate academic thinking, social behaviour and – in museums – historical and scientific learning. The course introduces different forms of engagement, mass and specialised programmes and the philosophies that connect and enrich individual cultural events. Although taught with museums in mind, the learning outcomes include enhance interpretation and communication skills, and community-centred think about inclusivity and equality.
Assessment: 100% coursework
MUSE7005. Collections Acquisitions, Management and Care (9 credits)
MUSE7005. Collections Acquisitions, Management and Care (Elective Course)
The focus of this course is the professional development and care of collections. On the one hand, the focus is on analysing collections, understanding their historic and future purpose and to envision a plan for anticipated growth both of the collections themselves and the engagement with them. On the other hand, the course teaches systematic practical skills, including the management of collections, care and storage-related tasks and preventive conservation. Although no specific emphasis is put on conservation, this course will be a class connecting this Museum Studies programme with a future conservation programme. A pedagogical aim of this course is to help prepare students for a specific professional field: those who do not wish to continue in art, history, archaeology, etc., will have the opportunity to learn concrete management skills.
Assessment: 100% coursework
MUSE7006. Provenance Research and Ethics: Recognising the Cultural Origins and Legal Title of Art in Museums (9 credits)
MUSE7006. Provenance Research (Elective Course)
This course highlights the relationship between art history, the history of collecting, and provenance research. It focuses on the need for clarity concerning the ownership history of collection items and the related legal and ethical issues, including the fair and unbiased communication of an object’s origin, and the sensible handling, preservation, and presentation of indigenous and religious items. Lectures will introduce international and local government regulations and the ongoing practices concerning the restitution and repatriation of art. Various circumstances under which objects were acquired will be analysed, along with the diverse and often contrasting opinions that guide present-day cultural institutions and their dealings with cultural heritage.
Assessment: 100% coursework
MUSE7007. Digital Media for Collecting, Archiving and Exhibiting (9 credits)
MUSE7007. Digital Media for Collecting, Archiving and Exhibiting (Elective Course)
The course provides a basic introduction to how digital technologies are used for the diverse tasks of museums. This concerns registration and inventory through collection / museum management systems as it is done in museum informatics and for building digital collections. Furthermore, information is given on long-term archiving of digital and digitised data and the different media used by artists for their works of art (Video Art, Media Art etc.). Another part of the course deals with the conception, design and production of interactive media (offline and online) for the field of education and in exhibitions. Here, a review of important multimedia applications (CD-ROMs as predecessors of apps as well as interactive stories for webdocs), gesture-based computing, immersive spaces and augmented/virtual reality will be presented.
Assessment: 100% coursework
MUSE7008. The Art of Storytelling (9 credits)
MUSE7008. The Art of Storytelling (Elective Course)
This course explores cultural aspects of visual narrative imagery from China to the Mediterranean world. Using cross-cultural comparisons across time and in different cultural contexts, we will explore how pictorial narrative scenes were produced, presented and received by their audiences. Topics range from the animal-combat scenes at Persepolis to the fantastic beasts on the Shang and Zhou ritual bronzes, from the first emperor’s terra cotta warriors to the royal hunt on the Sassanian Silver, from the Greek beech-nut gold jewelry to Venetian glass and its modern legacy. In the exercise of creating and writing exhibits that do more than just present information, we will explore issues of representation, narrative, space, gender, monumentality, ideology and politics as well as technology and materials, and develop an argument about word and image.Assessment: 100% coursework
MUSE7009. The Art Market (9 credits)
MUSE7009. The Art Market (Elective Course)
The Art Market is designed as a block seminar and takes place in preparation for and alongside the art fairs, auctions, and gallery weekends in Hong Kong. The aim of this block seminar is to get to know the functions of the key players in the art market. How does the interaction between them work? What is the difference between the primary market and the secondary market? Where do collectors stand? And what roles do museums and curators play in the art business? In order to understand how the mechanisms, work and how the key players act, art fairs (Fine Art Asia, Art Basel Hong Kong), auctions and openings will be visited and examined.
Assessment: 100% coursework
MUSE7010. Out of the Ordinary: Contemporary Events shaping the Cultural Sector (9 credits)
MUSE7010. Out of the Ordinary: Contemporary Events shaping the Cultural Sector (Elective Course)
This course will be closely connected to the other course in this programme and present each week different hot topics related to the voluntary and involuntary evolution of the cultural sector and current affairs influencing both the internal work and outward-facing presentation at art, archaeological and related cultural institutions.
Assessment: 100% coursework
MUSE7008. The Art of Writing (Elective Course)
This course explores cultural aspects of visual narrative imagery from China to the Mediterranean world. Using cross-cultural comparisons across time and in different cultural contexts, we will explore how pictorial narrative scenes were produced, presented and received by their audiences. Topics range from the animal-combat scenes at Persepolis to the fantastic beasts on the Shang and Zhou ritual bronzes, from the first emperor’s terra cotta warriors to the royal hunt on the Sassanian Silver, from the Greek beech-nut gold jewelry to Venetian glass and its modern legacy. In the exercise of creating and writing exhibits that do more than just present information, we will explore issues of representation, narrative, space, gender, monumentality, ideology and politics as well as technology and materials, and develop an argument about word and image.
