Art History: Dress and Textile Histories

Background

MLitt Art History: Dress & Textile Histories offers you the opportunity to explore and advance knowledge relevant to the specialist concepts and techniques in this discipline. The programme provides learning experiences which will enable you to apply your thinking creatively in exploiting the potential of specialist knowledge and understanding for research and in a professional working environment.

The MLitt Dress & Textile Histories has close links with the Centre for Textile Conservation and Technical Art History. The current programme builds on the approaches and expertise which informed the pathway 'History of Textiles & Dress' previously taught at the Textile Conservation Centre, University of Southampton. This itself was a development of the innovative and internationally recognised MA History of Textiles Dress developed by Dr Lesley Miller and Barbara Burman.

This taught postgraduate course with provide a unique opportunity within the United Kingdom to study historic dress and textiles. Underpinning the course will privileged access to primary source material, including objects and archives, at the University of Glasgow and Glasgow Museums.

Through the programme, we aim to provide you with: 

• the opportunity to develop your knowledge and understanding of theory and practice in dress & textile histories in a critical and/or historical context
• the opportunity to undertake specialist research
• the opportunity to undertake object-centred learning
• the opportunity to debate current issues with students in cognate disciplines
• a supportive framework for the development of critical thinking in relation to the collection, curation, interpretation and preservation of artefacts or their research 
• the opportunity to foster the necessary broad understanding of both the interpretation and preservation of collections to enable you to work professionally with cultural material, whether in museums, galleries, historic houses or similar organisations or to become an effective researcher and user of such collections, balancing the provision of access to collections with the need to preserve them
• the opportunities to enable you to establish a self-motivated and creative approach to research and professional practice
• the opportunity to develop experience in research and professional practice in order to enhance your future employability

Glasgow is the ideal city in which to study dress and textile history. Not only does Scotland have a rich textile history offering many opportunities for research, but there are internationally significant dress collections close by. The programme has close links with collections within the University, including the Hunterian Museum and Glasgow University Archive Services, as well as with outstanding local museums such as Glasgow Museums (Burrell Collection and Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum), National Museums Scotland (National Museum of Costume at Shambellie House), and Paisley Museum and Art Gallery.