MA Structure

The MA programmes at this University are structured around two modules which represent the three phases of the MA award: the Postgraduate Certificate, the Postgraduate Diploma and the Master of Arts.

Module 1: Research and Context (60 credits)

Postgraduate Certificate phase

This module aims to help students develop the generic skills and knowledge that the arts professions and the fields of higher research demand.

It provides students with;

• Opportunities to engage with broader postgraduate educational experiences.

• Exploration of themes that are generic to the world of the creative industries.

• Lectures, seminars and workshops, emphasizing the importance of research, and the skills required to succeed in higher study in the arts,

• An introduction to the standards required for a Masters degree.

• Individual development opportunities through the allocation of a personal supervisor to every student.

Supervisors work with students during this first module to help them produce their own learning agreement, to set down the working relationship between supervisor and student. It allows for the student to think seriously about their project and all the resources that will be required to achieve their aims.

During this first module, lectures are delivered to the whole MA group by expert staff and visiting practitioners and theorists from the worlds of the arts, media and business. Subject area groups also meet in subject-based workshops and individual tutorials. Specialists and experts in each subject area come to work with students in order to maintain a strong sense of each different discipline that the school provides for.

All students receive special workshops to support writing activities required for the MA, and overseas students are able to attend special language support sessions focusing on the kind of terminology and specialist language used in the art and design subject area.

Module 2: Project Realisation and Presentation (120 credits)

Postgraduate Diploma phase

The second module allows the student to begin to refine and focus on their project through subject specialist-based study, driven through individual activities and tutorials and subject specialist lectures and seminars.

Evening events allow students to appreciate the importance of high level presentation skills, and there is also a study visit during this phase. Last year, students visited New York to attend a series of exhibitions, trade and cultural events. The year before, they visited Antwerp and Paris.

Overseas students who require language support can continue to attend special classes aimed at helping develop writing and verbal presentation skills to standards required for the award.

MA phase

The Masters phase allows students to work independently on the final stretch of their MA project. Individual tutorials support students, and are intended to help students keep on track with their project and focus on the standards required to achieve the Masters award. Students work toward their final assessment, but also produce examples of their work for the MA Exposition, a public opening intended to celebrate the work and successes of our students throughout the previous year.

MA by Registered Project or Thesis:
A course tailored specifically to your area of individual interest.

All our courses are centred around you, the student, and based on a project proposal and learning agreement which are developed in consultation with your project supervisor.