Masters Degrees (Bookbinding)

Introduction

MA Conservation at Camberwell College of Arts is a two year course with over 40 years experience in teaching specialist skills and knowledge, and prepares our students for work in specific fields of the conservation world.

The course offers two distinct pathways that our students choose to specialise in; Art on Paper and Books and Archival Materials.

Content

What students can expect from the course:

- A greater appreciation of the science of materials and how they react under different conditions, providing students with an understanding of conservation treatments and a background to preservation management.

- To gain a broader understanding of visual examination and condition documentation, mechanical surface cleaning, humidification and washing, de-acidification and resizing

- To learn about fixatives and consolidants, pressure sensitive tape removal, sensitive media, parchment, iron gall inks, and an introduction to photographic conservation

- A greater understanding of the broad international and historical spectrum of bookbinding and book structures with an emphasis put on acquiring an understanding of bookbinding history

- Detailed conservation techniques, and students finish the course by working on a project with one of the many cultural institutions within London

Structure

The first part of the course is a shared introductory unit, which brings together the students from across the two pathways. Each student will then focus on one of the individual pathways:

Art on Paper:

This pathway focuses on conservation and preservation management of images executed on paper covering a wide range of materials including prints, drawings and watercolours with an emphasis on both conservation practice and theory.

Books and Archival Materials:

This pathway focuses on learning structures of different historical styles of books, covering the broad international and historical spectrum of bookbinding and book structures.

Our MA Conservation students benefit from the College’s strong connections to London’s heritage community, which includes The British Library, Kew Gardens, London Museum, London Metropolitan Archives, The National Maritime Museum, Tate, the V & A Museum, The Wellcome Trust and many more.

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Design and carry out your own visual projects, exploring the relationships between word and image, as you prepare for a career as a visual artist in a growing creative industry.

Overview

Whatever your artistic background, our Master's course will develop your visual practice in areas that are important for illustrators and book artists, such as visual sequencing and visual text. It will challenge you to cross the divide between fine art and applied art found on many undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, making it a unique course for the UK.

Studying in our purpose-built studios at Cambridge School of Art, much of your work will be practice-based. You’ll propose and undertake self-directed projects, attending group critiques and tutorials that will help you develop your creative skills.

You'll also attend a series of integrated lectures and seminars. These serve two purposes. You’ll explore aspects of illustration and book art, such as the relationships between word and image, narratology and visual language. And you'll receive guidance on research methods and critical writing - which you'll put to immediate use on the course, as well as in your future career.

Throughout the course, you’ll collaborate and discuss your work with staff, visiting professionals and fellow students, giving you an invaluable opportunity to see how others respond to it. All of our teaching team are practising artists, so you’ll hear about the latest news and issues in the industry, and have access to sound careers advice.

Teaching times: 9am-5pm Tuesdays and Wednesdays (full-time); 9am-5pm Wednesdays in Year 1, Tuesdays in Year 2 (part-time).

Careers

Our course will prepare you for a career as a freelance illustrator or freelance book artist. In recent years these roles have been increasingly in demand thanks to the growth of interest in artists' books, graphic novels, self-publishing, e-books and an awareness of small, batch publishing. You’ll also gain skills that will be useful in many other fields, such as bookbinding or teaching. You might even find a way to combine it with your current career, as did Dr Katy Shorttle, whose artwork on health issues was recently featured by The Guardian (http://www.theguardian.com/healthcare-network/gallery/2015/sep/25/ebola-mumps-old-age-inspire-doctors-artwork-in-pictures).

Modules

Process and Practice as Research
Visual Text
Sequence and Series
Master's Dissertation Art and Design
Master's Project: Art and Design

Assessment

You’ll show your progress through your self-directed visual projects, which will include written project proposals, developmental and final visual work, and a reflective commentary. On the Master's Dissertation module, you’ll submit a 6,000-word essay. Finally, the Master's Project will allow you to build on all previous modules to design a visual project which shows mastery of your subject.

