MA in the Conservation of Archaeological and Museum Objects

The MA in the Conservation of Archaeological and Museum Objects course is now full for 2013/15. If you are interested in making an application please do not do so at this time. Contact Helen Wood, Postgraduate Secretary at helen.wood@durham.ac.uk for further details about our waiting list.

Overview

Our two year, full time MA in the Conservation of Archaeological and Museum Objects is a professional training course led by the Dr Chris Caple, the only trained field archaeologist and conservator in the world, in a department that counts two Fellows of the International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works among its academic staff. This programme is designed to give you the skills you will need to work as an archaeological and museum conservator, including researching, analysing, cleaning, preserving, and caring for a broad range of objects. You will graduate equipped with a sound knowledge and critical understanding of current professional principles, good practice and contemporary debates in conservation.

Within the first few days of the course, you will be engaged in hands-on work, recording, research and conserving archaeological and museum objects. You will develop these skills with expert in-house tuition, before opting for either a nine-month industrial placement in the conservation laboratory of a major British or overseas museum, or to undertake a conservation research project using the facilities of Durham University. This work experience ensures that upon graduation you have the skills and confidence required by employers in the conservation and heritage sectors. In addition, our course provides you with a diverse range of highly transferable skills relevant to a large number of jobs within the heritage sector and beyond.

Facts

Find out more about entry requirements, mode of study, duration of the course, and tuition fees here. (Note: this link will direct you to the University's central course tool. Use the link provided to return to the Department of Archaeology homepage.)

An additional requirement for the MA in the Conservation of Archaeological and Museum Objects: All students need to be able to accurately distinguish between colours and safely handle objects, scalpels, and other conservation tools. Students may be required to undertake tests to ascertain the levels of some of these skills if they are invited to visit.

Find out more about specific Archaeology funding packages available.

How will I be taught?

This is a two year course made up of six modules. You can opt for one of two pathways:

Pathway One

In Year One, between October and June, you will study four modules that are core to the course and are classroom and lab based. Over the summer period, from July to September, you will undertake a fifth core module.

In Year Two, you will undertake a nine-month Professional Practice placement in the conservation laboratory of a major museum. Some of these placements will be overseas, and all placements are arranged following a discussion between yourself and the Course Convenor. Based on this work placement, you will produce a portfolio of conservation work.

Pathway Two

If you opt for this pathway, you will undertake the same courses in Year One as your peers in Pathway One. In Year Two, instead of taking up a work placement in the professional sector, you will complete a seven-month research period in the Archaeology Department labs and produce a Master's Dissertation on a research topic of your choice, agreed in consultation with the Course Convenor.

What will I be studying?

All students take the following five modules:

Year One core modules:

• Conservation Theory
• Artefact Studies
• Conservation Skills
• Care of Collections

Over the summer period:

• Conservation Practice: a ten-week intensive lab-based course, undertaking the hands-on conservation of more complex objects under the watchful eye of a professional conservator.

All students then choose one of the following optional modules:

• Professional Practice: This takes place through a nine-month industrial placement in the conservation laboratory of an approved major museum or archaeological unit.
• Dissertation: Usually based in our conservation laboratories, you will research and write up a dissertation of 18,000 words on a topic relevant to conservation, chosen by you and approved by your academic supervisor.

Who will teach me?

Dr Chris Caple is a Senior Lecturer and has been the director of the postgraduate programme in artefact conservation here since 1988. He is actively teaching, researching and publishing on conservation, analysing and ancient artefacts, and has been directing and publishing materials on archaeological excavations since 1982. He is the author of Conservation Skills: Judgment, Method and Decision Making and Objects: Reluctant Witnesses to the Past, and the editor of Preventative Conservation in Museums - all of which are used widely as textbooks.

Jennifer Jones has been a practising archaeological conservator for over thirty years and, until recently, was the English Heritage Conservator of the North of England.

The course also uses a number of visiting lectureres, experts in their fields, as well as the staff of the Oriental Museum and the Old Fulling Mill Museum of Archaeology, notably Dr Craig Barclay and Helen Armstrong.

What is my next step?

For further information on applying for the MA in the Conservation of Archaeological and Museum Objects, please visit How to Apply.

All home/EU applicants offered a place on the MA in the Conservation of Archaeological and Museum Objects course will be asked to pay a £500 deposit by 1 April 2013. For offers made by the department after 1 April 2013, each applicant will have 4 weeks to pay the £500 deposit from date on the official offer letter. This £500 deposit will be deducted from the first instalment of fees after starting the course in September 2013. Please note, that this £500 deposit will only be refunded in the event of the applicant not meeting their conditions set out in the official offer letter.

All overseas applicants offered a place on the MA in the Conservation of Archaeological and Museum Objects course will be asked to pay a £1000 deposit no later than 6 weeks following any emailed official offer letter. Please note, that this £1000 deposit will only be refunded in the event of the applicant failing to meet their conditions set out in the official offer letter or refusal of a visa for entry to the UK. This £1000 deposit will be deducted from the first instalment of fees after starting the course in September 2013. Please ensure that you read this information concerning the deposit.

The course leader, Dr Chris Caple, is well qualified. He has successfully led the previous MA course, having masterminded the conversion from the Diploma course in 1990. He has responded to changes in conservation, and has himself been responsible for two key books on the subject as well as many contributions to journals and conferences. His wide experience as a digging archaeologist, a metals technologist and as a conservator uniquely qualify him as a teacher of this diverse subject.

External Course Validator, Mr Mike Corfield, previously Chief Scientist for English Heritage