Please publicise and circulate to students and colleagues who may be
interested.  Apologies for any cross-posting.

Graham Dawson
(Uni of Brighton)


MA (PgCert, PgDip) IN CULTURAL MEMORY

a pathway on the postgraduate programme in Histories and Cultures based in
the School of Historical and Critical Studies, University of Brighton

Places are still available for full- or part-time study on this course
beginning 26 September 2005.  The School of Historical and Critical Studies
has a national and international reputation as a top-quality department for
teaching and research.  It was awarded the maximum score of 24 in the
Teaching Quality Assessment of 2001, and is located within the Faculty of
Arts and Architecture which achieved a 5 rating in the 2001 Research
Assessment Exercise.  


The MA in Cultural Memory explores distinctive approaches to questions of
history-making, historical consciousness and the cultural significance of
'the past' developed in the evolving interdisciplinary field of 'memory
studies'.  It focuses on the social, cultural and political processes that
produce 'a sense of the past' for particular societies and social groups;
and the inter-relation between these collective, 'public' dimensions of
remembering and forgetting, and the domain of 'personal' memory.  It
develops a critical investigation of the key concepts and theories that
define 'cultural memory' as a new object of study, and of the key themes and
issues entailed: the representation of the past, and of the past-present
relationship, in diverse cultural practices and forms (oral, textual, visual
and digital);  the role of cultural memories in the formation of beliefs,
ideologies and identities; conflict over the significance of the past; the
relation between memory and politics; the relation between cultural and
psychological dimensions of memory; memory and place; cultural memories and
historical truth; and the ethics of remembering and forgetting.  These
general, critical concerns are brought to bear in the study of cultural
memories in particular socio-historical contexts, and of specific practices
and representations of memory in diverse sites, forms and media. 


Components of the course: 
A Core Course, Cultural Memory: Concepts, Theories and Methods. Taken in
Term One, this establishes the field of enquiry, the themes, issues and
questions that characterize it, and the theories and methods of its
investigation. 

Two Option units:  Holocaust Memory and Cultural Memory and Conflict
Resolution: The Irish Troubles.  Students either follow the recommended
route through the pathway by taking both these units, taught in in Terms Two
and Three respectively; or may substitute one 'free option' chosen from the
wider Histories and Cultures programme or other MAs taught within the School
and the University (notably the MA in Cultural and Critical Theory, the MA
in History of Decorative Arts and Design, and the MA in Sport and Leisure
Cultures).

A Research Methods unit.  This prepares students to undertake and complete
an extended research project. Students are introduced to a range of relevant
research methods in the humanities which inform the interdisciplinary study
of Histories and Cultures; and are guided towards the formulation of a
research topic with clear aims, methodology and sources, and a rationale for
their intended treatment of the topic.  

A Research Project, normally leading to the production of a 20,000-word
dissertation (although the use of alternative modes of presentation - for
example, the production of a video, an exhibition or a CD-Rom - is also
possible, subject to agreement.) The culmination of the postgraduate degree
experience, the Research Project enables students to develop individual
research and presentational skills by investigating in depth a topic of
their own choice, relevant to the broad concerns of the Cultural Memory
pathway or the Histories and Cultures programme as a whole.  


Postgraduate Certificate and Diploma 
Applicants may enroll directly onto these awards, studying the Core Course
plus one Option for the Certificate, and the Core Course plus two Options
for the Diploma; with the opportunity to progress onto the MA.  


The Histories and Cultures programme
The broader postgraduate programme in Histories and Cultures is concerned
with the cultural practices and media of 'history-making'; with the cultural
representation and interpretation of 'history'; and with the role of
constructions of 'the past' within cultural and social formations. The
programme is grounded in current inter-disciplinary  methodologies  informed
by cultural and critical theory.  The course  team's areas of expertise lie
within social, cultural and political history, cultural studies, literary
studies, film and visual studies, the history of art, architecture and
design, and the history of ideas.  In ethos the programme develops a
connexion between critical understanding and analysis of the origins, forms
and effects of cultural constructions of history, with a practical,
'hands-on' emphasis upon the skills and methods involved in the making of
new historical accounts and representations. The interdisciplinary interests
of the programme span a wide range of cultural forms and practices,
including oral history, life history and auto/biography; written history;
imaginative literature; archival documents and records; commemoration;
heritage; architecture and the built environment; material artefacts and
monuments; museums and exhibitions; the visual arts including painting and
photography; graphic design; film, and  video.  The programme provides
opportunities to study histories and cultures at local and regional levels
(focused on Brighton and Hove, Sussex, South-East England), as well as the
national and the global; including primary research in the South-East Film
and Video Archive and the Design Archive (both based in the University), and
in other local archives and collections (including Brighton and Hove museums
and the Mass-Observation Archive).  Those who successfully complete an MA
may transfer their registration to undertake DPhil or PhD research as either
full-time or part-time research students.  Doctoral supervision is available
within the School and the Faculty in all the areas covered by the Histories
and Cultures programme.


Further Information
For an application form and further information about the programme,
including details of entry requirements, application procedure, time
commitment, teaching arrangements, and fees, contact:

Verity Clarkson,
Course Administrator,
Postgraduate Programme in Histories and Cultures,
School of Historical and Critical Studies,
University of Brighton,
10-11, Pavilion Parade,
Brighton, 
BN2 1RA.
UK.

telephone: [00 44] (0)1273  643089 
email: <[log in to unmask]>