Specialist facilities

You’ll work in purpose-built art and design studios, with open access to our printmaking, bookbinding, letterpress and laser cutting facilities, and training from dedicated technicians. We also have many digital imaging resources that you’ll be able to use, including Macs, scanners, and A3/large-format printers, as well as photography darkrooms, animation and moving image studios and 3D workshops. Our University’s Media Services Unit stocks photographic and recording equipment that you can borrow.

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On this unique illustration course - the only one of its kind with a specific academic focus on authorial practice - you'll develop your own voice. You'll learn to see your work as an evolving practice rather than as a response to an already defined concept or brief, as you challenge and re-evaluate your work with the help of teaching staff who are experienced practitioners.

As your authorial voice develops and you learn to identify your audience, you'll also be encouraged to take an entrepreneurial approach, thinking creatively about the outlets and options for your work. This professionalism is aided by the course's close relationship with independent publisher Atlantic Press, offering you opportunities to gain direct experience in the many aspects of producing and publishing graphic literature.

At the heart of this studio-based course is a belief that there is a need to reassert the characteristics of personal origination, ownership, storytelling and literary ideas within the medium of illustration. We'll help you gain the confidence to take ownership of your work, you'll develop new ideas and concepts driven by your desire to create a distinct, original, authorial voice.

You'll explore narrative and storytelling as defined by your developing voice, working on longer-term projects across a variety of mediums that suit your interests – including children's books, graphic novels, digital work and screen-based production. The course will also engage you with current ideas and thinking related to notions of authorship, encouraging you to draw inspiration from a diverse range of influences, providing further personal insight and direction for your practice.

Visit the website https://www.falmouth.ac.uk/illustrationma

Building professional experience

A unique feature of our MA is our relationship with Atlantic Press (http://www.atlanticpressbooks.com/). The specialist publishing house, based in Penryn, was founded 15 years ago by course leader Steve Braund. The partnership enables you to learn about the whole publishing process, from concept to realisation – as well as the practical aspects of printing, distribution and marketing. The close proximity of a publishing press also means that internships to students on the course are offered on a regular basis.

The course will give you a grounding in all aspects of professional practice related to the work of an authorial illustrator. You'll also be encouraged to consider entrepreneurial approaches to your practice. At the end of the course, you'll mount a professional presentation of work from your negotiated MA project.

How the course is taught

Teaching takes place in the form of lectures, seminars, group critiques and workshops, supported by high-profile guest speakers. The Illustration Discourses lecture series considers authorial positions, related theories and their contexts. Both lectures and seminars will help inform your negotiated practical projects, whilst recording your studio practice in a research journal will aid self-reflection.

- Typical workshops

Research Journals
Creative Writing
Screen Printing
Life Drawing
Listening to Images
Book Art
Printmaking & Collography
Etching
Composition
Professional Practice
Table Top Book Binding
Visual Thinking
InDesign I
What are Archives?
Professional Practice, Networking & Entrepreneurship
Visual Narrative
Perspective
Book Design, Layout & InDesign
Bookbinding
Graphic Design

Course outline

This is a one-year course delivered over 45 weeks and divided into three 15-week study blocks. Alternatively, you can study part-time over two years, totalling 90 weeks.

Over the course of the year you'll be required to produce a sequence of three negotiated practical projects based on personal authorial illustration work.

The lecture and seminar series Illustration Discourses supports the practical work, running concurrently with a research journal, which builds connections and the opportunity to reflect on practice. You'll be expected to demonstrate progression; indicating the research, analysis, reflection and investigation necessary for the development of a successful and distinctive authorial illustration practice.

You'll also produce two analytical essays and deliver a presentation exploring areas of personal interest within the authorial context relating to your practice. These will show a consideration of audience awareness and the processes and development of your practice. In order to develop self-reliance the course allows you a good deal of freedom to develop your projects.

