Masters Degrees (Media Art)

The Masters of Arts in Contemporary Art, Design and New Media Art Histories explores today’s creative practices and works produced since 1970. OCAD University is one of only a few universities in North America that concentrates on current artists and issues. It’s the first program in Ontario to offer a graduate specialization in design history.

In this program you’ll be shaping contemporary art, design and new media scholarship. OCAD University is a unique place to study this exciting field – the program is small, so you’ll get personal attention, have access to top-notch faculty and be studying at Canada’s largest art, design and new media university. You’ll work with the producers of cutting-edge art, design and new media in your studies.

This program is normally completed in two years. Students in this program can take advantage of being located in the heart of Toronto’s cultural district – you’ll have access to the archives of major institutions only a few blocks away such as the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto International Film Festival and the Design Exchange.

You should have an honours, four-year bachelor’s degree in art history, visual culture, communications or a similar program to apply.

What will you learn?

The program comprises the following:

You’ll learn to understand the zeitgeist, current movements and practices in today’s art, design and new media world. You’ll use established conventions of art history, theory and terminology in seminars and engage in independent study.

You can take courses from any of three specializations. You will choose one as your focus:

Contemporary Art History
Design History
New Media Art History

Drawing on the long established discipline of art history and sharing analytical techniques, theory and terminology, these three areas of study are complementary. However, these areas of investigation and specialization bear and retain their own distinctiveness, which is emphasized in field-specific seminars and independent study. While students may take courses in any one of the three specializations, one field will be selected as the focus for the degree.

The MA in Contemporary Art, Design and New Media Art Histories is a full-time, 7.5 credit program normally completed within two years (five semesters).

Two core graduate courses
Field-specific graduate seminars
Two electives
Individual reading and research
Major Research Paper (MRP) / Thesis writing workshop
MRP or Thesis

Students are required to complete a major research project or thesis. Here are a few recent examples:

Lady Gaga and the Other: Persona, Art and Monstrosity
The Comic’s Heartbeat: Framing Affective Structures in Comics History
Hip Hop as a Tool of Decolonization
New Media as a Platform for Indigenous Self-Representation and Social-Political Activism

You’ll be at the centre of contemporary art scholarship by planning and hosting the CADN Graduate Students’ Conference which is a major conference that attracts students and art historians from across the country.

What will I be able to do with my degree?

After graduating, you’ll be positioned to continue your research in a PhD program in cultural studies or contemporary art.

More and more contemporary art galleries and institutions are opening every day. These spaces want to hire people with their finger on the pulse of contemporary art and how it relates to history. Graduating with this highly prized skill set will give you a leg-up on students coming from traditional art programs.

Graduates from this program work as magazine and journal editors, researchers and curators.

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This MA provides a structured introduction to the postgraduate study of the history and philosophy of art.

This programme allows you to spend your first term at our Canterbury campus with full access to its excellent facilities. For the spring term you relocate to our Paris centre to study in a historic corner of Montparnasse. This programme can also be studied in Paris only.

Particular focuses include contemporary art, photography, Renaissance art, medieval art, 18th-century British painting, 19th-century French painting, modernism, aesthetics and the philosophy of art and film. You may elect to take a Philosophy of Art & Aesthetics pathway, which draws on the expertise of our Aesthetics Research Group.

The programme is intended for graduates in art history, philosophy and cognate subjects, such as fine art. It gives you the opportunity to pursue your interest in visual art at advanced level, to develop a high level of expertise in topics in history and philosophy of art and to prepare for doctoral research in history of art or philosophy of art.

Visit the website https://www.kent.ac.uk/courses/postgraduate/99/history-and-philosophy-of-art-paris

About the Department of History & Philosophy of Art

The History & Philosophy of Art Department provides opportunities for graduate study with well-established researchers in the fields of art history, philosophy of art and aesthetics. Staff research covers contemporary art and aesthetics, modernism, theories of art, the historiography of art and the Cold War; biographical monographs, the photograph (in its historical, contemporary and critical contexts), and the historical interplay of image, theory and institutions from the Renaissance to the present (especially European and North American).

Developing areas of interest include the cultural and historical significance of the print, and the role of performance and new media in contemporary art practices. In particular, postgraduates have the opportunity to participate in the activities of the multidisciplinary Aesthetics Research Centre and the Art History and Visual Cultures Research Centre. There is also a full programme of visiting speakers from across the constituent subject areas within the School of Arts, which includes Film and Drama.

Modules

The following modules are indicative of those offered on this programme. This list is based on the current curriculum and may change year to year in response to new curriculum developments and innovation. Most programmes will require you to study a combination of compulsory and optional modules. You may also have the option to take modules from other programmes so that you may customise your programme and explore other subject areas that interest you.

HA838 - Key Concepts and Classic Texts in History and Philosophy of Art (30 credits)
HA841 - Modern Art in Paris (30 credits)
HA898 - History & Philosophy of Art Dissertation (60 credits)

Assessment

Assessment is by two assignments per module and the dissertation.

Programme aims

This programme aims to:

- provide you with a focused programme of taught postgraduate study in history and philosophy of art

- provide you with a taught foundation for subsequent postgraduate research

- enable you to acquire or deepen your knowledge and understanding of the historical and contemporary topics within the history of art and philosophy of art

- enable you to develop your art historical and philosophical skills beyond that expected of an undergraduate

- enable you to develop, articulate and defend art historical and philosophical ideas as they relate to art

- enable you to engage with historical and contemporary theoretical thought about the arts from art historical and philosophical perspectives.

Study support

Postgraduate resources
There is a large and wide-ranging library holding for History & Philosophy of Art, covering the fields of painting, sculpture, architecture, photography, aesthetics and contemporary visual communications. There is a substantial stock of periodicals, online access to e-journals and a slide library with well over 100,000 images, covering areas such as contemporary art, visual cultures, garden history and the film still, as well as traditional media. Kent is ideally located for access to galleries in London and on the continent.

In 2010, we moved into the purpose-built, and RIBA award-winning, Jarman Building located at the centre of the Canterbury campus. The new building is home to the Studio 3 Gallery and a range of teaching and social spaces as well as a dedicated postgraduate centre.

Support
All postgraduate students are offered research skills training and the opportunity to take part in reading groups and research seminars at departmental, school and faculty level. Research students have the added opportunity for funded conference attendance. There is also a dedicated student support office at our Canterbury campus, which can offer support and guidance throughout your studies, in addition to an office in Paris.

In recent years, several members of the History & Philosophy of Art Department, both full-time and part-time, have been awarded University prizes for excellence in student support, curriculum innovation and research-based teaching – an ethos which we seek to extend to the postgraduate community.

Dynamic publishing culture
Staff publish regularly and widely in journals, conference proceedings and books. Among others, they have recently contributed to: British Journal of Aesthetics; Art History; History of Photography; Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism; Journal of Visual Arts Practice; and The Philosophical Quarterly.

Global Skills Award
All students registered for a taught Master's programme are eligible to apply for a place on our Global Skills Award Programme (http://www.kent.ac.uk/graduateschool/skills/programmes/gsa.html). The programme is designed to broaden your understanding of global issues and current affairs as well as to develop personal skills which will enhance your employability

Research areas

The Department has a collective interest in developing interdisciplinary projects, including projects informed by art history and philosophy of art or aesthetics. Shared areas of research interest include: photography, art theory from the Renaissance to recent times and contemporary art.

Careers

Arts postgraduates have gone on to work in a range of professions, from museum positions and teaching roles to marketing and gallery assistants. Our graduates have found work with Tate Britain, the V&A, Museum of Childhood and other arts, culture and heritage-related organisations.

Find out how to apply here - https://www.kent.ac.uk/courses/postgraduate/apply/

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This MA is unique in combining the study of Buddhism, Buddhist art, and the techniques and conservation of Buddhist art. Offered by The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Centre for Buddhist Art and Conservation at The Courtauld, the MA was established as a one-year degree in 2013. In order to build on and expand the strengths of the programme, the MA is changing in 2017 to a two-year degree taught in collaboration with SOAS.

