Heritage, MA

​​The first time we meet, during Welcome Week (14 - 18 September 2026), you and your fellow students will receive key information to help you settle in Canterbury and prepare you for starting your studies. 

From day 1 you will join our community and become active participants in an evolving area of study that shapes how we conceive of the world around us.

​Students come to this degree from a range of backgrounds and with a range of experiences, all of which offer unique approaches to the study of heritage.

We are all fully committed to supporting you and helping you achieve your goals. At the welcome event you will also have time to meet your Personal Academic Tutor who will help support you, and identify how to make the most of your time with us.

Your Course

The academic year is split into 3 Trimesters:

• Trimester 1 - September to January
• Trimester 2 - January to May
• Trimester 3 - May to September

In your first trimester all students will take the module Stories of Ourselves. Full time students will also take Hands-on Heritage. 

Stories of Ourselves lays the contextualising groundwork for the MA helping you recognise the interdisciplinary nature of the discipline, while Hands-on Heritage is a very practical module that will develop your digital and practical skills.

Each of these modules is team taught by a range of specialists.

Each module will be delivered through a three-hour session of lecture, seminar, fieldtrips, or practical classes.

Blackboard

Blackboard, our Virtual Learning Environment, will be at the heart of your modules. You will be guided through an overview of each session, preparation you will need to undertake prior to your taught sessions, and a store of resources that will support your learning. 

To help you prepare

If you are new to Higher Education, or have been away a while you might want to check out the Learning Skills Hub and review modules in Writing Skills, Referencing Skills and Academic Integrity.

There is nothing compulsory you have to do before you join us. However, if you would like to look at some core reading we recommend the following:

• ​​Harrison, Rodney, Caitlin DeSilvey, Cornelius Holtorf, Sharon Macdonald, Nadia Bartolini, Esther Breithoff, Harald Fredheim, et al. (2020) Heritage Futures: Comparative Approaches to Natural and Cultural Heritage Practices. UCL Press, https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv13xps9m

• ​Schofield, John, Wicked Problems for Archaeologists: Heritage as Transformative Practice (Oxford, 2024)

• ​Simon, Nina The Participatory Museum

• ​Smith, Laura. 2006. Uses of heritage. New York: Routledge.

Otherwise go to Museums, look at the places around you, think about how we conceive of heritage, what that includes and how that is presented in the world around you.