Facilities

- Individual studio space
- Full IT facilities
- Print room
- Comprehensive library facilities
- Access to specialist equipment

Assessment

- Assessment takes place at the end of each module
- Combination of visual, verbal and written assignments
- Final assessment takes place in September

Careers

Potential careers include:

- Commissioned or self-published illustrator
- Art director or creative director
- Illustration residencies
- Curatorial roles
- Teaching
- Further study

Interview and selection process

When you apply to join the course, we'll ask you to send us a study proposal and either samples of work or a link to your website or blog, if you have one. At interview we'll look for authorial illustration potential or capabilities, illustration ability, graphic skills, drawing skills, creative writing/storytelling potential, ideas and concepts. We really value meeting you in person but we can hold a telephone or Skype interview if this is not possible.

Falmouth Illustration Forum

Our respected annual Falmouth Illustration Forum recently celebrated its tenth anniversary with the publication of the world's first book devoted to the subject, The Authorial Illustrator (available from atlanticpressbooks.com (http://www.atlanticpressbooks.com/)). Each annual forum explores different aspects of authorial illustration and includes internationally renowned guest speakers.

View information about our forums here - https://www.falmouth.ac.uk/content/ma-illustration-open-forum-2014-witness-reportage-documentary

Find out how to apply here - https://www.falmouth.ac.uk/apply

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Postgraduate study in illustration reflects the diversity of the subject and the opportunities that exist in areas such as publishing, advertising, graphic and web design, theatre, television, art galleries and museums. We welcome applicants with a variety of approaches to Illustration, from both academic and professional perspectives.

Students are encouraged to explore a range of methods, with support from highly accomplished and respected staff, all of whom have understanding and expertise in the art of illustration.

Facilities include excellent individual working spaces with access to a drawing studio and extensive printmaking resources. There are life drawing classes, workshops and field trips for Masters students. Students will also have the chance to study bookbinding, book arts, digital technologies and web publishing.

The programme also includes working with writers, designers and publishers in collaboration and in live briefs. Many of our postgraduates have seen their work published and there are a small number of set projects, which evolve from year to year to reflect contemporary developments in Illustration. For example, Masters students have made work for the Royal Botanical Gardens, Edinburgh Film House and the ECA Bookmarks symposium.

Students are encouraged to take part in national and international competitions, with an aim to join the ranks of those who have exhibited and won prizes in prestigious events, such as the V&A Student Illustration Awards, Folio Society, Penguin Book Awards, 3x3 and Image Nation.

Programme structure

This programme offers an excellent opportunity for independent, focused study. MA students produce a body of practical and written work on an agreed topic. MFA students produce an additional extended range of work, appropriate to the length of the course. Self-directed projects are connected to a number of set projects, workshops and collaborations throughout the academic year.

Studies will combine practical studio work with theoretical and written studies, including professional practice elements in preparation for employment in the industry. There is a lecture/seminar series that will examine the wider context of your studies, presented by contemporary illustrators, designers and artists.

Career opportunities

Graduates explore an exciting and diverse range of careers, including working as picture book illustrators, designers, freelance illustrators, artists and craftsmen, or in leading agencies.

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The Sequential Design/Illustration MA attracts new and established illustrators, artists and designers from all over the world who are keen to explore the principles of sequence within their chosen field and make them visible through a variety of forms.

These forms have included written and illustrated books for children and adults, interactive design, film, graphic novels, stage and exhibition design, animation, book arts, narrative textiles, experimental writing, product design and even community projects that encourage social development through storytelling.

In its 25-year history, this course has built on the gathered knowledge and experience of its staff and students to cover topics that are relevant to all MA students interested in storytelling, visual narrative and delivering complex sequential messages.

Recent graduate work – ranging from a biography of Edith Sitwell to a series of calendars made from human hair – demonstrates the diversity of individual research. Other students have examined the legacy of recipes, the secret language of headscarves, the parallels between quantum physics and Taoism as demonstrated through a detective novel, and the role of plumage in communication.