The MA now brings together world-famous institutions: The Courtauld for the study of art history and conservation, and SOAS for the study of Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Drawing on the unique strengths of the two institutions and their exceptional faculties, the new curriculum of the MA provides detailed and systematic teaching over two years. Each discipline is introduced, expanded and integrated to allow students to obtain the best possible learning experiences and skills acquisition. Designed to provide increased specialisation over the two years, the course culminates in research and a substantial dissertation in the final months.

Offered once every two years, applications are now invited for the programme beginning autumn 2017. Taught by a wide range of specialists from both The Courtauld and SOAS, the MA also benefits from teaching by visiting experts. The course includes study trips to museums in the UK and Europe, and a longer study trip to India to develop an appreciation of Buddhist art in its original contexts. Students also benefit from conferences and public events regularly held by the Ho Centre at The Courtauld.

Drawing also on the research and conservation work undertaken by The Courtauld’s Conservation of Wall Painting Department in Bhutan, China and India, this MA is specifically designed to equip students with knowledge of:

‌•the central concepts of Buddhism, and their historical diffusion;
‌•the history of Buddhist art in its various religious, social and cultural contexts;
‌•the materials and techniques involved in the making of various types of Buddhist art;
‌•approaches to the conservation of Buddhist art, including understanding of the ethical, technical and administrative issues involved.

This MA provides a comprehensive grounding in the history of Buddhism, Buddhist art and its conservation for those intending to pursue further specialist conservation education, and for those who wish to proceed into related fields such as art-historical research, curating, and site-management.

About eight students are accepted on the MA. Applicants from different academic and geographical backgrounds are encouraged to apply. Previous experience in any of the fields covered by the MA is not required.

Please Note: Plans are being made for the redevelopment of The Courtauld’s home at Somerset House. The project, called Courtauld Connects, will include the development of state-of-the-art teaching and research facilities. During the redevelopment the location of some teaching will move. Further information on Courtauld Connects will be published on The Courtauld’s website over the coming months.

Programme Structure

This two-year MA combining the study of Buddhism, Buddhist art, and the techniques and conservation of Buddhist art, is structured to provide increased specialisation during the course, with a substantial dissertation at the end. The programme consists of interwoven strands. Led by Professor David Park and Dr Giovanni Verri at The Courtauld, and by Dr Christian Luczanits and Dr Vincent Tournier at SOAS, it includes teaching by a wide range of specialists from both institutions and from elsewhere. Some strands will be taught at The Courtauld or on-site, while for others students will join classes at SOAS.

Year 1
The objectives of this year are to provide a grounding in the concepts of Buddhism and their historical diffusion; an appreciation of the chronological development, regional variations and major themes of Buddhist art; an understanding of the making of different types of Buddhist art, and of the ethical, legal and other issues underlying the conservation and display of Buddhist art; and an interdisciplinary exposure to the imagining and presentation of Buddhas and their achievements in South Asia, juxtaposing the textual perspective with what is communicated through imagery. The formal teaching is reinforced through a study trip in the second term to museums in Paris or elsewhere in Europe, and in the third term by a longer study trip to India.

‌•Strand 1: Critical Concepts in Buddhist Studies Convenor: Vincent Tournier (SOAS) This course is designed to provide a broad understanding of the major processes and dynamics at work in the growth and development of Buddhism as a pan-Asian religion, and with the key methodological tools required to approach this major cultural force in its fascinating diversity.
‌
•Strand 2: History of Buddhist Art Convenors: David Park (The Courtauld) & Christian Luczanits (SOAS) This course provides an overview of Buddhist art with regard to its chronological development, regional variations, major themes, and the multiplicity of different media. Buddhist art in collections will also be studied, examining aspects of collecting and display.
‌
•Strand 3: The Making of Buddhist Art, and Conservation Principles Convenor: Giovanni Verri (The Courtauld) This course provides an introduction to the making of Buddhist art from its origins. Primary sources and technical studies are used to understand the different types of materials employed. It will also provide an introduction to the principles, ethics and other issues underlying the conservation and display of Buddhist art.
‌
•Strand 4: Imag(in)ing Buddahood in South Asia Convenors: Christian Luczanits & Vincent Tournier (SOAS) This course engages in an interdisciplinary manner with the central idea of Buddhism, as it developed within and beyond its South Asian cradle. Bringing together the expertise of an art historian and a historian of Buddhist thought, it will provide exposure to a diversity of approaches to textual, iconographic, and archaeological sources, to understand how Buddhas and their achievements were imagined, presented and encountered by Buddhist practitioners.

‌•Strand 5: Study trip to museums in Europe To examine Buddhist art in major museums in Paris or elsewhere, considering art-historical, technical and conservation aspects, as well as display and management issues.
‌
•Strand 6: Fragile Inheritance: the Conservation of Buddhist Art Convenor: David Park (The Courtauld) To examine the measures directly involved in the preservation of Buddhist art in museums and in situ; and to examine particular major case studies in detail with regard to the legal, ethical, management, practical and other issues involved.

Year 2
Strand 6 continues in Year 2. More specialised teaching is introduced in a variety of areas: texts, and their relationship to Buddhist objects; the scientific examination and imaging of Buddhist art; and a choice of specialised courses in Buddhist studies and Buddhist art, allowing students to pursue particular interests and to assist in the choice of dissertation topic. The dissertation, undertaken over a period of fourteen weeks, should consider an aspect of the original techniques, conservation, management, curating, history or use of Buddhist art.

‌•Strand 6: Fragile Inheritance: the Conservation of Buddhist Art Continued from Year 1
‌
•Strand 7: Texts on and around Buddhist objects Convenors: David Park (The Courtauld) & Vincent Tournier (SOAS) This course will

‌-explore the many ways by which texts inform, respond to, and accompany Buddhist objects across Asian societies. It will, in particular, -explore the Text-Image relationship, examining how textual and visual narratives respond to each other. It will introduce students to the methods of epigraphy and codicology, including the increasing use of imaging technologies.
‌
‌•Strand 8: Analysis and Imaging of Buddhist Art Convenor: Giovanni Verri (The Courtauld) This course provides an introduction to methods of examination and analysis through the use of visual observations and scientific instruments, and an introduction to and basic instruction in the technical imaging of Buddhist art including multispectral imaging.
‌
•Strand 9: Choice of one of the following specialised courses in Buddhist Studies and one in Buddhist Art at SOAS Students will select these courses in consultation with their tutors, on the basis of their previous background and career objectives; options will also depend on availability at SOAS. This further specialism will aid students in their choice of dissertation topic. Presentations and discussions at The
Courtauld will enable students to harmonise their experience.

Specialised Course in Buddhist Studies

-Buddhism in Tibet (Ulrich Pagel)
-Chinese Buddhism in the Pre-modern Period (Antonello Palumbo)
-East Asian Buddhist Thought (Lucia Dolce)
-The Buddhist Conquest of Central Asia (Ulrich Pagel)
-Specialised Course in Buddhist Art

-Buddhist and Hindu Art of the Maritime Silk Route (Peter Sharrock)
-Collecting and Curating Buddhist Art in the Museum (Louise Tythacott)
-Illustrated Manuscript Cultures of Southeast Asia (Anna Contadini & Farouk Yahya)
-Sacred Art and Architecture of Ancient Korea (Charlotte Horlyck)
-The Figure of the Buddha: Theory, Practice and the Making of Buddhist Art History (Ashley Thompson)
-Tibetan Buddhist Monuments in Context (Christian Luczanits)

‌•Strand 10: Dissertation: A major component of the MA is a 12,000-word dissertation, undertaken in the second and third terms of Year 2. The dissertation topic should focus on the original techniques, conservation, management, curating, history, or use of Buddhist art. Students are encouraged to design their research to reflect the interdisciplinary nature of the MA. Selection of the topic will be undertaken in the first term of Year 2 in consultation with course tutors, and will include assessment of the state of research, and production of an illustrated outline proposal with references.Topics have been varied; those of the previous one-year MA have included:

-19th– and early 20th-century copies and photographs of the Ajanta murals;
-narrative and biography in early Tibetan teacher portraits;
-tree and forest imagery in Buddhist Yamato-e handscroll paintings;
-technical study and investigation of Nagthangs;
-materials and techniques of red dyed gold from Southeast Asia;
-the influence of Tibetan Buddhism on Ming Imperial porcelains;
-examination and assessment of the environmental conditions of the Textile Museum of Bhutan.This range demonstrates the scope for students to research avenues that significantly develop their individual interests and skills, while also providing a contribution to the field.

