Master of Arts in The Art Market and the History of Collecting by Research

at University of Buckingham United Kingdom

With military history one of the fastest-growing areas of academic study, the University of Buckingham introduced a one-year MA in Military History, by research, in 2009. This is a groundbreaking programme: the first one-year Research MA in Military History, and the first with an integral course of seminars by visiting lecturers of international repute. The programme was enthusiastically reviewed by The Financial Times, which noted that “Intellectually curious professionals are signing up for a new course that gives them the opportunity to exchange thoughts on security, diplomacy and the armed forces over dinner with stellar historians and military top brass.”

The programme is London-based and directed by one of the country’s finest military historians, Professor Gary Sheffield. The lectures offered by the Course Director will be supplemented by a series of ten guest seminars by some of the most eminent scholars and authors in the field, including Professors N.A.M. Rodger, Sir Hew Strachan, Richard Overy, Sir Richard J. Evans, David Reynolds, Saul David, and Sir Antony Beevor.

The BSc Computing with foundation year programme will benefit those individuals who wish to study an undergraduate degree but have non-standard academic qualifications.

Year one of BSc Computing with Foundation will follow the Foundation Pathway programme with the addition of the Access to Computing programme introducing students to key concepts and study skills. This is followed by a pre-university access programme specially designed for Applied Computing. The overall aim is to equip students who have not achieved the minimum entry requirements for BSc (Hons) Computing with the fundamental knowledge and essential skills required for the intensive study of the undergraduate degree programme at Buckingham.

These preparatory modules include mathematics, fundamentals of computing as well as web computing. Students must pass all modules before being allowed on to the BSc Computing degree portion of the programme.

In years two and three students will build on these skills and enhance their knowledge, understanding and practice in core subjects following the BSc Computing programme structure. Throughout the three years, a student will be equipped with the skills to reach their potential in academic studies.

Computing and communications technologies lie at the heart of modern society. They include hardware, software, networks, tools, telecommunications equipment and required standards that provide the technological framework on which the delivery of information services is based. The IT industry is reporting a widening gap in software skills while hard technology is developing and diversifying fast.

The overall aim of this programme is to enable all students to develop their potential so that they can apply what they have learnt to deal with computational problems and develop solutions in a real-world environment. Through studying this programme, students learn how to specify, design, develop and operate efficient and innovative computer-based systems and gain up-to-date knowledge of the relevant computing technologies at an advanced level within a shorter space of time.

This programme of study aims to train first-degree holders in computing-related areas into specialists in selected areas of IT and computing. Based on the current expertise in the Department, the programme offers students opportunities for in-depth study in secure mobile and wireless communication systems, biometrics and authentication, data mining and knowledge discovery, and Software Project Management techniques and applications.

The programme is carefully designed to suit the varied needs of different students from different backgrounds and with different career objectives, in the IT fields.

On graduating from this programme, you will be able to:

• Understand a range of modern computing technologies
• Apply these technologies in practice
• Describe the roles that modern computing technologies have in many areas of application
• Demonstrate the value of state-of-the-art development in one specific technology and its applications

Students of History of Art and other approved subjects, who have accumulated 240 credits at another recognised Higher Education institution, can transfer their credits to the University of Buckingham and graduate with a BA in History of Art. Full-time students join the BA in September and complete their studies in July. They study two modules in their first term, and in their final two terms study a further four modules whilst also writing their dissertation. Part-time students spread their course over two years, taking one module per term during the first four terms, followed by one taught module in each of the final two terms and a dissertation, completing their studies in July of their second year at Buckingham. Teaching is arranged over three terms (Autumn, Winter, Spring), and classes for each taught module are scheduled on one day. Therefore, a full-time student will have classes on two days each week and a part-time student will have classes on one day each week.

The BSc Psychology with Spanish first-year covers two Psychology modules per term and the third module from another department (for breadth). In the second year, it concentrates on Psychology alone, studying the same modules as the Psychology major students, together with several new more specialised modules.

This popular and exciting degree programme offers an excellent basis for anyone wishing to go into a psychology-related career.

A foreign language is always an excellent skill to have, and the BSc Psychology with Spanish is great study option for anyone interested in psychology who wants the opportunity of learning another language to a high level.

Launched in January 2006, our BSc Business Enterprise BBE is the first undergraduate Venture Creation Programme (VCP) at a university anywhere in the world. This means students are required to start and run a business as part of their degree, this is not your typical degree programme as this programme is split between real-world application and theoretical knowledge.

