MA Critical and Cultural Theory

Programme overview

Entry requirements

Entry Requirements are available on the Course Search entry

Programme specification

This programme offers an introduction to some of the major paradigms in cultural theory and analysis, such as semiology, psychoanalysis, feminism, deconstruction, postcolonial theory, and Frankfurt School approaches to the aesthetic, the media and technology. The degree is necessarily interdisciplinary and equips students with several critical ‘tool kits’ for analysing cultural artefacts and practices. At the same time, it stresses the long history of cultural criticism and theories of culture that have emerged since the Enlightenment.

You will develop your skills in close analysis: your ability to identify and unpack the key elements of a critical work or cultural artefact. This attention to textuality, broadly defined, constitutes a crucial link between theory and practice, such that the line between critical and creative cultural work is no longer determinative.

Cultural studies emerged as a discipline in the mid-20th century as a critical, scholarly response to the social movements of the time – anti-colonial struggles, the civil rights movement and feminism – and as a rigorous study of the relations between culture and class. This course began in 1987, when an interdisciplinary MA in Cultural Studies was founded at Leeds. From the outset, the degree emphasised the theoretical, philosophical and historical aspects of cultural studies. The name was changed to better reflect this approach, and it continues to draw students from across the arts and humanities who are interested in a broad range of objects and genres including literature, film, visual arts, performance, music and philosophy.

The School of Fine Art, History of Art and Cultural Studies has an ambitious interdisciplinary ethos, an active fine art community, a critically and politically engaged social history of art degree and a dynamic museum studies course. While this rich context is one of its defining characteristics, the MA in Critical and Cultural Theory is not limited to a consideration of art and aesthetics. Our approach is also informed by other cultural forms, such as text, music and popular culture and critical traditions – from literary criticism and semiology to new thinking on technology, gender, race and the posthuman.

The School houses parallax, published by Taylor & Francis, an international journal of cultural theory and analysis.

Year 1

[Learning Outcomes, Transferable (Key) Skills, Assessment]
View Timetable

Compulsory Modules

Candidates will be required to study the following compulsory modules

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
ARTF5020M	Cultural Theory	30	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
ARTF5034M	MA Dissertation	60	1 Oct to 30 Sep (12mth)
ARTF5110M	Cultural History	30	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)

Optional Modules

In Semester 1, candidates will be required to study 30 credits from either Basket 1 or Basket 2. Note that the list is indicative, and may change year by year:
Basket 1

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
ARTF5051M	Intersecting Practices: Questioning the Intersection of Contemporary Art and Heritage	30	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
ARTF5063M	Postcolonial Feminisms	30	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
ARTF5195M	Unmaking Things: Materials and Ideas in the European Renaissance	30	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)

Basket 2:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
ARTF5001M	Derrida and Deconstruction	30	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
ARTF5011M	Jewish Museums and the Display of Cultural Difference	30	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
ARTF5042M	Art, Ecology and Empire	30	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
ARTF5069M	Art & Money: the modern and contemporary art markets	30	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)

In Semester 2 candidates will be required to study 30 credits from either Basket 3 or Basket 4. Note that the list is indicative, and may change year by year:

Basket 3

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
ARTF5033M	Aesthetics and Politics	30	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
ARTF5191M	Anthropology, Art and Representation	30	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
ARTF5256M	Collecting and Curating Popular Culture	30	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)

Basket 4

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
ARTF5188M	Engendering East Asia: Feminisms and Contemporary Art	30	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
ARTF5211M	The Cultural Politics of Artificial Intelligence	30	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
ARTF5258M	After Authoritarianism	30	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
ARTF5802M	Placements in Context: Policy, Organizations and Practice	30	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)

Last updated: 30/04/2026 15:53:30

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