Teaching Methods

Teaching methods and work required of the students are related to each strand and include:

‌•lectures: to impart factual information;
‌•seminars: to provide a forum for open discussion, and to allow assessment of the development of the individual student’s critical abilities;
‌•student seminars: to develop skills in gathering, organising and presenting a body of information, including visual material;
‌•essays: to develop skills in written communication and research methodology;
‌•reports: on the study trips;
‌•tutoring: to provide individual guidance, and to allow monitoring of the student’s progress.

How to Apply

Before starting your application, please ensure that you read and refer to the following three sets of information. Then access our Online Application System by selecting the relevant "Apply Now” link from the table of courses, below.

Follow this link for the information: http://courtauld.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/postgraduate-how-to-apply

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If you do not have the appropriate undergraduate preparation to embark on one of our MA courses, you may apply for our nine-month Graduate Diploma in Art History and Theory, which can constitute a qualifying year for the relevant MA course.

Our Graduate Diploma consists of eight modules at 3rd-year undergraduate level (up to two of these can be at 2nd-year level). You must complete the appropriate coursework and examinations, and can also write a project on a topic of your choice if this is agreed with your course director.

At Essex, you have the freedom to study what most interests you. Some of the topics you may choose to explore include the history of photography; modern and contemporary art; curatorial practice and exhibition design; as well as more vernacular forms of visual culture, such as body art and activist placards.

Regardless of the topics you pursue, we are committed to research-based teaching, with a particular emphasis on bringing the approaches of art history into contact with other disciplines and discourses. In so doing, we seek to facilitate a critical engagement with artworks and forms of visual culture, both within and beyond the traditional canons of art history.

On campus, the Essex Collection of Art from Latin America (ESCALA), Europe’s largest collection of contemporary art from Latin American, will provide an invaluable resource for studying art and curatorial practice first-hand.

One of the major reasons for choosing Essex is the quality of the education you will receive. We are 6th in the UK for research excellence, with 89% of our work rated “world-leading” or “internationally excellent” (REF 2014). We also achieved an exceptional 95% student satisfaction in the 2016 National Student Survey.

Our expert staff

Essex Art History features a dynamic group of art historians who investigate the production and reception of images and built environments, across cultures and media from the early modern period to the present. Our staff are experts on topics as diverse as activist art, 19th-century medical photography, the art of Latin America, urbanism, exhibition design and body art.

We also have significant experience in curation and public engagement. Recent projects include:
-Dr Gavin Grindon curated a section of Banksy’s Dismaland show and co-curated the Disobedient Objects exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, which was one of the most well attended shows in the museum’s history.
-Dr Matt Lodder has acted as contributor for various television shows on body art and body modification, including the Today programme, the Jeremy Vine Show, Sky News, BBC Breakfast News, ‘Coast’, and National Geographic’s ‘Taboo’.
-Dr Natasha Ruiz Gómez co-organised a major conference on Collect, Exchange, Display: Artistic Practice and the Medical Museum at the Hunterian Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons, London.

Specialist facilities

At Essex, you have the best of both worlds: on the one hand, you are part of a tight-knit, campus community with close ties to several small but excellent museums in the nearby town of Colchester; on the other hand, you can travel from campus to London in an hour, which puts the world’s best museums and galleries at your fingertips.

Our facilities enable you to gain curatorial experience and engage in object-based learning, a cornerstone of our approach when teaching the history of art and its modes of display:
-Our Essex Collection of Art from Latin America (ESCALA) is the most comprehensive Latin American art research resource in the UK and has a state-of-the-art teaching and research space. Many of our students gain work and research experience through our collection
-Our onsite gallery Art Exchange runs an on-going programme of contemporary art exhibitions, talks and workshops by curators and artists, as well as exhibitions organised by our postgraduate curatorial students
-Enjoy regular visits to London galleries, including Tate Modern, Tate Britain, the National Gallery and the Royal Academy of Arts, as well as many independent and alternative spaces
-Colchester’s iconic Firstsite gallery features an exciting programme of contemporary art exhibitions, film screenings and talks, and exhibitions organised by our students

Your future

The visual arts and culture industries have become an increasingly significant part of the national and international economy, and art history graduates leave Essex with the skills to take advantage of this growing opportunity.

Graduates from our programmes are ideally prepared for roles in the media, in advertising, in museums and galleries, in education (in schools, universities, and cultural institutions), as conservators, as auctioneers, dealers and antiques specialists, in charities, in publishing, as specialist arts lawyers, as PR agents, in fashion, or to run their own galleries.

Our recent graduates have gone on to work in a wide range of roles including:
-A member of the valuation team at Sotheby’s (New York)
-Head of Learning at firstsite (a contemporary arts centre in Colchester)
-Visual Merchandising Manager at John Lewis (Oxford Street, London)

We also offer research supervision for students who wish to continue their studies with a PhD or an MPhil. We cover the major areas of European art, architecture and visual culture from 1300 to the present, as well as the art and architecture of Latin America.

We work with our university’s Employability and Careers Centre to help you find out about further work experience, internships, placements, and voluntary opportunities.

Example structure

Postgraduate study is the chance to take your education to the next level. The combination of compulsory and optional modules means our courses help you develop extensive knowledge in your chosen discipline, whilst providing plenty of freedom to pursue your own interests. Our research-led teaching is continually evolving to address the latest challenges and breakthroughs in the field, therefore to ensure your course is as relevant and up-to-date as possible your core module structure may be subject to change.

Graduate Diploma - Art History and Theory
-Art & Ideas III (optional)
-Curatorial Project
-Art, the Law and the Market (optional)
-Contemporary Art: 1980 to the Present (optional)
-Dissertation - Final Year Art History and Theory (optional)
-Final Year Dissertation Project (optional)
-Inventing the Future: Early Contemporary 1945-1980 (optional)
-Photography in History (optional)
-Reworking the Past (optional)
-Study Trip Abroad (Final Year) (optional)
-Study Trip Abroad (Year 2) (optional)
-Art and Power (optional)
-The Work of Art in the Age of Digital Reproduction: Film, New Media, Software and the Internet (optional)
-Visualising Bodies (optional)
-Picturing the City I (optional)
-After Impressionism: European Art From Van Gogh to Klimt (optional)
-Becoming Modern: European Art From Futurism to Surrealism (optional)
-Art in Latin America (optional)
-Art and Ideas II: More Art, More Ideas - Critique and Historiography in the History of Art (optional)
-Collect, Curate, Display (optional)
-Picturing the City II (optional)

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This MA provides a structured introduction to the postgraduate study of the history and philosophy of art. Particular focuses include contemporary art, photography, Renaissance art, medieval art, 18th-century British painting, 19th-century French painting, modernism, aesthetics and the philosophy of art and film. You may elect to take a Philosophy of Art & Aesthetics strand.

The MA gives you the opportunity to pursue your interest in visual art at advanced level, to develop a high level of expertise in topics in history and philosophy of art, and to prepare for doctoral research in history of art or philosophy of art.

The programme is also available at split site between Canterbury and Paris.
https://www.kent.ac.uk/arts/study/postgraduate.html

About the Department of History & Philosophy of Art

The History & Philosophy of Art Department within the School of Arts, provides opportunities for graduate study with well-established researchers in the fields of art history, philosophy of art and aesthetics. Staff research covers contemporary art and aesthetics, modernism, theories of art, the historiography of art and the Cold War; biographical monographs, the photograph (in its historical, contemporary and critical contexts), and the historical interplay of image, theory and institutions from the Renaissance to the present (especially European and North American).

Developing areas of interest include the cultural and historical significance of the print, and the role of performance and new media in contemporary art practices, which draw upon our links with other subjects within the School of Arts and the Faculty of Humanities. In particular, postgraduates have the opportunity to participate in the activities of the multidisciplinary Aesthetics Research Centre and the Art History and Visual Cultures Research Centre. There is also a full programme of visiting speakers from across the constituent subject areas within the School of Arts, which includes Film and Drama.

Modules

The following modules are indicative of those offered on this programme. This list is based on the current curriculum and may change year to year in response to new curriculum developments and innovation. Most programmes will require you to study a combination of compulsory and optional modules. You may also have the option to take modules from other programmes so that you may customise your programme and explore other subject areas that interest you.

