MA in Critical and Curatorial Studies of Contemporary Art

The MA in Critical and Curatorial Studies of Contemporary Art (CCSCA) is a two-year, international graduate program offering a practice-oriented, research-inspired approach to the study of contemporary art and curating, with a focus on Taiwan and the Asia-Pacific region. Applications for Fall 2025 will be open from February 3 to April 30, 2025.

Given Taiwan’s central geographical location and its growing significance as a vibrant and diverse artistic hub in Asia, CCSCA is ideally positioned to facilitate the study of art and curating in East and Southeast Asia as well as the Pacific region. Through an integrated learning and teaching approach, CCSCA offers professional training that combines critical thinking, research, and art writing skills with scholarly and practical knowledge of art and exhibition-making.

The key teaching areas of CCSCA—art history, art criticism, curatorial studies, museum studies, and creative industries—equip students with an understanding of how art is practised, presented, and received; the diverse histories of art in the region; various genres of art writing; and the history and practice of exhibitions and curating. In addition to on-campus seminars and lectures in core and elective courses, the program includes workshops, internships, extensive industry engagement, international partnerships, and local and overseas study trips. For their capstone project, students may choose to complete a research dissertation or curate an exhibition.

CCSCA regularly invites scholars, art practitioners, and industry experts for guest lectures. In 2024, the CCSCA Research Forum invited Professor David Teh (National University of Singapore) and  Professor Pamela Nguyen Corey (Fulbright University Vietnam) as keynote speakers, alongside roundtable discussions with scholars, artists, and curators from Taiwan. Professor Fumihiko Sumitomo was invited as a visiting scholar to deliver a week-long event in collaboration with MA Global Art, Tokyo University of the Arts. In Winter 2023, the CCSCA study trip visited Thailand Biennial – Open World, where students engaged with artists and curators. Past international study trips have  included the 2019 Singapore Biennale, 2018 Bangkok Art Biennale, and 2017 Bienniale Jogja, and Jakarta Biennale.

CCSCA’s program is delivered in partnership with our on-campus university museum MoNTUE and NTUE Gallery, as well as external institutions such as the Digital Art Center, Taipei, and Hong-Gah Museum where CCSCA students collectively curate exhibitions. Notable student-curated exhibitions include “Travel Unbound-An  Exhibition that Navigates the Landscapes of Identity”(2024), “SUPERSENSIBLE” (2023), “10,000 Flowers” (2022), “Undercover Routes” (2021), “Negation of You” (2019), and “A Maiden’s Prayer-Between Treasure and Trash”(2018). The program also offers students a platform to explore various styles and genres of art writing and criticism through its journal—Southerly—which features essays, reviews, interviews, and experimental forms of art writing by CCSCA students, as well as critics, curators, and scholars in the region.

We are thrilled to welcome Thanavi Chotpradit to the CCSCA team! Joining us alongside our new director, LU Pei-Yi, Chotpradit brings expertise in Southeast Asian art history and a passion for teaching to the program. Her experience will further enhance the program’s integrated approach to learning and teaching. 

The program’s integrated approach to learning and teaching ensures that, upon completion, students are well-equipped with transferable scholarly and professional skills and knowledge, enabling them to pursue careers as exhibition organizers, curators, arts educators, writers, and researchers in museums, galleries, and other art and creative sectors worldwide.

Language of instruction: English.

Program highlights
–Affordable tuition fee (approx 3500 USD per year)
​–Focus on contemporary art and curating in the Asia Pacific region
​–Integration of scholarly research with professional training and practice
​–Local field excursions and overseas study trips
​–Internship opportunities
​–Scholarship offer
–On-campus Chinese language training program

Applicants are required to submit the following:
–University/College Certificate or Degree/Diploma
–Statement of motivation and research interests (no more than two A4 pages)
–Study plan
–Supporting documents that may facilitate the application review
–English proficiency test score (applicable to students whose first language is not English)

Full program details are available in the CCSCA website. Follow program updates and activities on facebook and Instagram. Submit your online application by April 30, 2024. For enquiries, please contact our Program Assistant via email at ccsca [​at​] mail.ntue.edu.tw.