Master of Arts in Contemporary Curating

at Manchester Metropolitan University United Kingdom

The financial sector is one of the world's largest, offering career paths that can span continents. There's a vast variety of specialisms to pursue, from financial planning and investment management to corporate finance and risk management. Whatever your direction, it’s a field with clear avenues for progression and excellent rewards for those with the expertise.

Industry-led
Designed around the industry's demands, this course is built to get you to work. So, whilst it's rooted in academic understanding from the latest research, it provides the skills that employers want. We put the principles and techniques you'll learn in a practical context, give you the chance to work on real client projects and even offer optional short-term internships so that you have the opportunity to put your skills to the test in a real-world environment.

Career focused
It's not only a big step forward for finance graduates, but a chance to move into the area from other business-related fields. For those already working in the field, it's a vehicle for professional progression, allowing you to focus assignments on your employer's goals or strategies. And, for those looking ahead to your first role in the financial sector, it offers the flexibility to set the pace and direction of your career path from the start.

With our BSc (Hons) Applied Computing degree, you’ll gain an insight into IT and computing industry practices. Alongside developing your technical knowledge and skills, you will also gain an understanding of how these skills are applied in an organisational context by learning about systems analysis, project management, software development, the management of data and the administration of information systems.

You’ll start by studying the core technical subjects of programming, computing mathematics, web development, computer architectures and databases as you cover the fundamentals of computing, developing your team working and communication skills as you go. You’ll then begin to specialise, studying topics such as IT project management, systems analysis and design, the software development process, computer networks and the implementation of database models. As you progress into your final year, you’ll learn about IT systems operations and administration, data management, database architecture and performance and you’ll conduct a large-scale project.

In addition to the computing skills you will develop, you will also gain key employability skills such as team working, report writing, communication and negotiation skills. 

In the contemporary art world, as the boundaries between fine art practices are crossed, so too are the distinctions between artist, theorist and curator. This distinctive course challenges these boundaries, offering students the opportunity to develop and expand fine art practice through a deep engagement with art historical knowledge and theoretical ideas. The course also offers a curating pathway, allowing students to explore exhibition-making in its own right and as a form of artistic practice.

With our BSc (Hons) Chemistry degree, we blend laboratory study with classroom learning to ensure you graduate with a balanced understanding of the subject, from inorganic and organic chemistry, to physical and analytical chemistry.

We’ve worked to shape our curriculum around industry needs and developments, so we’ll equip you with the skills and strengths that employers want. And, while the units you’ll study provide a well-rounded understanding of the subject as a whole, you’ll also have the flexibility to focus on those areas that interest you most – developing the knowledge, experience and skills you’ll need to fulfill your professional or academic ambitions. As such, we cover a wide range of specialist areas, including physiochemical processes, materials chemistry, drug discovery, green chemistry, catalysis, computational chemical modelling, spectroscopy, and synthetic chemistry.

Our chemistry degree also provides the option of spending an extra year expanding your horizons, either studying with one of our partner universities overseas, or working on a placement in industry.

The world of business is full of opportunities. So where do you start? This practical course will help you find your calling in international business with modules ranging from consultancy to enterprise.

BA (Hons) Business Management includes everything you could want from a business degree, from expertise in our research areas of sustainability, strategy, and enterprise to events like our leadership series of guest lectures.

Applied business skills
You’ll learn the theory behind what makes a successful business. We focus heavily on giving you the practical knowledge you’ll need for your career – whether that’s starting your own business or working your way up in a big corporation.

By the end of this course, you should be able to think strategically. You should have an entrepreneurial mindset. And you should have the skills to be a successful manager anywhere in the world.

The new sustainable business
Profits aren’t the only thing driving businesses. We believe you need to conduct business in a sustainable and ethical way to be an effective manager. Our values underpin everything we do here at Manchester Met.

In fact, you’ll live and breathe sustainability while you’re here, studying in the environmentally-friendly business school. You’ll also get to work alongside innovative start-ups at Manchester Met-based Innospace, were we support people with great business ideas and the commitment to turn them into reality.

Study Abroad
Instead of a placement, you’ll have the opportunity to spend up to a year overseas, studying with one of our partner institutions across Europe, or beyond. Go abroad in the third year of your degree, and you’ll not only learn about other cultures, improve your language skills and discover more about yourself – you’ll also boost your career prospects. Having first-hand knowledge of another country’s cultures and traditions can take you far in a range of careers. And, by going abroad you’ll also demonstrate the kind of independent spirit and adaptability that many employers want.

