Master of Fine Arts in Contemporary Curating

at Manchester Metropolitan University United Kingdom

The innovative BSc (Hons) Fashion Business and Management is responding to the needs of the rapidly evolving global fashion industry where the customer is steering businesses to think and act smarter.

By joining the BSc (Hons) Fashion Business and Management, you will take a journey that will put you at the forefront of current thinking within the fashion industry and prepare you to excel as a graduate and a future leader. Successful companies are putting their customer at the heart of the brand. Marketing, buying, merchandising, data insight, digital channels and in store have to work together to design a service to bring about a total customer experience.  This requires fashion graduates with the vision, entreprenuerial thinking, business management and marketing skillsets to be successful within this vibrant industry.

By completing the program students will also be awarded the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) Diploma in Management and Leadership, a business standard, valued by employers in the UK and Internationally.

Placement options
At Manchester Fashion Institute, employability is at the heart of our teaching. All of our undergraduate courses offer an optional sandwich year route that gives you the opportunity to apply for an industry placement between your second and final year. If you choose this route, you will commit to working full-time in the fashion industry for the entirety of your third year, before returning to complete your degree in your fourth year.

A placement year is an incredibly valuable element of your course as it allows you to apply your university-based knowledge, skills and understanding to your job role. During your placement, you will make your own industry contacts and enhance your CV by gaining real-world industry experience. Currently, 40% of our student cohort take part in a one-year full-time industry placement.

We have a dedicated placement team with over three decades of experience sourcing and securing outstanding placement opportunities. They will provide you with extensive support and advice prior to and during your industry placement.

Placement opportunities are available both in the UK and internationally, with students previously working in countries such as Austria, Germany, Norway, Hong Kong SAR, Sri Lanka and the USA.

MA Design Innovation considers how design acts as a catalyst for innovation, leading to new products, services and user experiences. It focusses on design thinking approaches, to address contemporary societal and business challenges to develop a rich understanding of where design can add value. It will provide you with the skills to strategically apply design to solve complex problems in the global market.

The application of design thinking is explored with the latest research and practice in design innovation, design management and design strategy, that supports you to develop a holistic view of design and creatively apply the theory in your specialist area. Design research, empathy and user-centered development are at the core of the program that reveals unmet user needs and, in turn, generate insights that lead to desirable products and services in a commercial and societal context.

The course provides a balance of theory and practices through a series of lectures, seminars, workshops, cross-disciplinary collaborations, research visits and live projects to provide you with comprehensive knowledge of design innovation while giving practical skills to excel professionally.

This course will challenge your perceptions, ideas and understanding of sport coaching and development. You’ll journey into the world of sport, exploring the key theories around the subject and developing the practical skills to put them into action.

Our sport coaching and development program has been designed to build your knowledge in a broad range of areas, from coaching practice and techniques, to sport history, sociology and sport development.

Study at Manchester Met and you’ll be supported throughout your degree by an experienced team of academics, with access to subject experts and practitioners who work within the coaching and sport development sectors. You’ll learn in world-class facilities, including Platt Lane Sports Complex and our new £26m Institute of Sport building.

With our extensive network of national and regional sports organisations, you will also have the opportunity to learn in an applied setting through securing work placements within and outside the UK, helping to lay the foundations for your future career.

The BA (Hons) Fashion Promotion course offers an exploratory and dynamic approach to studying promotion in the fashion industry. This distinctive course covers fashion promotion skills, visual and creative processes, underpinned with business content and cultural and contextual theory.

The flexible design of this course will allow you to explore creative areas such as fashion photography and film, digital communication, fashion styling, social media, website design, journalism and brand communication. You will be expected to explore your field of study through research, investigation and independent practice. The business elements of the course will encourage you to engage with entrepreneurial processes and practical activity, allowing you to apply your knowledge and skills to live professional and industry briefs.

