The Heritage MRes offers students an opportunity to gain an in-depth understanding of heritage from the perspective of different disciplines, including archaeology and history.
It enables students to gain critical acumen in exploring the meanings of heritage as a concept and how such concepts are applied in the UK and on a worldwide basis, thus providing valuable insights and an understanding of a sector that is gaining increased significance in today’s world.
Heritage, as understood here, is a concern for the past, imagined and constructed in (and for) the present, but set within a wider appreciation for the future. The past as Heritage might include the tangible surroundings of landscape, art, building and written traces, alongside the more intangible aspects of heritage such as a sense of place, cultural space and resonance, or a locus of ritual, festivals and social memory.
The MRes considers how Heritage is a contested field: set within a framework of communal/ social needs and obligations, and concerned with issues of interpretation and representation. Heritage is also an economic resource and product, an ‘industry’ interwoven into the economic life of community and state, shaped by decisions of conservation and preservation, and directed through a network of overlapping political, legal and institutional ambitions and priorities.
Course details
- Part-time
- Distance Learning
- English
Why choose this course?
What you will learn
This unique research degree provides students with the chance to develop a unique understanding of the heritage sector and provides students with strong opportunities for entering heritage-related employment. It combines two broadly based compulsory modules with distinct and specialised option modules that allow students to develop their own unique engagement the theoretical, conceptual and practical issues surrounding heritage.
The MRes is suited for students with a proven penchant for independent research. The MRes includes 2 taught modules worth 60 credits, but the main focus of the degree is on a longer piece of individual research (30,000 words). Applicants are required to discuss their proposed research with the School before application, and the proposed research must be in one of the areas of supervision offered by the staff.
The Heritage (MRes) begins with a specialist research methodology module followed by a choice of one optional module (outlined below).
The dissertation is the greater part of the Heritage (MRes), as students have the opportunity to conceive and research a topic of their own design of greater length and depth than the MA dissertation.
This enables those students with a greater preference for independent research, and perhaps with a clearer sense at the start of the programme of what they would like to base their research upon, to undertake in-depth research within a structured programme of study. It will also provide students with an excellent introductory pathway into further research at MPhil or PhD level.
Compulsory
(30 credits)
Optional
(30 credits)
(15 credits)
(15 credits)
(15 credits)
(30 credits)
Disclaimer
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We listen to student feedback and insights from industry and from professionals to ensure that course content is high-quality and up-to-date, and that it offers the best possible preparation for your future career or study goals.
For this reason, there might be modifications to the content of your course over time, to keep up to date with changes in the subject area or in the sector. If a module is no longer running, we’ll make sure to keep you informed, and work with you to choose a different suitable module.
Ratings and Rankings
Staff
Our People
You will be taught and supported by a wide range of professional staff and teams here to help you get the university experience you are looking for. Our teaching staff were ranked 2nd in Wales for assessments and feedback (NSS 2023) meaning the comments you get back from your work will help you learn. Our commitment to your learning has seen our students place us as Top 10 in the UK for Lecturers and Teaching Quality. Find out more about our academic staff who teach across our courses.
Further information
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Applicants are expected to have a good first degree (a first or upper second), although every application is considered in its own merit, so places may be offered on the basis of professional qualification and relevant experiences.
The traditional requirement for entry onto a Level 7 programme is a 2.1 or 1st class undergraduate degree. In addition, the School encourages students with an equivalent and appropriate professional qualification or significant and relevant professional experience to apply.
Applicants are required to discuss their proposed research with the Programme Director before application, and the proposed research must be in one of the areas of supervision outlined above.
Proficiency in English of candidates whose first language is not Welsh or English is normally evidenced by a minimum IELTS score (or equivalent) of 6.0 with no less than 5.5 in each component. -
The programme draws upon a wide range of assessment techniques, which aim to produce historians with a multifaceted set of skills and knowledge. Modules concentrate in particular on essay-writing, but also include the following assessments: book reviews; reflective journals; posters and source commentaries.
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Students may spend up to £300 per year on books and additional related materials.
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You may be eligible for funding to help support your study. To find out about scholarships, bursaries and other funding opportunities that are available, please visit our Bursaries and Scholarships section.
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The programme provides a broad foundation for postgraduate work, by laying particular stress on the methodologies and research tools needed for independent advanced study, thus acting as training for students who intend to undertake an MPhil or PhD.