Course structure

You can study on a part-time or full-time basis:

• Part-time, for two years, is designed to fit in with your professional life and allows more time for reflection. Part-time students work on the course for two days a week – one day on site and one day working independently.

• Full-time, for one year, is an intensive year of study. You work four days a week: two days with the course and two days independently.

Lectures, seminars, reviews and assessments are held at fixed times on Wednesdays. Other patterns of attendance vary according to individual circumstances. During holidays you will be engaged in independent study.

Your work will be predominantly project based, which may comprise of one or more parts focusing on a central theme or idea. A single project or investigation will in most cases sustain a student through the entire duration of the course, but at stage assessment, in consultation with tutors, it may naturally evolve into a new or related area of study.

The nature of the subject demands the continual interaction between research, analysis, and practical realisation, as well as an extended period of development for ideas to become fully meaningful. Throughout this investigation you will receive support and guidance from the course tutors.

Areas of study

As the course develops, there is increasing opportunity for independent and self-directed work, though each student is allocated a personal tutor who oversees the planning and content of individual projects. Besides practice-based work, the course also includes a written element in which you will be asked to reflect critically on the research and development of your project.

The Visual Narrative module includes lectures, themed group events and small practical activities such as the Surprise Project, where you are asked to deliver a surprise though a sequence of six images or objects, with the module group as your target audience. From this experience, you learn the nature and importance of surprise in basic storytelling and develop a vocabulary for narrative. In scheduled theme day events, such as Modern Cautionary Tales, you work in groups to challenge your quick-thinking skills in the invention, planning and presentation of a story.

While students accepted on the course should come with the technical skills necessary to fulfil their projects, access to the diverse workshops facilities – for example in bookbinding, letterpress, printmaking and photography – will be made available as appropriate to your project. There is also a substantial specialist library and a full range of computer facilities.

In order to bring together a variety of students and approaches, this course coexists with the Arts and Design by Independent Project MA. Both are based at our Grand Parade campus.

Stage 1:

Sequential Project(s)
Visual Narrative
Research and Investigation

Stage 2:

Major Sequential Project(s)
Project Report

Visiting lecturers

We arrange a programme of weekly lectures by a range of practitioners and academics to broaden your experience and understanding of professional issues and activity. Lecturers describe their practice and professional experience, sharing insights about their research methods and discoveries.

The programme is organised to relate to specific stages of the course and varies on a two-year cycle, so part-time students have access to a different set of events in each of their two years of study.

Careers and employability

Because of the diversity of our students and the projects they create, their professional achievements are equally wide-ranging. Successful commercial enterprises have been established, research degrees undertaken, books published, collaborative design groups formed, and work exhibited in major galleries and institutions. Graduates have also participated in festivals and conferences around the world.

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Our Arts and Design by Independent Project MA is a highly individual course offering you the opportunity to propose and develop your own academic programme in a particular field of craft, design, communication or image-making within a stimulating educational context.

A central project forms the core of the course. The project encourages experimentation and innovation in a specific field. You will develop and consolidate your project in consultation with academic staff throughout the course, utilising facilities and drawing on expertise from our other arts and humanities courses, as well as other areas of the university.

There is an extensive programme of lectures, events, films, and seminars throughout. We ask you to keep a critical diary during the course and to write a project report at the end of each year. This report is a considered critique of your studio-based work and decision making.

Course structure

You can study on a part-time or full-time basis:

• Part-time, for two years, is designed to fit in with your professional life and allows more time for reflection. Part-time students work on the course for two days a week – one day on site and one day working independently.

• Full-time, for one year, is an intensive year of study. You work four days a week: two days with the course and two days independently.
Lectures, seminars, reviews and assessments are held at fixed times on Wednesdays. Other patterns of attendance vary according to individual circumstances. During holidays you will be engaged in independent study.