Assessment: 100% coursework
MUSE7012. Public History and Museums (9 credits)
MUSE7012. Public History and Museums (Elective Course)
This course will focus on the important tasks, opportunities and challenges museums have to research, define, display and teach history. As highly trusted public institutions, museums are confided to represent a true and balanced analysis of the historical facts and a fair perception of the past and present importance of the cultures they explain and exhibit. With political and societal change, museums have been seen as authorities displaying in just statements and yet, they can be challenged to adapt to changing regimes and perceptions.
Assessment: 100% coursework
MUSE7008. The Art of Writing (Elective Course)
This course explores cultural aspects of visual narrative imagery from China to the Mediterranean world. Using cross-cultural comparisons across time and in different cultural contexts, we will explore how pictorial narrative scenes were produced, presented and received by their audiences. Topics range from the animal-combat scenes at Persepolis to the fantastic beasts on the Shang and Zhou ritual bronzes, from the first emperor’s terra cotta warriors to the royal hunt on the Sassanian Silver, from the Greek beech-nut gold jewelry to Venetian glass and its modern legacy. In the exercise of creating and writing exhibits that do more than just present information, we will explore issues of representation, narrative, space, gender, monumentality, ideology and politics as well as technology and materials, and develop an argument about word and image.
Assessment: 100% coursework
MUSE7014. The Future of Museums (9 credits)
MUSE7014. The Future of Museums (Elective Course)
This course presents a historical review and discusses current issues concerning the future development of museums. Since the 1970s, numerous symposia discussed the future of the museums. These events reflect on the past, evaluate the current situation, and explore perspectives and present visions. Symposia proceedings record a spectrum of possible ways for museums to develop as well as the factual reality. Some perspectives were realised, others remained fictitious speculations. In the 21st century, museums are facing major social, economic and climatological challenges. Questions related to postcolonialism, racism and restitution influence collection policies and exhibition topics. The impact and dependency of media technology has ultimately changed and will change the tasks and workflow in a museum and the relationship with visitors. The emancipation towards the more participatory visitor has had an impact on the way museums communicate and exhibit their content. In the 21st century, museums will also become keyplayers in Digital Humanities and act as competence centres, content providers, and information brokers. Forward-looking, resource-conserving and sustainable planning is becoming increasingly important.
Assessment: 100% coursework
MUSE7008. The Art of Writing (Elective Course)
This course explores cultural aspects of visual narrative imagery from China to the Mediterranean world. Using cross-cultural comparisons across time and in different cultural contexts, we will explore how pictorial narrative scenes were produced, presented and received by their audiences. Topics range from the animal-combat scenes at Persepolis to the fantastic beasts on the Shang and Zhou ritual bronzes, from the first emperor’s terra cotta warriors to the royal hunt on the Sassanian Silver, from the Greek beech-nut gold jewelry to Venetian glass and its modern legacy. In the exercise of creating and writing exhibits that do more than just present information, we will explore issues of representation, narrative, space, gender, monumentality, ideology and politics as well as technology and materials, and develop an argument about word and image.
Assessment: 100% coursework
MUSE7016. Theory and Ethics of Conservation (9 credits)
MUSE7016. Theory and Ethics of Conservation (Elective Course)
The understanding that art conservation is solely a practical profession, with a narrow focus on acquiring just the information necessary to treat an object, is an outdated perception of the field. More akin to the history of art— which concerns itself with contextualizing art, for example, with more immaterial concepts of iconography, audience, and economics— conservation has evolved into a complex and conceptual field, while still rooted in craft traditions. In this class, we explore how conservation can be further opened to theoretical lines of inquiry about what, for instance, differentiates an artwork from other kinds of things. How does one establish the cultural value of an artifact? Or what is the nature of permanence when considering treatment? We will strongly emphasize the intended purpose of an artifact and how that core functionality may, and often will, change over time, highlighting the dynamic social life of objects and how this impacts their care.
Assessment: 100% coursework
MUSE7008. The Art of Writing (Elective Course)
This course explores cultural aspects of visual narrative imagery from China to the Mediterranean world. Using cross-cultural comparisons across time and in different cultural contexts, we will explore how pictorial narrative scenes were produced, presented and received by their audiences. Topics range from the animal-combat scenes at Persepolis to the fantastic beasts on the Shang and Zhou ritual bronzes, from the first emperor’s terra cotta warriors to the royal hunt on the Sassanian Silver, from the Greek beech-nut gold jewelry to Venetian glass and its modern legacy. In the exercise of creating and writing exhibits that do more than just present information, we will explore issues of representation, narrative, space, gender, monumentality, ideology and politics as well as technology and materials, and develop an argument about word and image.
