Denise Courcoux

Museum manager and art critic

Course: MA Art Gallery and Museum Studies, Part Time, 2012-14

I came to the Art Gallery and Museum Studies course at The University of Manchester as a mature student working in an art gallery in Liverpool, keen to develop my career. The course appealed to me as it was broad enough to introduce me to lots of new ideas and people from different backgrounds than my own, but offered the opportunity to tailor my studies to my particular research interests, culminating in a dissertation on contemporary artist-curators.

My fears about being a part-timer and a commuter who hadn’t written an academic essay in seven years were soon allayed. I loved the mixture of lectures, seminar discussions, workshops and fieldwork that the course provided. The standard of teaching was excellent, and great additional learning opportunities were always available, from the fascinating evening Research Seminars to broader Study Skills sessions.

Having Manchester Museum and Whitworth Art Gallery as part of the University’s resources is undoubtedly a huge asset to this course; I particularly enjoyed co-curating an exhibition at Manchester Museum with coursemates. My work placement at Manchester Art Gallery provided valuable hands-on collections management experience.

Since graduating my career has progressed, and I am currently managing a small museum and writing art criticism alongside. I found my time as an Art Gallery and Museum Studies student hugely worthwhile, and look forward to building further on the skills, knowledge and experience I have gained.