HA898 - Philosophy of Art Dissertation (60 credits)
HA838 - Key Concepts and Classic Texts in History and Philosophy of Art (30 credits)

Assessment

Assessment is by coursework and the dissertation.

Programme aims

This programme aims to:

- provide you with a focused programme of taught postgraduate study in history and philosophy of art

- provide you with a taught foundation for subsequent postgraduate research

- enable you to acquire or deepen your knowledge and understanding of the historical and contemporary topics within the history of art and philosophy of art

- enable you to develop your art historical and philosophical skills beyond that expected of an undergraduate

- enable you to develop, articulate and defend art historical and philosophical ideas as they relate to art

- enable you to engage with historical and contemporary theoretical thought about the arts from art historical and philosophical perspectives.

Study support

Postgraduate resources
There is a large and wide-ranging library holding for History & Philosophy of Art, covering the fields of painting, sculpture, architecture, photography, aesthetics and contemporary visual communications. There is a substantial stock of periodicals, online access to e-journals and a slide library with well over 100,000 images, covering areas such as contemporary art, visual cultures, garden history and the film still, as well as traditional media. Kent is ideally located for access to galleries in London and on the continent.

In 2010, we moved into the purpose-built, and RIBA award-winning, Jarman Building located at the centre of the Canterbury campus. The new building is home to the Studio 3 Gallery and a range of teaching and social spaces as well as a dedicated postgraduate centre.

Support
All postgraduate students are offered research skills training and the opportunity to take part in reading groups and research seminars at departmental, school and faculty level. Research students have the added opportunity for funded conference attendance. There is also a dedicated student support office at our Canterbury campus, which can offer support and guidance throughout your studies, in addition to an office in Paris.

In recent years, several members of the History & Philosophy of Art Department, both full-time and part-time, have been awarded University prizes for excellence in student support, curriculum innovation and research-based teaching – an ethos which we seek to extend to the postgraduate community.

Dynamic publishing culture
Staff publish regularly and widely in journals, conference proceedings and books. Among others, they have recently contributed to: British Journal of Aesthetics; Art History; History of Photography; Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism; Journal of Visual Arts Practice; and The Philosophical Quarterly.

Global Skills Award
All students registered for a taught Master's programme are eligible to apply for a place on our Global Skills Award Programme (http://www.kent.ac.uk/graduateschool/skills/programmes/gsa.html). The programme is designed to broaden your understanding of global issues and current affairs as well as to develop personal skills which will enhance your employability.

Research areas

The Department has a collective interest in developing interdisciplinary projects, including projects informed by art history and philosophy of art or aesthetics. Shared areas of research interest include: photography, art theory from the Renaissance to recent times and contemporary art.

Careers

Arts postgraduates have gone on to work in a range of professions, from museum positions and teaching roles to marketing and gallery assistants. Our graduates have found work with Tate Britain, the V&A, Museum of Childhood and other arts, culture and heritage-related organisations.

Find out how to apply here - https://www.kent.ac.uk/courses/postgraduate/apply/

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Our MA Art History and Theory is ideal if you are interested in working in academia, the art world or any other field in which visual, written and analytical skills are essential.

At Essex, you have the freedom to study what most interests you. Some of the topics you may choose to explore include Early Modern art and architecture; the history of photography; modern and contemporary art; curatorial practice and exhibition design; as well as more vernacular forms of visual culture, such as body art and activist placards.

Regardless of the topics you pursue, we are committed to research-based teaching, with a particular emphasis on bringing the approaches of art history into contact with other disciplines and discourses. In so doing, we seek to facilitate a critical engagement with artworks and forms of visual culture, both within and beyond the traditional canons of art history.

To supplement what you learn in the classroom, frequent staff-led visits to London museums and galleries will expose you to the some of the world’s best museums and galleries, and you will be strongly encouraged to apply for a placement in order to gain experience in the museum and gallery world. On campus, the Essex Collection of Art from Latin America (ESCALA), Europe’s largest collection of contemporary art from Latin American, will provide an invaluable resource for studying art and curatorial practice first-hand.

One of the major reasons for choosing Essex is the quality of the education you will receive. Our Art History programme is 6th in the UK for research excellence, with 89% of our work rated “world-leading” or “internationally excellent” (REF 2014). We also achieved an exceptional 95% student satisfaction in the 2016 National Student Survey.

This course is available on either a full-time or part-time basis.

Our expert staff

Essex Art History features a dynamic group of art historians who investigate the production and reception of images and built environments, across cultures and media from the early modern period to the present. Our staff are experts on topics as diverse as activist art, 19th-century medical photography, the art of Latin America, urbanism, exhibition design and body art.

We also have significant experience in curation and public engagement. Recent projects include:
-Dr Gavin Grindon curated a section of Banksy’s Dismaland show and co-curated the Disobedient Objects exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, which was one of the most well attended shows in the museum’s history.
-Dr Matt Lodder has acted as contributor for various television shows on body art and body modification, including the Today programme, the Jeremy Vine Show, Sky News, BBC Breakfast News, ‘Coast’, and National Geographic’s ‘Taboo’.
-Dr Natasha Ruiz Gómez co-organised a major conference on Collect, Exchange, Display: Artistic Practice and the Medical Museum at the Hunterian Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons, London.

Specialist facilities

At Essex, you have the best of both worlds: on the one hand, you are part of a tight-knit, campus community with close ties to several small but excellent museums in the nearby town of Colchester; on the other hand, you can travel from campus to London in an hour, which puts the world’s best museums and galleries at your fingertips.

Our facilities enable you to gain curatorial experience and engage in object-based learning, a cornerstone of our approach when teaching the history of art and its modes of display:
-Our Essex Collection of Art from Latin America (ESCALA) is the most comprehensive Latin American art research resource in the UK and has a state-of-the-art teaching and research space. Many of our students gain work and research experience through our collection
-Our onsite gallery Art Exchange runs an on-going programme of contemporary art exhibitions, talks and workshops by curators and artists, as well as exhibitions organised by our postgraduate curatorial students
-Colchester’s iconic Firstsite gallery features an exciting programme of contemporary art exhibitions, film screenings and talks, and exhibitions organised by our students

Your future

The visual arts and culture industries have become an increasingly significant part of the national and international economy, and art history graduates leave Essex with the skills to take advantage of this growing opportunity.

Graduates from our programmes are ideally prepared for roles in the media, in advertising, in museums and galleries, in education (in schools, universities, and cultural institutions), as conservators, as auctioneers, dealers and antiques specialists, in charities, in publishing, as specialist arts lawyers, as PR agents, in fashion, or to run their own galleries.

Our recent graduates have gone on to work in a wide range of roles including:
-A member of the valuation team at Sotheby’s (New York)
-Head of Learning at firstsite (a contemporary arts centre in Colchester)
-Visual Merchandising Manager at John Lewis (Oxford Street, London)

We also offer research supervision for students who wish to continue their studies with a PhD or an MPhil. We cover the major areas of European art, architecture and visual culture from 1300 to the present, as well as the art and architecture of Latin America.

We work with our university’s Employability and Careers Centre to help you find out about further work experience, internships, placements, and voluntary opportunities.

Example Structure

Postgraduate study is the chance to take your education to the next level. The combination of compulsory and optional modules means our courses help you develop extensive knowledge in your chosen discipline, whilst providing plenty of freedom to pursue your own interests. Our research-led teaching is continually evolving to address the latest challenges and breakthroughs in the field, therefore to ensure your course is as relevant and up-to-date as possible your core module structure may be subject to change.

Art History and Theory - MA
-Dissertation - MA Schemes
-Researching Art History
-Art, Science, Knowledge (optional)
-Collecting Art From Latin America (optional)
-Critique and Curating (optional)
-Curating Inside Out (optional)
-Exhibition (Joint Project) (optional)
-Current Research in Art History (optional)
-Topics in Art History (optional)
-Art & Politics (optional)
-Art, Architecture and Urbanism (optional)

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Over the past few years, career opportunities in the digital media sector have increased dramatically. The interactive media industry is reaching maturity and needs qualified professionals able to offer a diverse range of expertise. This course addresses those needs and is designed to provide you with skills in interactive media content creation, interactive design, digital media production,social media management, digital media project and account management. In the most recent (2014-15) Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE) survey, 100% of graduates from this course were in work or further study within six months.