Assessment: 100% coursework
MUSE7011. Market, Message, Money: Marketing and Fundraising in the Museum Sector (9 credits)
MUSE7011. Market, Message, Money: Marketing and Fundraising in the Museum Sector (Elective Course)
This course will focus on the intertwined connections between curatorial and educational contents, audiences and financial backing. It will introduce fundraising strategies and explain how retail shops and other commercial activities support the overall missions of cultural institutions.
Assessment: 100% coursework
MUSE7013. Techniques, Styles and Meanings: Insights into Collection Research (9 credits)
MUSE7013. Techniques, Styles and Meanings: Insights into Collection Research (Elective Course)
This course offers various approaches to object-based research from an interdisciplinary perspective, including materiality and object biography, scientific investigation, and contextual analysis. The University Museum’s art collection will be used to carry out object-based cultural studies that inform the display and communication of displays both in formal gallery settings and research-based publications. Students will use archival sources, physical examination, and scientific research to investigate the materials and techniques related to individual artefacts and collections. Class lectures will introduce a variety of methods to decode the physical making and cultural significance of artworks in museum collections.
Assessment: 100% coursework
MUSE7015. Sustainable Collections Care in Museums (9 credits)
MUSE7015. Sustainable Collections Care in Museums (Elective Course)
This course will explore the role of science and engineering in museum collections care, an area of practice and research known as preventative conservation. As a starting point, we will discuss the material makeup of cultural objects as a launching point to address material degradation mechanisms, assess the state of object preservation, and explore various strategies to evaluate and mitigate change in artworks. Topics will range from understanding the museum environment (temperature, relative humidity, and light) to the impact of vibrations on the transport of artworks.
Assessment: 100% coursework
MUSE7008. The Art of Writing (Elective Course)
This course explores cultural aspects of visual narrative imagery from China to the Mediterranean world. Using cross-cultural comparisons across time and in different cultural contexts, we will explore how pictorial narrative scenes were produced, presented and received by their audiences. Topics range from the animal-combat scenes at Persepolis to the fantastic beasts on the Shang and Zhou ritual bronzes, from the first emperor’s terra cotta warriors to the royal hunt on the Sassanian Silver, from the Greek beech-nut gold jewelry to Venetian glass and its modern legacy. In the exercise of creating and writing exhibits that do more than just present information, we will explore issues of representation, narrative, space, gender, monumentality, ideology and politics as well as technology and materials, and develop an argument about word and image.
Assessment: 100% coursework
MUSE7017. Introduction to Chinese Archaeology: An Overview of Prehistoric China (9 credits)
MUSE7017. Introduction to Chinese Archaeology: An Overview of Prehistoric China (Elective Course)
This course provides an overview of the archaeology of prehistoric China from the Neolithic to Early Bronze Age China (10000–3500 BP). It covers a diverse range of topics, including the history and practice of archaeology, climate and environmental settings, hunter-gatherer activities, the beginning of agriculture, domestication of animals and plants, subsistence practices, craft production and usage, social inequality, urbanisation, the formation of early states, developmental trajectories of prehistoric settlements and the origin of “Chinese civilisation”. The course explores these topics and debates in chronological order, accompanied by the presentation of archaeological evidence and case studies.
Assessment: 100% coursework
MUSE7008. The Art of Writing (Elective Course)
This course explores cultural aspects of visual narrative imagery from China to the Mediterranean world. Using cross-cultural comparisons across time and in different cultural contexts, we will explore how pictorial narrative scenes were produced, presented and received by their audiences. Topics range from the animal-combat scenes at Persepolis to the fantastic beasts on the Shang and Zhou ritual bronzes, from the first emperor’s terra cotta warriors to the royal hunt on the Sassanian Silver, from the Greek beech-nut gold jewelry to Venetian glass and its modern legacy. In the exercise of creating and writing exhibits that do more than just present information, we will explore issues of representation, narrative, space, gender, monumentality, ideology and politics as well as technology and materials, and develop an argument about word and image.
Assessment: 100% coursework
Capstone Experience
MUSE7999. MA Dissertation in Museum Studies (9 credits)
MUSE 7999. Capstone Experience: MA Dissertation in Museum Studies
All students are required to complete a MA dissertation.
Students in this course will produce a written dissertation (8,000 - 10,000 words) based on research into a selected topic in Museum studies. They will apply advanced methods of scholarly research to this topic; demonstrate knowledge of theory and methodology; show original thinking in presenting a scholarly argument about their topic; and master professional practices and standards of analytical writing, use of sources, and presentation. Students are advised to start their dissertations during the semester and they are given 8 weeks (in May and June) to complete this course.
Assessment: 100% coursework.
Internship
MUSE7998. Professional Internship (6 credits)
MUSE7998. Capstone Experience: Professional Internship
All students are required to complete a professional internship.
After having completed their MA Dissertations, students will apply their knowledge and gain professional experience in a 6-week long work placement at UMAG or one of our partner institutions. These internships are designed as ‘first jobs’ or as study periods in which students can develop a certain focus or project to further specialise in their professional development. Participants write and submit log books documenting their work processes and learning outcomes.
Assessment: 100% coursework.