Distance Learning: The Country House

• Benefits of distance learning
• How distance learning works

Choose your level of study

If you know from the outset that you can’t, or don’t, want to commit to a full MA you can apply for the Postgraduate Certificate or Postgraduate Diploma only. Similarly, if you enrol on the full MA programme and you opt to leave early, you may still be awarded the Postgraduate Certificate or Postgraduate Diploma.

Perhaps you don’t want a formal qualification but would just like to study one 'taster' module on this course for interest ('The Country House in History'), subject to availability.

Entry requirements

You should normally hold at least a good second-class honours degree or its equivalent in any Arts or Humanities subject – including but not limited to History, Art History, English Literature, Archaeology, Modern Languages, Museum Studies or Cultural Studies. We usually require a minimum of a 2.1, but we can also consider other applications where you might be asked to provide a sample of written work. If you are in any doubt, please get in touch with us using the contact details below.

Applications from those without a degree qualification but possessing experience in relevant fields particularly in some aspect of the ‘heritage industry’ are welcomed. You may be required to write a qualifying essay to demonstrate your ability to work with confidence at postgraduate level.

Structure

You can build the programme up from a Module (30 credits) to a Postgraduate Certificate (60 credits) to a Postgraduate Diploma (120 credits) and then a full Masters (180 credits), provided you complete the programme within four years of starting your first module.

You will start with the core module 'The Country House in History' and add options to build towards the qualification of your choice:

+ 1 module = Postgraduate Certificate

+ 3 modules = Postgraduate Diploma

+ 3 modules + dissertation = Masters

Modules

Core module

• The Country House in History (October-December)

Elective modules (three from the following)

• The Country House and its Landscapes (October-December)
• The Country House and the Collecting of Art in Great Britain: Evolution and Dispersal (February-April)
• The Country House in Film and Television (February-April)
• The Country House: Management, Preservation, Education (July summer school)

Each module is worth 30 credits. The dissertation is worth 60 credits

Teaching and assessment methods

There are several ‘modes’ of programme delivery, including both old-fashioned print and modern learning technologies. Each module includes a printed Study Guide, which explain the key issues and debates. The Study Guides include case studies, research questions, self-assessment exercises and guides to further reading. You work through them at your own pace and can go back over subjects at your leisure.

Each module is also supported by a Virtual Learning Environment (Blackboard). This is where you will ‘meet’ other students and engage in discussion and debate – a form of online seminar if you like. Your tutor will create and moderate weekly discussion threads relating to the course, to which all students are invited to contribute. We can also use this forum for posting ‘news’ items, such as interesting new books and exhibitions, or announcements of public lectures and the like.