MA in Public History and Cultural Heritage: Graduate Profile - Damien Donnellan | University of Limerick

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Damien [pictured above],is a postgraduate student currently undertaking a Master of Arts (MA) in Public History and Cultural Heritage.

Can you please introduce yourself; can you explain why you chose the MA in Public History and Cultural Heritage?

My name is Damien Donnellan. I am from Galway city and have been working in Galway City Museum for the past 10 years. I am the education exhibitions assistant here. One of the main reasons, I chose to complete MA in Public History and Cultural Heritage at UL is for professional development. I had an interest in doing an MA for a number of years but with working full time, I had to figure out what would work. This programme piqued my interest, particularly because it was offered online and part time, which suited me perfectly and was spread over two years, which was fantastic as well. It is very open and broad and afforded me the opportunity to improve my knowledge and hone my existing skillset.

Why at UL?

I remember visiting the campus previously, the campus and facilities are stunning. It was really the delivery of the programme and the fact that it was part time and online that caught my attention and suited my current working life. This was the main reason I chose to study at UL.

How did you find out about the course?

I searched for courses online in Ireland and the UK that were offered part time or online in some capacity. The fact that this programme was delivered online and part time and the subject matter focussed on public history was something that really appealed to me.

What specific aspects of your course have impressed you the most? What is the best thing about the course?

The modules were very interesting and the practical nature of the modules were very beneficial to me. I can say that in my experience over the last 10 years working in this industry, is that you often lose sight of why you are doing it, so the theoretical aspect of history, public history research and the ethical components, was a real point of interest for me.

As we progressed through the programme, we interacted more with the lecturers and the course director, getting to see their experience and their research areas was so insightful, and it was extremely beneficial to learn from them. I found digital humanities very useful because I could see the benefit of bringing these skills to my current role. The experience of getting to produce podcasts as part of projects and presentations were valuable and I can carry aspects of that into my day-to-day work.

Research is the core part of my work and what we do in the museum, this course helped solidify my research techniques and improve my time management. I learned how to approach various projects in different ways and that really helps and in terms of the practicalities of day-to-day work in the museum.

What experiences/opportunities has it presented you with? (e.g. academic facilities, workshops, academic support, guest speakers, etc)

What was great about the program was that they introduced us to a number of guest speakers. We met the curators of Limerick County Museum and two that were very impressive to me were Pattie Punch and Kirsten Mulrennan in the Glucksman library in UL. They really helped me in terms of the practicalities of research, they offered tips and hints on how to get the answers you are looking for when you are doing research. We have significant research sources ourselves in the museum, but once we connected with the library in UL, there was an abundance of research materials that I could utilise in my research. It also benefited me in my day to day as well and really added an extra layer to what I do professionally.

Can you provide an insight into how the course is delivered and how you are assessed?

I did the course part-time, so it was spread over the two years. It was really well put together. In the first year, we covered a nice variety of topics, then you specialise as the semesters’ progress. As the course was delivered online, it really suited me as I was also working full time and living in Galway.

Would you recommend the programme to others?

I would definitely recommend the programme to others. I was not sure exactly what I wanted to do, and I did not want to be particularly pigeonholed into one specific aspect of heritage and history. I think the course is extremely beneficial because it gives you practical and theoretical skills. The lecturers have all been fantastic and open and were willing to put in the time and effort with students.

Any advice/tips for prospective students of the course?

In terms of doing an online part-time course, I think it is important that people realize that it does take a lot of self-discipline and time management particularly if you are working also. It is important that you do manage your time and manage your work as well as well as you can.