Your work will be predominantly project based, which may comprise of one or more parts focusing on a central theme or idea. A single project or investigation will in most cases sustain a student through the entire duration of the course, but at stage assessment, in consultation with tutors, it may naturally evolve into a new or related area of study.

The nature of the subject demands the continual interaction between research, analysis, and practical realisation, as well as an extended period of development for ideas to become fully meaningful. Throughout this investigation you will receive support and guidance from the course tutors.

Areas of study

As the course develops, there is increasing opportunity for independent and self-directed work, though each student is allocated a personal tutor who oversees the planning and content of individual projects. Besides practice-based work, the course also includes a written element in which you will be asked to reflect critically on the research and development of your project.

The Visual Narrative module includes lectures, themed group events and small practical activities such as the Surprise Project, where you are asked to deliver a surprise though a sequence of six images or objects with the module group as your target audience. From this experience, you learn the nature and importance of surprise in basic storytelling and develop a vocabulary for narrative. In scheduled theme day events, such as Modern Cautionary Tales, you work in groups to challenge your quick-thinking skills in the invention, planning and presentation of a story.

While students accepted on the course should come with the technical skills necessary to fulfil their projects, access to the diverse workshops facilities – for example in bookbinding, letterpress, printmaking and photography – will be made available as appropriate to your project. There is also a substantial specialist library and a full range of computer facilities.

In order to bring together a variety of students and approaches, this course coexists with the Sequential Design/Illustration MA. Both are based at our Grand Parade campus.

Stage 1:

Independent Project (Stage 1)
Visual Narrative: The Art and Design of Storytelling
Practice Based Research Methods

Stage 2:

Major Independent Project (Stage 2)
Applied Research Methods
Completion Statement

Visiting lecturers

We arrange a programme of weekly lectures by a range of practitioners and academics to broaden your experience and understanding of professional issues and activity. Lecturers describe their practice and professional experience, sharing insights about their research methods and discoveries.

The programme is organised to relate to specific stages of the course and varies on a two-year cycle, so part-time students have access to a different set of events in each of their two years of study.

Careers and employability

Because of the diversity of our students and the projects they create, their professional achievements are equally wide-ranging. Successful commercial enterprises have been established, research degrees undertaken, books published, collaborative design groups formed, and work exhibited in major galleries and institutions. Graduates have also participated in festivals and conferences around the world.

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The Arts and Cultural Research MRes is designed to prepare you for a number of career options as a researcher or research-informed practitioner, for example in arts administration, professional creative practice or academia.

Based in a college with wide-ranging arts and humanities provision, the MRes can support a diversity of student projects. In this way, it offers you the freedom to move between interests as your research develops and the chance to explore different career possibilities.

As preparation for a career in higher education, the MRes bridges the gap between BA and PhD. In asking you to think about your academic and/or creative practice as research, it encourages you to consider how your investigations contribute to your field, which is crucial for doctoral study.

The MRes equips you with the skills to construct a research proposal and undertake a research project, with training in areas such as research methods, the literature review, visual methodologies and approaches to creative-practice-based research. The research project is a key feature of the course, giving you the chance to apply your training to a topic of your choice.

The MRes is distinct from most MA courses in its emphasis on research skills and training, and the value of these to your creative and/or academic practice and the wider workplace.

Why study with us?

• An arts and humanities research institution with world-leading research impact in art and design – history, practice and theory

• Opportunity to meet, share ideas and discuss professional practice with staff and students from a variety of disciplines

• Chance to become part of the Centre for Research and Development and benefit from the university's Doctoral College

• Possibility of research funding to support your professional development

• Extra-curricular events, exhibitions, seminars and workshops to supplement and consolidate your independent learning

• Subject-specialist options from the fields of art, design and the humanities

• One-to-one support from a specialist in your chosen field, who will help you to develop and realise your research proposal

Areas of study

Research Skills and Training:
Assessed by a 3,000-word research proposal.