More about this course

This professionally-oriented course will appeal to graduates with an interest in digital media, experienced professionals from the design, media, public relations and marketing sector wishing to retrain for a career change or promotion, and those wishing to progress towards research and PhD studies. The Masters in Digital Media addresses issues in interactive design, interactive media, the internet and its applications, digital solutions for the industry and the public sector, usability design, effective digital media project management, digital audiences and audience research, social media management, digital media strategy, digital interactive television, mobile communications, and new media ownership. The course will provide skills in the relevant multimedia software.

You will learn how to:
-Assess and select the appropriate tools to produce a digital media project
-Produce digital media projects using the appropriate software applications
-Research and analyse the current issues and future developments in digital media, social media, media communications and e-solutions
-Manage digital media projects and production teams
-Produce digital media and social media strategies
-Appreciate the complexity of the international digital media and creative industries and communicate effectively in a media professional environment
-Apply research, design and management skills to the production of new media projects

Assessment methods include interactive projects, design portfolios, presentations, essays, examinations and reports.

Modular structure

The modules listed below are for the academic year 2016/17 and represent the course modules at this time. Modules and module details (including, but not limited to, location and time) are subject to change over time.

Year 1 modules include:
-Digital Media Project Management (core, 20 credits)
-Principles of Digital Media (core, 20 credits)
-Digital Media Dissertation (alternative core, 60 credits)
-Digital Project (alternative core, 60 credits)
-Accredited Work-Based Learning in the School of MCC (option, 20 credits)
-Advanced English for Masters Studies (option, 20 credits)
-Digital Media Strategy and Consultancy (option, 20 credits)
-Digital Storytelling (option, 20 credits)
-Digital Video Production (option, 20 credits)
-Globalisation (option, 20 credits)
-Interaction Design (option, 20 credits)
-Multimedia Journalism (option, 20 credits)
-Web Design (option, 20 credits)

After the course

The course is particularly suited to students looking to work in: web design; UX design, interactive media production; digital video production; new media project management and account handling; consultancy and policy advice in the area of digital media and communication technology; social media management; digital media strategy, training and research in related fields; electronic publishing; online journalism and broadcasting; administration, management and research in digital media, digital advertising and marketing and digital information industries.

Moving to one campus

Between 2016 and 2020 we're investing £125 million in the London Metropolitan University campus, moving all of our activity to our current Holloway campus in Islington, north London. This will mean the teaching location of some courses will change over time.

Whether you will be affected will depend on the duration of your course, when you start and your mode of study. The earliest moves affecting new students will be in September 2017. This may mean you begin your course at one location, but over the duration of the course you are relocated to one of our other campuses. Our intention is that no full-time student will change campus more than once during a course of typical duration.

All students will benefit from our move to one campus, which will allow us to develop state-of-the-art facilities, flexible teaching areas and stunning social spaces.

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The MSc in Filmmaking and Media Arts is designed to deliver a portfolio of skills required in contemporary screen-based production contexts. If you are a filmmaker, freelance media producer, or an independent media artist seeking to develop advanced skills and learn key industry practices for building your career, the MSc in Filmmaking and Media Arts has been specifically designed for you. Through practical workshops, industry master classes, and history and theory courses you will have the opportunity to learn from industry professionals, media artists, and world leading academics in film, television and digital media theory.

Why this programme

-Through practical workshops, industry master classes, and history and theory courses you will have the opportunity to learn from industry professionals, media artists, and academics in film, television and digital media theory.
-Glasgow offers a vibrant context for filmmaking and media arts practice. Key cultural events include the Glasgow Film Festival and Glasgow International(a biennial international festival of contemporary art).
-This broad-based and flexible programme allows you to work across a variety of platforms.
-Recognising that the programme will attract a diverse range of creative individuals, we offer a variety of software and hardware options. Our purpose designed Media Lab is equipped with Avid, Adobe Creative Cloud (including Premiere Pro, After Effects, Photoshop, Dreamweaver) and Final Cut Pro. We are able to equip students for projects with a range of cameras and sound and lighting equipment.
-The city is the home of BBC Scotland, STV and a lively community of independent media producers (television companies, sound studios and design companies) and numerous micro-businesses in the creative industries. It is also home to the internationally significant Glasgow Museum of Modern Art as well as venues renowned for exhibitions of emerging and established screen-based artists such as Tramway, The Centre for Contemporary Art and The Arches. In addition, the city is famous for its live music venues, galleries and artist run studio spaces offering an excellent and supportive environment for creative artists.
-The programme is taught in the Gilmorehill Centre which offers a purpose built Media Lab, its own cinema as well as a Media Archive which has more than 6,000 holdings, complementing the Library’s extensive collection of film, television and media art books and periodicals. The Centre is home to the international journal Screen and hosts the journal’s annual conference every summer, attracting leading names in film and television studies from across the world. You will have the opportunity to participate in the conference as well as to engage with guest speakers from the academy and media industries throughout the year.

Programme structure

The programme will offer a combination of formal lectures, practitioner led workshops, seminar discussions, screenings and one-on-one tutorials.

The practical elements of the course will feature high levels of support and direction in relation to pre-production materials, including developing pitches and storyboards as well as hands on support in relation to delivery of the individual film/media art projects.

Industry workshops are designed to give you the skills and knowledge needed in contemporary screen-based media contexts, while history and theory courses are offered to link industry practice with cutting edge theory in the field.

The programme has 4 components:
-Two core practical workshops: Running in Semester 1 and Semester 2, these are led by a practitioner in our purpose built Media Lab and are designed to provide hands on support in the production of your film or media art projects. They also incorporate sessions led by industry professional that are designed to pass on key industry experiences and skills vital to a successful career in the industry.
-The core academic option Experimental Art and Media: This course covers the history and theory of experimental art and filmmaking, including the topic of practice-as-research. It is designed to provide a critical foundation for your filmmaking and/or media arts practice.
-You will also choose one course, selected from a range of academic options that draw on the research expertise of the subject team.
-A practice-based dissertation, where you have the opportunity to develop, with support from technical and academic supervisors, a large-scale film or media arts self-directed project.

Career prospects

The programme will equip you with the ability to develop a career as a media producer, with a particular focus on low-budget productions for film and television. You will have the opportunity to explore and develop freelance industry practices and a portfolio of skills enabling you to work as an independent practitioner in today’s creative industries.

It is an innovative programme that teaches artistic, technical and professional skills and is designed to support graduates that are interested in working for large media companies or who may wish to pursue their own independent filmmaking and/or media arts practice. The programme also offers the research preparation necessary to successfully pursue a practice-based PhD.

You will learn things such as how to make films or media art pieces on low-budgets, how to take an idea from pitch to production, how to manage and sustain workflows, the processes involved in applying for arts funding, how to enhance your public profile and the processes involved in administering a start-up company.

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The MSc in Filmmaking and Media Arts is designed to deliver a portfolio of skills required in contemporary screen-based production contexts. If you are a filmmaker, freelance media producer, or an independent media artist seeking to develop advanced skills and learn key industry practices for building your career, the MSc in Filmmaking and Media Arts has been specifically designed for you. Through practical workshops, industry master classes, and history and theory courses you will have the opportunity to learn from industry professionals, media artists, and world leading academics in film, television and digital media theory.

Why this programme

-Through practical workshops, industry master classes, and history and theory courses you will have the opportunity to learn from industry professionals, media artists, and academics in film, television and digital media theory.
-Glasgow offers a vibrant context for filmmaking and media arts practice. Key cultural events include the Glasgow Film Festival and Glasgow International(a biennial international festival of contemporary art).
-This broad-based and flexible programme allows you to work across a variety of platforms.
-Recognising that the programme will attract a diverse range of creative individuals, we offer a variety of software and hardware options. Our purpose designed Media Lab is equipped with Avid, Adobe Creative Cloud (including Premiere Pro, After Effects, Photoshop, Dreamweaver) and Final Cut Pro. We are able to equip students for projects with a range of cameras and sound and lighting equipment.
-The city is the home of BBC Scotland, STV and a lively community of independent media producers (television companies, sound studios and design companies) and numerous micro-businesses in the creative industries. It is also home to the internationally significant Glasgow Museum of Modern Art as well as venues renowned for exhibitions of emerging and established screen-based artists such as Tramway, The Centre for Contemporary Art and The Arches. In addition, the city is famous for its live music venues, galleries and artist run studio spaces offering an excellent and supportive environment for creative artists.
-The programme is taught in the Gilmorehill Centre which offers a purpose built Media Lab, its own cinema as well as a Media Archive which has more than 6,000 holdings, complementing the Library’s extensive collection of film, television and media art books and periodicals. The Centre is home to the international journal Screen and hosts the journal’s annual conference every summer, attracting leading names in film and television studies from across the world. You will have the opportunity to participate in the conference as well as to engage with guest speakers from the academy and media industries throughout the year.

