SOAS-IAU Postgraduate Diploma in Museum Studies
London, United Kingdom
Master degree
DURATION
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
EARLIEST START DATE
TUITION FEES
GBP 19,500 *
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* sponsorships available for Saudi nationals
Key Summary
The Postgraduate Diploma in Museum Studies is sponsored by the Museums Commission in Saudi Arabia.
Offered by SOAS and IAU, this unique program provides theoretical and practical training in Museum Studies, including hands-on experience with objects.
Students will acquire in-depth knowledge of the specific requirements of various museum roles, including those of curators, educators, registrars, object handlers, and designers. Issues and themes dealt with in lectures are developed further through tutorials, review sessions, seminars, group discussions, and visits to museums, galleries, and other sites. The program is convened by academic staff in the School of Arts, SOAS, and includes guest contributions from world-leading scholars, curators, and museum professionals in Saudi Arabia and the UK.
Students will gain the ability to critically evaluate how museums, galleries, exhibition spaces, public art, online platforms/digital curating, and other display contexts create and communicate meaning.
Following successful completion of the Diploma program, students can opt to convert the Postgraduate Diploma in Museum Studies into a master's degree (MA Museum Studies) by undertaking an additional dissertation module run in 2026. Up to ten students will be offered full Master’s sponsorships by the Museums Commission. Students will be selected by the Museums Commission based on their academic performance in the Postgraduate Diploma and will need to achieve a minimum of Merit to be considered.
Students converting to the Master’s degree will work on their Master’s dissertations between February and September 2026. During this period students will participate in online workshops, group work, and one-to-one meetings.
- Develop an ability to critically evaluate how museums, galleries, exhibition spaces, public art, online platforms/digital curating, and other display contexts create and communicate meaning.
- Be able to critically analyze the role of museums and galleries in the production of meaning and value to objects via practices of collecting, display, interpretation, and conservation.
- Become familiar with the methods, practices, and key issues surrounding how museums care for, communicate, and develop their collections.
- Acquire in-depth knowledge of the specific requirements of various museum roles, including curation, interpretation, learning, exhibitions, and collection management.