Research Ethics:
Assessed by a presentation in front of a mock research ethics committee.

Research Project:
Assessed by a 20,000-word (or equivalent for creative-practice-based projects) dissertation and viva voce examination.

Students select two options from a wide range of modules delivered across our arts and humanities courses at postgraduate level. These are assessed in a number of ways, for example by oral presentations, essays, annotated bibliographies, research diaries, research presentations, portfolios and critical book reviews.

Facilities

All students have access to our archives – including the world-class Design Archives and the Screen Archive South East – and our specialist art, design and humanities library, St Peter's House.

Creative-practice-based students also have access to our range of specialist facilities, which include printmaking studios, bookbinding workshops, a forge, and digital design/sound equipment.

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In the MA/MFA Photography, you will be encouraged to test and push the boundaries of the photographic medium. You will explore approaches to visual narrative, including the photographic and cinematic, and evaluate the relationship between photography and texts/sound/space.

You will primarily use digital and analogue photographic technologies, but may also develop your practical skills through media such as moving image and bookbinding. Particular themes will explore photography in relation to context: portfolio, book art, gallery, screen and installed space. You will develop your own philosophy to photography and are expected to consider and evaluate your work in relation to the current photographic discourse on the shifting genres and boundaries caused by advancing technologies.

Features

Photography is part of the Department of Media at Manchester School of Art which has an established community of interdisciplinary staff, and research students with expertise in fields that include Animation, Filmmaking, Photography, Media Theory and Multimedia Digital practices.

The Department promotes a blending of arts practices responsive to current cultural and digital industries demands; inspiring students to engage with real world scenarios through creative and imaginative responses.

It has developed a framework that fosters interesting and diverse approaches to engage with external partners within the city, the region, nationally and internationally. Recent partners include HOME, BBC (Media City), CITV, Manchester City and Regional Art Galleries, Open Eye Photography Gallery, Red Eye Photography Network, International Anthony Burgess Foundation and international partnerships in China, India, Brazil, Russia and Europe.

Core to all of the teaching and research in the Media department is the continuing exploration of new modes of expression through digital technologies and support students in developing a robust and individual creative practice that has relevance to a diverse range of cultural industries.

Course Content

The MA Photography is made up of four units totally 180 credits.

You will develop the outline and first framework for a future large-scale project by investigating a range of practical research methods and experimenting with the innovative application of related media and theory content through visual and theoretical outputs, and display forms.

You will also explore the pre-production and prototyping phase of the specialist creative process and project development.

You will also be encouraged and supported to extend your experience in the professional sphere either through a practical project, research context, exchange, work experience, or other negotiated professional set of interactions with an external partner, groups of students and creative industry

Towards the end of the programme you will undertake a major project to consolidate your past research and practice into fully realised collections, pieces, proposals, business plans, or exhibitions – what ever means is appropriate to the work. You will also have developed a strategy for the continuation of your practice located and contextualised to the profession or discipline.

If you choose to progress to MFA Photography award you will study a further two units of 60 credits each.

This award is focussed on the continuation of your practice aligned to the research and selection of appropriate public or professional venues and platforms to disseminate a significant body of work. You will be required to produce work for a public audience in the most relevant and appropriate form along with any implicit publicity and dissemination material.

Resources

We have developed a dedicated postgraduate area occupying an entire floor of the main School of Art building, offering an exciting space to be, both intellectually and practically. The centre is located in the newly refurbished Chatham Tower with studios, design laboratories, seminar rooms and extensive workshops that form the nucleus of this vibrant, cross-disciplinary learning environment.

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MA Graphic Design explores the ever-changing landscape of graphic design, to create insightful and well-defined specialist projects. The course is uniquely centred around the staged creation of a year long self initiated design project which builds critical understand and alongside practical design applications. A journey that focuses on individual research and enquiry, asks questions, promotes curiosity and build design investigations, to meet the needs of tomorrow's ambitious designers and their future at the leading edge of the Creative Industries.