Programme structure

The programme will offer a combination of formal lectures, practitioner led workshops, seminar discussions, screenings and one-on-one tutorials.

The practical elements of the course will feature high levels of support and direction in relation to pre-production materials, including developing pitches and storyboards as well as hands on support in relation to delivery of the individual film/media art projects.

Industry workshops are designed to give you the skills and knowledge needed in contemporary screen-based media contexts, while history and theory courses are offered to link industry practice with cutting edge theory in the field.

The programme has 4 components:
-Two core practical workshops: Running in Semester 1 and Semester 2, these are led by a practitioner in our purpose built Media Lab and are designed to provide hands on support in the production of your film or media art projects. They also incorporate sessions led by industry professional that are designed to pass on key industry experiences and skills vital to a successful career in the industry.
-The core academic option Experimental Art and Media: This course covers the history and theory of experimental art and filmmaking, including the topic of practice-as-research. It is designed to provide a critical foundation for your filmmaking and/or media arts practice.
-You will also choose one course, selected from a range of academic options that draw on the research expertise of the subject team.
-A practice-based dissertation, where you have the opportunity to develop, with support from technical and academic supervisors, a large-scale film or media arts self-directed project.

Career prospects

The programme will equip you with the ability to develop a career as a media producer, with a particular focus on low-budget productions for film and television. You will have the opportunity to explore and develop freelance industry practices and a portfolio of skills enabling you to work as an independent practitioner in today’s creative industries.

It is an innovative programme that teaches artistic, technical and professional skills and is designed to support graduates that are interested in working for large media companies or who may wish to pursue their own independent filmmaking and/or media arts practice. The programme also offers the research preparation necessary to successfully pursue a practice-based PhD.

You will learn things such as how to make films or media art pieces on low-budgets, how to take an idea from pitch to production, how to manage and sustain workflows, the processes involved in applying for arts funding, how to enhance your public profile and the processes involved in administering a start-up company.

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As public sector funding for the arts has become restricted, there is an increasing need for well qualified arts administrators, who are able to work at the interface between artistic creativity and sound business practice. The growth of the arts and the creative industries has created a need for well qualified arts administrators. This MA has the potential to shape a new breed of professionals in the arts management field by offering Liberal Arts, Humanities, Fine Arts, Film, Media and Communication graduates the opportunity to acquire the appropriate management and business skills, thus enabling them to capitalize upon their previous grounding within the arts.

Thanks to AUR’s connections and collaborations with numerous artistic and cultural institutions both in Rome and in Italy, this MA also offers the opportunity to gain invaluable professional experience. Rome and Italy are especially attractive for the study of arts, in general, and arts management in particular, given enormous resources that are available to scholars, art world professionals and students. Italy has a long and rich tradition of collecting, sponsoring and exhibiting visual arts. A special advantage available to students of Arts Management in Italy is a possibility to study some of the world’s oldest private collections and a specific system of patronage in the arts. Students will have an opportunity to conduct their research and internship in Roman and Italian arts institutions, some of which exist for centuries and manage the world’s most prestigious collections. This creates a unique academic experience and study environment, in which students can grow both professionally and intellectually.

Potential career paths
With this MA, students will be able to either seek employment with art-related organizations or management, or to pursue research at the Ph.D. level.

• Duration: 15 months
• Start date: Fall 2015
• Credits: 36

Courses and thesis
• Six core courses: 21 credits total
• Three electives: 9 credits total
• Internship and Thesis: 6 credits total

The complexity of today’s globalizing art world requires a diverse set of knowledge and skills. The range of potential responsibilities of arts administrators requires a graduate program which will give future art managers in depth knowledge about the structure of the contemporary art world, the nature of artistic and cultural values in general in connection to their market value, a solid knowledge of the business and market principles, in their application to the sphere of artistic and cultural production, as well as high level skills that will make future professionals in the arts management desirable candidates for a variety of posts in particular institutions of the art world, such as museums, galleries, art fairs and media reporting on art and analyzing the current artistic scene. The AUR’s MA in Arts Management enables students to acquire basic skills in the fundamental areas of art management and art administration, giving them an opportunity, through the selection of elective courses and internship experience to specialize in a particular area of their interest.

Learning Outcomes
With the MA program in Arts Management, AUR’s mission is to educate future professionals with an advanced knowledge of the contemporary art world and art administration/art management, who would be able to apply their knowledge in the global society. Upon completing the program students will be able to apply their knowledge and skills in all areas identified as the needed in the contemporary art world and art market. Students will be able to demonstrate:

• Advanced skills in the sphere of institutional management, which includes: in-depth knowledge of the way in which the key institutions of the contemporary art world (such as museums, galleries, art fairs, auction houses, art dealers and private collectors, and art media) function, the ability to design and carry out institutional strategic plans, and the ability to organize teamwork and recognize individual potentials of team members

• Advanced skills in the sphere of art project management, in particular: capacity to design and carry out demanding projects, such as international exhibitions, art fairs, logistics in realization of major art projects, artistic projects of the alternative artistic production and emerging artistic scenes, fundraising abilities (the ability to locate potential donors, such as art foundations, governmental and non-governmental organizations that sponsor art projects, and individual contributors), knowledge of basics of the financial management, which enables future professionals to design budgets and work with multiple financial sources

• Advanced knowledge of art market principles, including: market, social, political and cultural factors that structure the art market, specific features of the art market and institutions of art in Europe, USA, and emerging art markets across the globe, structure of the market price of artworks and factors that influence the price of artworks

• Advanced knowledge of relevant art theories, that explain and contextualize the complex artistic production and functioning of the contemporary art world, with the focus on: the value of art and how the cultural and aesthetic values are related to the market value, the broader social status of creativity and creative inquiry and the ways in which creative works are valorized, understanding the dynamics of the globalizing art market and the complexity of theoretical issues that the globalizing art world and art market pose, that involve ideological, economic and political issues, in addition to aesthetic ones

• Advanced knowledge of the social and cultural role of particular institutions of the art, such as museums, galleries, art fairs, public art projects and art publications

• Advanced knowledge of curatorial practices and exhibition design principles

• Students will also be able to clearly demonstrate that they have acquired the following abilities and skills: research skills, necessary to study at the graduate level and to write research papers, the ability to plan and execute an extensive research project, high level analytical skills, and the ability to communicate ideas and arguments effectively.

A vital aspect of the learning process will also be the exposure of students to the cultural diversity of Rome and of Italy, and to make the most of the opportunities for on-site teaching visits.

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On this programme students engage with some of the most dynamic and contemporary aspects of Asian and African art, as well as issues of collection, display, representation, tourist art, and shifts between regional, national and global identities. By focusing on theoretical and methodological questions, they are equipped with the terms and approaches needed for in-depth study of contemporary art. This is combined with the study of contemporary art from a range of Asian and African contexts.

The Department of the History of Art and Archaeology contains some of the world’s leading experts in contemporary Asian and African art, whose ground-breaking research informs and is informed by their teaching. Students benefit from the unparalleled knowledge and enthusiasm of staff. As members of the School of Arts, they profit from the insights of scholars and students working in other related fields, such as contemporary global Media, Film and Music. They can also select from courses in other departments, taking advantage of SOAS’s unrivalled expertise in, for example, the film, cinema, languages and modern history of Asia and Africa.

A Masters from the Department of the History of Art and Archaeology provides students with expertise in the History of Art and/or Archaeology of Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Our postgraduates progress to work in arts, culture and heritage roles, including in galleries, museums, archives, conservation, publishing and arts administration. The large portfolio of transferable skills they acquire enables them to forge careers in a range of other fields across the world. Our Masters programmes are also an excellent foundation for MPhil/PhD research.