You will have the opportunity to benefit from real-world learning experiences during study trips both in the UK and internationally. Previously, students have travelled to London, New York, Copenhagen and Shanghai as part of the course and have visited industry head offices, educational partners, studios, galleries and trade shows.   

We also offer a four-year sandwich route option that gives you the opportunity to spend your third year on an industry placement to enhance your employability.

You will complete the course with a strong, industry-ready portfolio of work relevant to your career preferences. Graduates will be able to apply for positions in areas such as online marketing, public relations, brand management, styling, and events. 

Placement options

At Manchester Fashion Institute, employability is at the heart of our teaching. All of our undergraduate courses offer an optional sandwich year route that gives you the opportunity to apply for an industry placement between your second and final year. If you choose this route and are successful in the application process, you will commit to working full-time in the fashion industry for the entirety of your third year, before returning to complete your degree in your fourth year.

A placement year is an incredibly valuable element of your course as it allows you to apply your university-based knowledge, skills and understanding to your job role. Should you undertake a placement, you will make your own industry contacts and enhance your CV by gaining industry experience.

We have a dedicated placement team with over three decades of experience sourcing and securing outstanding placement opportunities. They will provide you with extensive support and advice prior to and during your industry placement.

Placement opportunities are available both in the UK and internationally, with students previously working in countries such as Austria, Germany, Norway, Hong Kong SAR, Sri Lanka and the USA.

Whether it’s a successful start-up or a blue-chip company, every organization across the globe needs people with strong business skills.

Studying business with law presents you with a world of opportunities. With an understanding of the legal structures that any business has to navigate, you’ll be a valuable addition to many large organizations. With strong business knowledge and skills, you’ll also be ready for a range of management roles in the legal sector.

You’ll learn fundamental skills like team-working, strategy and commercial awareness, get the benefit of excellent industry links and build the entrepreneurial skills that make great leaders, and great careers.

Study Abroad
Instead of a placement, you’ll have the opportunity to spend up to a year overseas, studying with one of our partner institutions across Europe, or beyond. Go abroad in the third year of your degree, and you’ll not only learn about other cultures, improve your language skills and discover more about yourself – you’ll also boost your career prospects. Having first-hand knowledge of another country’s cultures and traditions can take you far in a range of careers. And, by going abroad you’ll also demonstrate the kind of independent spirit and adaptability that many employers want.

Graphic Design is a hands-on, ideas-driven studio-based course where you will learn a variety of approaches to visual communication. Distinctive creative personalities are nurtured and the unconventional is actively encouraged.

After developing your creative visual language in Year 1, you will be able to apply your skills to a range of personal and industry-related projects in Year 2. Your final year will see you develop a professional portfolio that reflects your personal interests and individual career aspirations.

At all stages of the course we focus on contemporary and relevant design that embraces intellectual curiosity and design as an experience. You have the opportunity to connect with industry, either through visiting speakers, live briefs or work experience.

Based at the Manchester Metropolitan University Q-Step Centre in the Department of Sociology, this MSc approaches the study of quantitative methods in an innovative way. Right now, there is a demand for graduates with quantitative skills, and it is a demand our students are equipped to meet. Students studying on this MSc will be ready to pursue a career involving quantitative research skills within a diverse range of organisations. Students will also be prepared for doctoral study, which requires advanced skills on quantitative methods recognised by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and other research councils.

The course focuses on the development and application of key quantitative methods and analytical techniques. It focuses on the use of quantitative methods within real-world contexts and a key aim is to develop graduates' career-ready skills in this field.