Why you should study MA Graphic Design at Middlesex

At Middlesex there is an opportunity to fully submerge your self within the discipline of graphic design and be part of the well-established, award winning Graphic Design Department. Where we take a problem solving approach to Graphic Design to explore contemporary design practice through design thinking, insight and co-design processes, prototyping ideas, methods of design analysis and through building expert collaborative networks and external partners. Students come from a wide range of design and creative backgrounds, all with their own individual skill set, experience and cultural background. A diverse working collective, working across project areas of typography & information, brand identity & campaigns, new technology & digital experiences, design writing & insight analysis, sustainability & environmental issues, structural packaging and book design.

Based in our £80 million Art and Design School and taught by some of the UK's leading practitioners from a range of disciplines, our course features world-class facilities and specialist workshops fitted with both new and traditional equipment. With opportunities to build industry contacts and exhibit your work off-site, you'll also gain the employability skills, exposure and experiences you need to navigate a successful career path in today's competitive creative industries.

Course highlights:

- Our facilities are among the best in the UK, with fully equipped 3d workshops, laser cutting and 3d printing, printmaking and letterpress, digital printing, reprographics, bookbinding and fully equipped photography, animation and film studios, with expert technical support
- Each self-initiated project is tailored to the individual to support individual specialism and next stage links to industry, research, design writing, PhD or education. With the aim to establish expert links and specialist networks for each project.
- An exhibition of your work in central London to create networking opportunities, build industry contacts in a professional environment
- To contribute to research themes within the course and be part of a growing alumni collective.
- Access to networking opportunities, world-leading design research and expertise through the Art & Design Research Institute (ADRI) on campus

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The Master of Fine Arts in the Book Arts Program began in 1985, and emphasizes the art and craft of making books by hand. We are located in the College of Communication and Information Sciences, School of Library and Information Studies, at The University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa; a verdant, traditional campus located on the banks of the mighty Black Warrior River.

Visit the website https://bookarts.ua.edu/

The program leading to the M.F.A. in the Book Arts degree is a 60-credit hour course of study comprising four basic areas: printing/publishing, bookbinding, papermaking, and the history of the book. These areas do not work in isolation. Connections between them are made as often as possible. Our emphasis is on the book as an integrated unit, although there is opportunity for a student who wishes to pursue a specific interest in one or more of these areas after the initial general year of study. We are interested in developing craft skills based on historical principles and techniques, and the artistic expression that follows.

The M.F.A in the Book Arts Program develops book artists who have well-honed technical knowledge of the various facets of contemporary bookmaking, and who have an understanding of the historical evolution of the book including its materiality, and the role of the book in society. Courses explore the reconciliation of modern sensibilities with historic craft. It is to be remembered that the M.F.A. degree, and the 2.5-3 years leading to it, is a starting point in what is a lifelong process of acquiring skills and sensibilities in the art and craft of making books.

We accept up to eight new students each year. Our students are highly motivated, and come from various undergraduate backgrounds and work experiences. We have four graduate assistantships available yearly, on a competitive basis, plus three Windgate Fellowships.

The general goal for the M.F.A. program is to develop professional artisans who are technically proficient in the book arts and cognizant of the historical background in which these various crafts evolved and of the professional environment in which our graduates will work. To reach this goal, the school has created the following two specific goals and enabling objectives.