Visit the website http://www.soas.ac.uk/art/programmes/macaaa/

Structure

Students must complete three units (or 0.5 unit equivalent) of taught MA modules in addition to the compulsory dissertation. A minimum of two units (or equivalent) must be selected from the MA modules in the History of Art and Archaeology department related to Contemporary Art and Art Theory listed below. Up to one unit (or equivalent) may be selected from the other MA modules in the department or from MA options offered by other SOAS departments, also listed below. Students must complete the Dissertation in History of Art and Archaeology: Contemporary Art and Art Theory of Asia and Africa (15PARC995).

Students may be allowed to study for the MA on a part-time basis. The part-time MA may be taken over two years, in which case the student takes two taught modules in the first year, and one taught module and the dissertation in the second. Alternatively, it can be taken over three years, in which case the student takes one taught module in each year. The dissertation can be written in any year, but it is strongly recommended that this be undertaken in the final year of the programme. It must be submitted in September of the year in which the student registers for it.

Teaching & Learning

- Teaching

Teaching consists of a combination of lectures and seminars. Classes are normally between two and three hours per week for each course. Teaching methods include lectures with discussion, seminars (at which students present papers) and museum visits. Students at all levels are expected to take an active part in class presentations. A particularly important element is the training of the student's visual memory.

In addition to their studies on the MA programme, students at SOAS can participate in a wide range of research seminars, lectures and conferences that regularly take place in the School and in the University of London.

- Assessment

For each of the three taught courses, the student will be expected to submit two or three pieces of written work usually around 3,000 to 4,500 words – for a total of 9,000 words per course. The emphasis is on developing essay skills during the session in preparation for the dissertation. In some courses the assessment is 100% on written work. On other courses, assessed course work forms 75% of the student’s final grade and an additional 25% is determined by slide quizzes, projects or other forms of assessment. The 10,000 word dissertation is submitted in September.

- Learning Resources

SOAS Library is one of the world's most important academic libraries for the study of Africa, Asia and the Middle East, attracting scholars from all over the world. The Library houses over 1.2 million volumes, together with significant archival holdings, special collections and a growing network of electronic resources.

Destinations

A Masters from the Department of the History of Art and Archaeology provides students with expertise in the History of Art and/or Archaeology of Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Our postgraduates progress to work in arts, culture and heritage roles, including in galleries, museums, archives, conservation, publishing and arts administration. The large portfolio of transferable skills they acquire enables them to forge careers in a range of other fields across the world. Our Masters programmes are also an excellent foundation for MPhil/PhD research.

Graduates have gone on to work for a range of organisations including:

Asia House
Bonhams
British Museum
Christie's Hong Kong
Design Museum
Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Mumbai City Museum
Hong Kong Museum Of Art
India Foundation For The Arts
Museum of East Asian Art
National Gallery National Museum of Singapore
People Projects Culture & Change
Schoeni Art Gallery
Sotheby's
Taiwan Embassy
The Alliance for Global Education
The British Embassy
The Chester Beatty Library
The National Museum Of Korea
The Royal Collection

Types of roles that graduates have gone on to do include:

Manager of Communications
Culture Programme Coordinator
Research Assistant
Social Anthropology Lecturer
Specialist - Indian Art
Architect
Art Historian
Development Specialist
Archivist
Gallery Director Innovation Programmes Learning Manager
Creative Director
Organisational Consultant
Travel writer
Art Collector
Chinese Painting Specialist
Professor of Silk Road History
Rights and Reproductions Officer
Public Education Coordinator
Senior Curator of Photographs

For more information about Graduate Destinations from this department, please visit the Careers Service website (http://www.soas.ac.uk/careers/graduate-destinations/).

Find out how to apply here - http://www.soas.ac.uk/admissions/pg/howtoapply/

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This course is for you if you need to improve your English language skills and subject knowledge of art history before going on to a Masters course. You improve your language fluency and academic vocabulary, develop your academic skills, and gain experience of western methods of teaching and learning so that you can progress onto a relevant Masters course in our School of Philosophy and Art History.

At Essex, you can progress onto our MA Art History and Theory, MA Curating Contemporary Art, MA Gallery Studies and Critical Curating, or MA Gallery Studies with Dissertation.

Our International Academy offers some of the best routes for international students to enter higher education in the UK. Our innovative courses and programmes have proved very successful with international students and have also attracted UK students because of the distinctive learning environment we offer.

If you are an international student, you may find that the education system in the UK is slightly different from other countries and, sometimes, that the transition to the British system can be challenging. Our courses help you to settle in and adapt to life in the UK.

Alongside improving your academic English skills, you also study two important areas of art history, focusing on a combination of Italian Renaissance art, modern European art, and contemporary art.

Our School of Philosophy and Art History is ranked 6th among art history departments in the UK for research excellence (REF 2014) - ahead of all but three of the Russell Group - with 89% rated as ‘world leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’. As such, you will be taught by some of the most innovative scholars in the field. Additionally, because we are a small school, you will be taught by our expert staff in your very first year, a rarity in UK art history courses.

Our expert staff

We are a dynamic group of art historians who investigate the production and reception of images and the built environment, across cultures and media, from the early modern period to the present day.

Our staff’s research interests include activist art, modernist art and totalitarianism, art and science, the artistic status of body modification, expressions of societal anxiety in art, as well as architecture and urbanism.

We also have significant experience in curation and public engagement. Recent projects include:
-Dr Gavin Grindo co-curated the Disobedient Objects exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, which was one of the most well attended shows in the museum’s history
-Dr Matt Lodder has acted as contributor for various television shows on body art and body modification, including the Today programme, the Jeremy Vine Show, Sky News, BBC Breakfast News, ‘Coast’, and National Geographic’s ‘Taboo’
-Dr Natasha Ruiz Gómez co-organised a major conference on Collect, Exchange, Display: Artistic Practice and the Medical Museum at the Hunterian Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons, London

Specialist facilities

By studying within our International Academy, you will have access to all of the facilities that the University of Essex has to offer:
-We provide computer labs for internet research; classrooms with access to PowerPoint facilities for student presentations; AV facilities for teaching and access to web-based learning materials
-Our new Student Services Hub will support you and provide information for all your needs as a student
-Our social space is stocked with hot magazines and newspapers, and provides an informal setting to meet with your lecturers, tutors and friends

Our outstanding art history facilities give you the opportunity for object-based learning, which is rare in other universities, and also e-nable you to gain curatorial experience:
-Our Essex Collection of Art from Latin America (ESCALA) is the most comprehensive Latin American art research resource in the UK and has a state-of-the-art teaching and research space. Many of our students gain work and research experience through our collection
-Our onsite gallery Art Exchange runs an ongoing programme of contemporary art exhibitions, talks by curators and artists, and exhibitions organised by our curatorial students
-Enjoy regular visits to London galleries, including Tate Modern, Tate Britain, the National Gallery and the Royal Academy of Arts, as well as many independent and alternative spaces
-Access our lively common room and departmental film collection
-Colchester’s iconic Firstsite gallery runs an exciting programme of art exhibitions, film screenings and talks

Example structure

Postgraduate study is the chance to take your education to the next level. The combination of compulsory and optional modules means our courses help you develop extensive knowledge in your chosen discipline, whilst providing plenty of freedom to pursue your own interests. Our research-led teaching is continually evolving to address the latest challenges and breakthroughs in the field, therefore to ensure your course is as relevant and up-to-date as possible your core module structure may be subject to change.

Art History with English for Academic Purposes - Graduate Diploma
-English for Academic Purposes
-Advanced English for Academic Purposes
-Critical Reading and Seminar Skills
-Extended English for Academic Purposes Project
-Photography in History (optional)
-The Work of Art in the Age of Digital Reproduction: Film, New Media, Software and the Internet (optional)
-Art & Ideas III (optional)
-Art, the Law and the Market (optional)
-Reworking the Past (optional)
-Visualising Bodies (optional)
-Inventing the Future: Early Contemporary 1945-1980 (optional)

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This MFA, described as one of the most influential MFA programmes in the world, subjects art-making to critical scrutiny. Artists on the programme strengthen the motivation, self-reflection and ambition of their practice and its leading ideas. http://www.gold.ac.uk/pg/mfa-fine-art/

While on the programme you will continually engage with what it means to practise as an artist today and the position taken by an art-practice in relation to art's complex history and its currency in wider social and cultural processes.

