Museum Studies – Master of Arts

Overview
Planning information
Courses
Entry requirements
Fees & scholarships
Careers & jobs

Where you can study

Distance and online

Not open to international students

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Specialise in Museum Studies for your Master of Arts at Massey

With a Massey Master of Arts (Museum Studies), you’ll be prepared to deal with contemporary issues. Learn how museums, galleries and indigenous cultural centres maintain heritage collections and deliver high-quality community services.

Enhance your career

Bridge your previous academic study and professional work. Whether that be in a museum, gallery or other cultural or heritage organisation. You’ll advance your knowledge and abilities in heritage management and bicultural practices in the heritage sector. You'll build experience in problem-solving and working in interdisciplinary teams.

Complete your MA in three semesters

Massey’s Master of Arts is 180 credits. This means you can complete an MA in three semesters of full-time study. If you study part-time, an MA will normally take three years to complete.

A Master of Arts in Museum Studies is a good fit if you:

have an undergraduate degree in a related area
want to be more effective in your work in an organisation with a cultural or heritage focus
want to investigate a particular aspect of museum studies for your thesis or research report.

Planning information

If you study full-time, you’ll take 120 credits per year or 60 credits per semester.

Not all courses are available in each semester.

The Master of Arts (Museum Studies) is a parts-based qualification. That means you must complete the first part, before moving to the second.

Grades achieved in the first 60 credits will determine eligibility for progression to Part Two.

For the coursework pathway a minimum B grade average is required.

For the research pathway a minimum B+ grade average is required.

If you enrol in a thesis, you commence with Thesis (90 or 120 credits) Part 1, followed by Thesis (90 or 120 credits) Part 2 in the next enrolment period. Both parts combine to meet the thesis requirements with a single grade assigned to each part.

If the thesis cannot be submitted at the end of the initial Thesis (90 or 120 credits) Part 2 enrolment, you must re-enrol in Thesis (90 or 120 credits) Part 2 and pay fees each semester until submission is made.

Official regulations

To understand what you need to study and must complete to graduate read the official rules and regulations for this qualification.

You should read these together with all other relevant Statutes and Regulations of the University including the General Regulations for Postgraduate Degrees, Postgraduate Diplomas, and Postgraduate Certificates.

Returning students

For returning students, there may be changes to the majors and minors available and the courses you need to take. Go to the section called ‘Transitional Provisions’ in the Regulations to find out more.

In some cases the qualification or specialisation you enrolled in may no longer be taking new enrolments, so may not appear on these web pages. To find information on the regulations for these qualifications go to the Massey University Calendar.

Please contact us through the Get advice button on this page if you have any questions.

Courses you can enrol in

Course planning key

Prerequisites: Courses that need to be completed before moving onto a course at the next level. For example, a lot of 200-level courses have 100-level prerequisite courses.
Corequisites: Courses that must be completed at the same time as another course are known as corequisite courses.
Restrictions: Some courses are restricted against each other because their content is similar. This means you can only choose one of the offered courses to study and credit to your qualification.

Part One: Coursework Pathway (120 credits) or Research Pathway (Between 60 and 90 credits)

Compulsory course

150715 Taonga Tuku Iho: Heritage Aotearoa 30

An examination of the dynamics of Māori culture and custom as part of the Aotearoa/New Zealand heritage. Particular emphasis is placed on the significance of land, language, oral tradition, the marae, art, and the Treaty of Waitangi, as well as an examination of the role of government in heritage through a study of legislation, policy and programmes. Case studies will focus on conservation, maintenance, sustainability and revitalisation.

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Subject courses

167742 Collection Management 30

An examination of the following areas of museological theory and practice: material culture; recent research into private collecting; preventive conservation; collection management policy and practice; contemporary collection management issues including collection rationalisation, contemporary collecting, and the changing roles of curators and collection managers.

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167743 Museum Management 30

An examination of museum organisation, governance, policy development, strategic planning, marketing, financial management, project management and personnel management. Practical skills in budgeting, grant writing, reports and presentations will be taught.

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167744 Museums and the Public 30

An examination of the philosophy, strategies and practical processes of effectively interpreting and communicating museum programmes for a variety of audiences.

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Part Two: Coursework Pathway

Choose 60 credits from

167896 Research Report Museum Studies (60) 60

Students intending to enrol in this course should write to the programme coordinator of Museum Studies at the earliest opportunity. A dissertation proposal must be submitted by 1 April in the year of enrolment and approved by the Museum Studies Research Committee. A dissertation of not more than 20,000 words must be submitted by 10 October in the year of enrolment.

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