1. To provide students with an education that inculcates craft skills required for proficiency in the book arts, and that develops a sound foundation for the aesthetics and methodology of these arts:

a. Provide each student with fundamental technical skills in each of the crafts comprised by the book arts

b. Ready each student to apply these skills and techniques in the marketplace

c. Provide advanced technical skills in each student’s area of professional specialization

d. Create in each student a desire to acquire and upgrade skills beyond the formal program

e. Provide and reinforce in each student an appreciation for the aesthetics of the crafts

f. Facilitate the choice by the end of the first semester of an initial professional specialization in either printing or binding

g. Maintain a faculty whose members are recognized leaders in their fields

2. To enhance the professional status of artisans engaged in the book arts:

a. Acquaint students with the heritage, responsibilities, trends, and standards of the profession

b. Instill in students a concept of the interrelationship of the book arts

c. Enlist faculty to assist the book arts community by helping to establish standards, by supporting professional organizations, by offering continuing educational opportunities, and by serving as consultants and lecturers

d. Encourage faculty to publish and exhibit original works whenever appropriate

e. Encourage faculty to conduct research and disseminate findings to practitioners and teachers in the book arts community

Applicants are required to submit either the general portion of the Graduate Record Examination or the Miller Analogies Test in support of the application for admission. Ideally, prospective students should submit a portfolio of their work (in their area of experience), and if at all possible be interviewed by the book arts faculty. For detailed information about the application process please see the Graduate School website (http://graduate.ua.edu/).

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The interdisciplinary nature of the programme enables you to experiment, engage and explore traditional and new media methods of practice to best envision your ideas. Discussion and critique of key theoretical practices is explicitly aligned to your subject interest.

Course details

The programme fosters an active approach to studio practice by offering open access to painting and sculpture studios; technical materials workshops (incorporating 3D printing and welding); lens-based media (photography darkrooms and green screen media); recording studios; printmaking, bookbinding and publishing. Independent studios are allocated from the outset of the programme and individual and small-group tutorials help you consider your practice. Learning is facilitated by staff members who are experts in the field towards your individual goals. These might take either a studio or more theoretical, curatorial, or contextual tract depending on your own desires and ambitions.

What you study

Stage 1 involves professional skills development, studio practice and the opportunity for collaborative working. Stage 2 offers the time and space for self-authored research development to identify the trajectory of your visual ambition. Stage 3 culminates in the production, installation and public display of exhibition work in generously proportioned studio galleries.

Modules
-Artefacts, Galleries and Public Display
-Creative Interaction
-Representation, Depiction and Modernity
-Research and Development

Modules offered may vary.

Teaching

At MA level it is vital that you take an active role in structuring your own learning, and engage with the relevant methods and underpinning theories of your discipline. The use of a variety of methods, including tutorials, seminars and workshops, enables key principles to be applied to the day-to-day interaction between participants - benefiting tutors and students alike. Individual support, provided by a personal tutor, is an integral feature of the learning and teaching strategy.

An intrinsic aspect of your main study area and its supporting subjects is research. You need to find and make sense of a wide variety of information from books, newspapers, journals, magazines, websites, archives and many other sources. Seminars enable structured discussion and analysis to take place between groups of students and a tutor. They are organised to be interactive and to facilitate the free exchange of ideas through which you learn the process of argument and reason. At postgraduate level it is likely that you will organise and hold some of your own seminar sessions, not necessarily with staff present or playing the lead role.

Practical workshops are used to introduce specific skills, followed by independent learning, project work, tutorials and critiques. Critical reflection is key to all successful origination and is therefore essential to the creative process. You are expected to test and assess your work against criteria which you develop in the light of your research.

Various assessment methods are used throughout all of the modules and are specified in the module handbooks. These are primarily what we call in-course assessments, where you submit work during the delivery of the module, rather than sit timed examinations at the end. Arts modules are generally project based and primarily assessed through appraisal of a portfolio of work, often accompanied by a verbal presentation. Creative work is largely developmental and you are assessed on the process by which you achieve your solutions as well as the result, so it is essential that you provide clear evidence of your development work.

Employability

Graduates typically pursue careers as self-employed artists and creative practitioners within the cultural sector. Some find employment in arts and cultural management or choose a career in teaching. Further study at doctoral level is also an option.

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