The BSc Business Enterprise (BBE) Programme will interest you if you want to:

• Start and develop your own new business at the same time as studying for an honours degree.
• Make a positive contribution to the strategic development of a family business or other small or medium enterprise.
• Develop an entrepreneurial or “can do” approach to life to enhance your future career anywhere.

Students pitching to the Buckingham AngelsThis course provides the opportunity for you to ‘pitch’ for ‘seed-corn’ capital of up to £5,000, enabling you to start and run your own business as an integral part of your honours degree.  We offer a range of business subjects that will help you to establish your business and develop your qualities of entrepreneurship, management and innovation.

In the first semester, you will learn how to create an effective business plan. This will form the basis of your ‘pitch’ to obtain your ‘seed-corn’ capital from our investment panel ‘Buckingham Angels’.

During the following 18 months, you will be establishing and ‘growing’ the business, at the same time as developing your academic knowledge in-depth across the range of business subjects needed to obtain an honours degree in Business Enterprise.

Our BSc in Economics (3-year degree) Is a great option if you see yourself working as an advisor in a national or international agency, as a teacher or a journalist, or if you simply wish to keep your options open before going on to a career in business or the professions. The economics programme will be an attractive alternative. In the BSc in Economics (3-year degree) programme, you have an enhanced opportunity for studying problems of economic policy. The problem of achieving macroeconomic and exchange rate stability has been of great importance to many countries in recent years for example, while microeconomic issues such as the allocation of resources to health or to raising environmental quality continue to figure prominently in public discussion. An economics degree gives you the perfect opportunity to study these issues. It also permits you to take modules in politics, law and the humanities so as to broaden your perspective further.

This is the 3-year format of the BSc in Economic degree, which allows you the traditional summer break. Starting each September, there are 3 terms per year, leading to an assessment period in early June. Then the summer is free, before the return for the new academic year in late September. This allows you more time for reading and reflection. For the 2-year format of the degree see BSc Economics | 2 Years, 2 Years (+ 1 term).

Over 70% of the world’s economy is services. The MSc Management in a Digital Service Economy aims to equip graduates with the ability to create and deliver reliable customer centred service –  a key differentiator for business today. In many industries, profit margins on product sales have shrunk enormously, leading to an increased focus on generating profits through value-added services. Thus, the best firms now bundle customer-centred service with a manufactured product and create service centred solutions. Some, like IBM have moved completely to service and solutions.

Service Management as a body of knowledge has made immense progress in the last decade. Economies are more and more service-focused and it has become imperative to study all aspects of managing service. Buckingham is among the very few universities in the world to have responded to the demand for the creation of expertise in this area and to have established a track-record of success

The School of Psychology fosters a culture of collaborative, multidisciplinary research and you will join a vibrant community that includes regular work-in-progress seminars to foster an active research environment. You will join one of our four research hubs described below, all of which are engaged in inter-institutional collaborations, including some with non-academic partners such as health-care providers.

We are happy to consider research proposals on a wide range of topics relevant to our hubs, but may also be looking to fill specific research roles in some areas. Click on the link to each hub below to find out more.

Study can be on either a full-time or a part-time basis. The minimum period of study for achieving your MSc is one year full-time or two years part-time.

You must have a 2:1 or higher in an undergraduate Psychology degree, or a closely related degree with a solid understanding of psychology research methods and statistics.

This postgraduate research degree is offered by the Centre for Research into Expertise Acquisition, Training and Excellence (CREATE) hub at the University of Buckingham. The main focus of this centre is the exploration of the drivers of excellence in performance (whether cognitive, creative or practice-based). We are engaged in a number of external collaborative projects in the areas of creativity and performance, and also work with internal colleagues in the School of Computing and the Medical School. Key topic areas we explore include:

• Insight and creativity
• The drivers of performance excellence and expertise development (e.g. in music, theatre, puzzle-solving, board-games and medicine)
• Hobbies, motivations and characteristics of niche populations
• Psychology of music, choreography and dance
• Time perception and those with ‘natural’ time-keeping abilities

This programme leads to the award of an MSc (Research) in the area of the Psychology of Creativity and Performance Expertise. In addition to completing a 25,000 word thesis within a topic area relevant to the hub, you will gain wide knowledge of the broader field through guided self-study topic areas and research skills workshops. This will mean that you develop an in-depth knowledge of the psychology of creativity and performance expertise, which is informed by current issues and advanced research.

As a result of your studies, you will develop a strong knowledge base and core transferable skills which will enable you to become an independent researcher in your field, and will provide you with a solid foundation for further study and/or employment.