MA Arts, Culture and the Environment

• Environmental Governance MSc
• Education for a Sustainable Environment MA (1 year)
• Nature Recovery, Restoration and Rewilding MSc (1 year)

Use the links below to view lists of courses in related subject areas.

• School of Arts, Languages and Cultures
• English Literature, American Studies and Creative Writing

We normally expect a 2:1 Honours degree or above (or overseas equivalent) in an arts, humanities or social sciences subject.

If you do not meet our academic entry qualification criterion, your admission may still be approved if satisfactory evidence of 3 or more years of relevant professional experience can be provided. This may include, for example, working in the heritage sector, for charities and non-profits centred on the arts, or within the museum sector.

Students will need to be able to demonstrate competency in the English language and students who do not already possess a recognised English Language qualification will need to take a test such as IELTS or TOEFL and attain a minimum equivalent of IELTS 7 (with 7 in writing and no sub test < 6.5) for direct entry.

If you do not currently have an English Language qualification at the required level then it may be possible to arrange a pre-sessional course, the duration of which will depend on your current English language qualification. For pre-sessional entry, you must not have any scores < 6.0. For more information on the pre-sessional English language courses please visit the Universities Language Centre website.

Some English Language test results are only valid for two years. Your English Language test report must be valid on the start date of the course.

For entry in the academic year beginning September 2026, the tuition fees are as follows:

• MA (full-time)
  UK students (per annum): £14,700
  International, including EU, students (per annum): £29,900
• MA (part-time)
  UK students (per annum): £7,350
  International, including EU, students (per annum): £14,950

Further information for EU students can be found on our dedicated EU page.

All students should normally be able to complete their course without incurring additional study costs over and above the tuition fee for that course. Any unavoidable additional compulsory costs totalling more than 1% of the annual home undergraduate fee per annum, regardless of whether the course in question is undergraduate or postgraduate taught, will be made clear to you at the point of application. Further information can be found in the University's Policy on additional costs incurred by students on undergraduate and postgraduate taught courses (PDF document, 91KB).

All students should normally be able to complete their programme of study without incurring additional study costs over and above the tuition fee for that programme. Any unavoidable additional compulsory costs totalling more than 1% of the annual home undergraduate fee per annum, regardless of whether the programme in question is undergraduate or postgraduate taught, will be made clear to you at the point of application. Further information can be found in the University's Policy on additional costs incurred by students on undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes (PDF document, 91KB).

• Information on university funding, loans, and scholarships available on the Masters student funding page .
• The Faculty of Humanities offered a range of scholarship opportunities for eligible applicants starting in September 2025. Please check back to confirm availability for September 2026 start.
• Please visit the school funding page for more information on subject funding available.
• Other funding for EU and international students is on our country-specific pages .

The course director will assess each application and may request a writing sample and/or an interview as part of the decision making process.

The University will take into account the academic standing of a candidate's University, as advised by our international office using published world and country rankings.

Applicants may defer entry for 12 months provided they contact the course administrators (MASALC@manchester.ac.uk ) before Welcome Week in September. Pleasenote thatapplicants are subject to the fees for the entryyear they willstart the course.

Throughout the course you will have the option to gain expertise in areas including English and American Studies, History, Drama and Film, Art History and Cultural Practices, and Modern Languages and Cultures. The course puts flexibility at its centre; the range of subjects on offer and made cohesive by the central theme of the environment.

The masters will require a total of 180 credits, of which 60 credits will be obtained by dissertation.

Two core units–Critical Ecologies and Creative Ecologies—introduce you to key themes, contexts and methods for studying the intersection of arts, culture and the environment.

Critical Ecologies allows students to develop informed, diverse ways of thinking about the complex human and multispecies relations that are at stake in the histories and futurities of the climate crisis.

Creative Ecologies is taught through workshops and field trips. It is designed to let students experiment with different art-based and cultural methods for engaging a variety of publics with issues of environment and climate change. The dissertation gives students the opportunity to pursue a self-designed research project in the area of arts, culture and the environment.

Students select the rest of their units from a range of environmentally focussed optional course units taught by different subject areas within the School of Arts, Languages and Cultures.

This MA course consists of core and optional course units and a dissertation, made up of 180 credits.

Optional units build on the knowledge and understanding you have gained in the core units, and enable you to develop expertise in a range of domains. Please note that optional units can vary from year to year.

Full-time students take 60 credits of optional course units. Part-time students take 30 credits of optional course units each year.

Dissertation:

You will undertake a 12,000-word dissertation (or equivalent for practice-based dissertations) during the summer, with individual supervision by staff members. Your choice of course units and dissertation topic will enable you to specialise in areas such as environmental history, environment and cultural heritage, environment and the arts, or literary ecologies depending on your preferred career paths and/or research interests.

The course unit details given below are subject to change, and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this course of study.

Practical support and advice for current students and applicants is available from the Disability Advisory and Support Service. Email: dass@manchester.ac.uk