MA in the Conservation of Art – answers

Exercise 1

1 It used to be called the restoration of fine art.
2 A Master of Arts degree in the Conservation of Art. A Master’s degree is a further or second degree, after the ‘bachelor’s’ degree. There are numerous different degree titles – a student can graduate as a Bachelor of Science / of Zoology / of Arts etc etc. With the first and the second degrees the two main categories are ‘sciences’ and ‘arts’, and in general subjects fall predictably into each category. However, a student at some (old) universities can graduate with a bachelor of arts degree in physics.
3 1) 6 2) 8 students on the painters’ course

Exercise 2

1 On works of art on paper.
2 Prints / books / manuscripts / any paper-based item.
3 If it was torn.
4 How come you came to take a course like that?
5 No, she worked in retail for a while making up her mind. (The American expression seems to miss out the ‘in’.)
6 Art, chemistry, art history and physics courses.
7 She is the lead conservationist. We could also express this as the chief or head conservationist.
8 One day a week
9 a) It means training for this line of work used to be in a place of work such as a workshop learning how to do the work from someone who was experienced. People in this field used to do an apprenticeship with a conservationist – ie a period of training.
b) Only recently has this become a field in which you need university qualifications and you can even go on do a PhD, but this is very new.
10 It is very hands-on.
11 They spend 2 days a week in the studio.
12 They come from all walks of life.
13 A social worker aged 43 is on the course, perhaps hoping to make some form of career-change.
14 No, on the contrary – Maria mentions that their experience can be very useful – she mentions the importance of a bio-chemist’s knowledge, that of fine-art graduate students and of one person who graduated with a degree in printmaking – and that all of this varied experience and knowledge is helpful.

Language differences
A Maria had described her university teacher as a professor, because in the States university teachers all have this title. In Great Britain ‘professor’ is an indication of being at the top of the profession of university teaching and/or research.
B ‘School’ is used almost entirely for primary and secondary schools, although sometimes at tertiary level colleges and universities are sometimes managed in ‘schools’ eg ‘a school of art / humanities’ ‘The Royal School of Music’. In the United States the word ‘school’ covers all education until graduation at the end of a degree.
C A college can describe an educational establishment at secondary or tertiary level. It used to be used entirely for post-secondary education, either for ‘further’ or ‘higher’ education.
D Pants.
E It was rather inappropriate mentioning this to people Maria hardly knew. Maria had ruined a pair of trousers, but it sounded to the interviewer and Maria’s friends’ friends as if she had been talking about her underwear.
F Herb / aluminium / tomato
G The vowel sound in ‘run’ and ‘bus’, as in ‘run for the bus’.

More on the difference between American and British English