BA (Hons) Criminology offers an exciting opportunity to study the cutting-edge discipline of criminology in the vibrant city of Manchester. It is aimed at students who want to study crime from a critical perspective, investigating the causes, patterns, consequences and responses in a social context.

The first year introduces you to the building blocks of criminology: key concepts and theories explaining crime, key institutions of the criminal justice system, crime policy, law and practice. You will receive training in a wide range of research methods during the first two years, to become equipped to undertake your own independent research project in the final year.

Our large, multi-disciplinary department believes in offering extensive optionality to study specific areas of criminology in depth. Throughout the degree, there is an emphasis on developing skills and experiences that are relevant to professional careers, including work experience, study-abroad schemes, and independent project work. In your final year, you have the option of moving onto the BSc route, which means receiving extensive quantitative methods training and graduating with a BSc title.

This course rethinks the use, practice and industry of Textiles within the 21st century. It is responsive to an emerging global landscape that requires, sustainable, design-led, innovative positions to be adopted from which to anticipate and forecast our Textile futures.

Manchester and the School of Art have been at the forefront of textiles innovation since the late 19th Century and this course is built on that rich heritage, offering students the opportunity to challenge and innovate in equal measure.

As a student, you will develop innovative study hubs of interdisciplinary expertise, which will both rethink and regenerate textiles within its expanded field (including Textile Craft, Innovation and Digital specialisms). You will address the future paradigms of environmental and social change, new materiality, and the development of 4.0 Textile Industry. Hybrid creative learning environments such as the Manchester Met Digital Lab and specialist Textile facilities support advanced digital learning and making, electronics, 3D printing and multi-media material making practices to be explored.

You will develop individual specialised projects which will become beacons within the expanded field of design. Learning is creative, innovative and interdisciplinary and teaching features design workshops, guest lectures, design events, reading groups, live industry projects and study trips.

Businesses and governments rely on economists to help them examine issues, identify trends and deal with financial uncertainty. By studying our BA/BSc (Hons) Economics degree, you’ll explore how organizations and individuals invest and allocate their resources.

Throughout the course, we’ll challenge you to think about choices people make and how those decisions affect every aspect of our lives. You’ll explore everything from employment to distribution of wealth, government spending to international trade.

Please note that all students will apply directly to the BA (Hons) Economics. After studying BA (Hons) Economics in the first year, you can choose to continue on the BA (Hons) Economics, or transfer to BSc (Hons) Economics through the second and third year of study.

MFA Painting provides a discipline-led environment in which to develop your practice in contemporary painting. Through a strong focus on your individual studio practice you will engage in the most significant current debates on painting and the histories from which they emerge. The MFA Painting will encourage you to question the boundaries of your practice, embracing current ideas of ‘expanded painting’ and painting being ‘beyond self’ alongside questions posed within the more typical parameters of the picture plane and modes of representation.

Photography offers an exciting range of career paths and specialisms and this course provides the perfect starting point for them.

You will have the opportunity to discover and push the boundaries of current practices and approaches. You’ll discover how photography can be used to tell powerful stories and communicate your personal interests within cultural and industry contexts. You will also have an opportunity to explore a wide range of different subject areas such as fashion, documentary, editorial and commercial photography. Throughout the course you will have the chance to experiment in a purpose-built studio, darkroom and digital facilities.

As a Photography student you will be part of the broad, dynamic creative community at the School of Digital Arts. As such, you will have units and classes taught across all our courses, with the chance to collaborate on projects with animators, sound designers, games developers and a range of other media-focused students. It’s an approach designed to mirror the cross-disciplinary practices you’ll find in the professional world, while giving you the chance to explore the creative directions that interest you most. Matching that professional approach, our purpose-built school provides professional-standard tools – a brand new creative playground for producing photographic work at the cutting edge of emerging digital technologies. It’s a school and a course designed to give you the vital industry and artist networking, technical and creative skills to prepare you for a career in the photographic and related industries.

Manchester offers a fantastic backdrop for it all. Studying here puts the country’s second-largest media and creative sector on your doorstep, with a globally recognised photographic industry and a substantial animation, film and digital/tech sector. At MediaCityUK, there’s a mix of national broadcasters and independent operators, while the city is home to a wide range of major media businesses. Manchester has a dynamic artistic and cultural scene that houses some of the best public and independent museums and galleries in the UK . So, whatever path you want to pursue in photography – or in the wider media, arts and digital tech industries – Manchester offers all sorts of opportunities for building a network, gaining experience and making a great start in your career.

Placement options

SODA Placement Year
As part of your studies with SODA, you will have the chance to take a year working on placement within the industry. During your year, you will spend at least 36 weeks working within an organisation in the industry, developing workplace skills, practical understanding and genuine industry experience.