Manchester Met’s Q-Step Centre is recognised as a centre for excellence in the teaching and training of quantitative methods, with a national and global reputation for its pedagogy. It has innovative research partnerships with a range of local organisations, and the community research projects run by the centre look to build on current knowledge to develop new strategies, aimed at empowering and transforming communities.  You will be taught by research-active academics from Q-Step and other multidisciplinary research centres including Policy Evaluation and Research Unit (PERU), Manchester Centre for Youth Studies, Big Data Centre in Sociology Department and this real-world research feeds directly into what they will be taught. The international research experience of the centre is embedded into the course content and delivery of the course is enhanced by incorporating cross-comparative survey data in lab activities and assessments. You will also have the opportunity to do your dissertation in collaboration with projects being carried out with these centres' international research partners. You will also be exposed to a variety of different perspectives and views within the discipline through lectures, seminars, talks and workshops delivered or co-delivered by international experts.

MFA Contemporary Curating explores the notion of exhibition practice in contemporary culture and considers curatorial methods and strategies in the context of the gallery and museum, as well as in projects such as biennials, public artworks and commissions. The course considers ways in which different kinds of artworks and projects are mediated through the exhibition process.

The shifting relationship between artist-institution-curator-critic/writer forms a central element to the course. The course also explores the potential of seeing curating as something that can be applied to different forms of knowledge: publications, symposia, events and interventions.

Product designers at Manchester Met explore why, examine how, and ask ‘what if?’ We are investigative and critically responsive to human and global needs, developing innovative design-led solutions that connect the consumer experience of products, systems and services. As a product design student, you will be creative with purpose, gaining critical understanding of the emergent issues affecting design across society and culture, learning how to be a designer of products that enhance functionality, interactions and relationships with people and the places we inhabit.

 You will develop essential skills in creative methods, research, design thinking, prototyping and design strategy, applying design intelligence to the creation of new product opportunities and solutions. You will discover how to design products that embrace both traditional and contemporary approaches to production and manufacturing, generating value through the application of materials, processes, and technologies. This course will enable you to produce innovative crafted design solutions and develop the creative and professional skills required to support a sustainable career in product design.

Product Design at Manchester Met builds on the success of our previous programme, BA Three Dimensional Design, which has produced influential and award-winning graduates including designer and architect Thomas Heatherwick, jeweller Ruth Tomlinson and ceramicist Joe Hartley.

The Joint Honours BA (Hons) English and Philosophy course route is distinctive because of its richly interdisciplinary approach to key ethical and intellectual challenges. BA (Hons) English and Philosophy is a popular Joint Honours combination which brings together two subjects with highly complementary approaches and interests.

As well as offering a balance of core and optional units rooted in each of the two subjects, this course has been designed so that your growing knowledge and skills in each subject will help you develop a distinctive perspective and distinctive strengths in the other. You may have opportunities to study abroad and, if you wish, can take your third year as a placement – in Britain or abroad. In your final year, you will have a chance to explore your interests in depth with a substantial piece of project work that presents a thesis, building on the knowledge and skills you've been developing over previous years.

The English and philosophy subject groups are staffed by internationally renowned writers and academics, and there’s a strong research culture, creating a learning environment that is both supportive and intellectually challenging. We pride ourselves on our excellent teaching and highly positive student feedback. And with our extensive cultural links both in Manchester and further afield, you are in the right place to begin building a network for your future.

The philosophy at Manchester Metropolitan is a centre of internationally recognised research, covering the History of Philosophy, critical social theories, Philosophy of Art, Metaphysics, Philosophy of Education, History and Philosophy of Science, and much more. We pride ourselves on covering Anglo-American and Continental European philosophy, and many of our research-active staff are regularly invited to give keynote papers at international conferences and workshops. Our teaching is research-led, so you can be sure you’re learning from experts at the forefront of various philosophical disciplines.

Placement options
You may have the chance to spend a year getting a taste of professional life. It is an opportunity to develop core skills and explore how this course can relate to the graduate world, and it shows employers that you’re ready to get to work.

Students are free to choose Placement opportunities from a wide range of roles both in the UK and abroad. Students choosing this option are supported by a dedicated placement team who provide links to employers through presentations, events, and fairs, and provide a specialist programme of guidance on recruitment procedures including CV and interview preparation, as well as work readiness and working overseas.