Given the wide international breadth of artists on the programme and the open range of media welcomed in it, a primary concern in discussion is how a particular artist's work and ideas are understood in and across different social, artistic and intellectual contexts.

Our primary emphasis is on how artists look to shift prevalent expectations and whether their work does so – perhaps then transforming what art might be. We place a strong emphasis on student-centred learning, particularly in the studio seminars and personal tutorials based on your art-making, its key concerns and ideas and their mutual interdevelopment. A lecture programme will in addition contribute to your understanding of concerns relating to contemporary art in broader contexts.

The degree has been described as one of the most influential MFA programmes in the world.

Visit us

Why not visit one of our Postgraduate Art Open Days? You can also explore our exhibitions and events archive.

You can also view our programme activities and projects on art.gold, follow staff, student and alumni activity on Facebook, and get course announcements on Twitter.

Guest Research Student

If you are an international student and would like to study a 'tailor-made' programme (for up to a year), you may be interested in applying as a Guest Research Student.

Contact the department

If you have specific questions about the degree, contact Sadie Murdoch.

Structure

The programme is divided into two parts:

Year One (Diploma stage) can be taken either full-time for one year (until late July) or part-time for two years (until late July in both years). This year seeks to establish the core conecerns and ambitions of your art.

Year Two (MFA stage) can be taken either full-time for one year (until late August) or part-time for two years (until late July, and then until late August in the final year). This stage of the programme enables you to address your ambitions for your art with an awareness of how it is situated.

Applicants who are already in possession of 120 grade credits for postgraduate study from another programme are able to apply for direct entry into Year Two of the programme on either a full or part-time basis. You may also take advantage of an exit point at the end of Year One of the programme and graduate with the Postgraduate Diploma in Fine Art.

What you study

This two-stage programme is designed to subject the making of art work, the ideas and concepts involved, and the works of art themselves, to artistic and critical scrutiny. This will include individually directed research to review, consolidate and strengthen your individual position as an artist. Students accepted onto the programme work in media areas including painting, sculpture, printmaking, installation, performance, art writing, textiles, digital media and video. The programme places a strong emphasis on student-centred learning – especially on your individual response to the divergent views you will experience in relation to your practice.

Among other qualities, you are expected to: contribute actively in tutorial and seminar discussions; to welcome and encourage sustained analysis of your practice by tutors and fellow students; to understand that the production of contemporary art takes place in a demanding and testing environment; and to take an independent path in developing your practice and its concerns.

Learning on the programme is primarily achieved through an appropriate combination of self-initiated and directed work in studio-practice and Critical Studies. Individual tutorials, seminars, lectures, workshops and research laboratories support this work. All parts of the programme are mandatory for all students. There are no optional modules on the programme. Modules and assessments are structured similarly on both parts of the programme.

Studio seminars

Seminars help you develop the confidence and ability to discuss your own work and the work of others, and to use the combined knowledge and experience of the group to assist in understanding and developing your own practice. This element of the programme is student-led with tutors responding to the needs and concerns of the participants. Studio seminars are organised by groups and take place weekly. Each student presents work for a seminar once in each term.

Tutorials and group tutorials

These develop your practice within contemporary art and current debate. You receive scheduled one-to-one tutorials with your Group Tutors and other staff from the study area. Two tutorials a term are scheduled with the core studio staff. In addition, you are expected to select a number of visiting tutors relevant to your practice for tutorials. These tutors are chosen in consultation with your Group Tutor, and cover a wide range of specialisms – discussion with them should further your understanding of your work in terms of the development of your practice. You are expected to write a report immediately after each tutorial summarising what took place and recording your considered responses to it.

Critical Studies

You are expected to identify and initiate the discussion of the critical concerns and interests of your practice. These concerns are developed through studio-based teaching and in discussions with your Critical Studies tutors, and developed further through the Critical Studies seminar and essay. For this reason, and in contrast to many other programmes, Critical Studies for the MFA Fine Art at Goldsmiths does not offer a series of subjects taught and learnt through seminars, group reading and discussion, but bases the teaching and learning of Critical Studies primarily in relation to your own practice.

Lectures

These introduce and develop issues of critical significance in contemporary culture and fine art by presenting arguments and discursive frameworks for contemporary practice. Lectures run through the first two terms on a weekly basis. They provide an opportunity for you to critically engage with your own practice in terms of wider cultural debates with which they may be unfamiliar. The lectures also provide an occasion for all members of the postgraduate programmes to meet on a regular basis.

Taught workshops

Each workshop will comprise four staff-led discussion-based sessions on a philosophical, theoretical or historical topic relevant to contemporary art practice, and will involve texts to be read in advance. Each student takes two workshops during the first year (students may apply to substitute part of this requirement with structured independent study).

Collaborative seminars

Student-led collaborative seminars, supported by staff and teaching assistants around a topic of mutual interest, are held during the second year. These will involve engagement with the professional art community, may take place outside the college in collaboration with other institutions such as museums and galleries, and may culminate in an open event or publication.

Assessment

The three examination elements for both Year One and Year Two are: Collection of Tutorial Reports, Exhibition, and Critical Studies Essay. All three elements must be passed to successfully complete each part of the programme. Each element of examination has both progression and final points of assessment.

Skills & Careers

Graduates from the MFA in Fine Art Goldsmiths go on to success in a range of fields. As well as the many internationally reknown artists who have studied at Goldsmiths, others have gone onto become gallerists or curators or have entered the fields of art administration, education and other cultural industries.

The course at Goldsmiths enables you to focus on the development of your own skills and aspirations and to equip you with the resources to succeed in your chosen profession.

Other entry requirements

Requirement for part-time study: you need to have your own studio space in which to work over the four years of the programme.

You might also be considered for some programmes if you aren’t a graduate or your degree is in an unrelated field, but have relevant experience and can show that you have the ability to work at postgraduate level.

Funding

Please visit http://www.gold.ac.uk/pg/fees-funding/ for details.

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We want to attract people whose art, ideas and ambitions create diversity of thinking and purpose. The interdisciplinary opportunities we offer create an engaging professional experience investigating the practice and discourse of fine art. You can choose areas of specialism in drawing from the archive, art in space and place and curating art, alongside your own studio work.

Full-time students use our purpose-built studio space. You have access to a wide range of workshops and technical expertise from all areas of media and fabrication. These include: sculpture; painting; live art; drawing; computer programming; metalwork; video editing; dark rooms; sound studios; film production equipment; printmaking.

Our teaching staff are experts in fine art and art education who not only exhibit their work but also contribute to conferences, journals and publications at national and international levels.

For more information, see the website: https://www.shu.ac.uk/study-here/find-a-course/mamfa-fine-art

Vibrant and supportive learning environment

The course offers a supportive community to foster your practice and your ambitions as a fine art professional. It is particularly suitable if you are: open-minded; ambitious; keen to experience new personal challenges that expand your creative development; interested in understanding all areas of the fine art discipline.

You are encouraged to create experimental and innovative works and to engage with the critical context of art in our time. Dialogue with peers, practicing artists and structured teaching throughout the course enables you to identify your practice within the wider field of fine art to achieve new goals, develop networks and find new inspirations to enrich your creative ambitions.

Excellent creative resources

We have a comprehensive range of technical resources and an excellent programme of high profile guest artists from across the visual arts spectrum to stimulate debates on issues of art and culture.

Dynamic and creative art community

Fine art students work and exhibit in the heart of Sheffield's Cultural Industries Quarter. The course has links with:
-Sheffield Contemporary Arts Forum
-Studio groups such as S1 and Bloc
-Yorkshire Art Space Society
-The Showroom Cinema
-Site Gallery

Sheffield has a dynamic and vibrant creative community. We work collaboratively with artists and curators, as well as researchers and students in other areas. You have access to a network of public galleries, art organisations and artist-run spaces. Opportunities for exhibiting and publishing take place throughout the year.

MA and MFA study

MA and MFA students complete the same modules during the course except that MFA students complete an extra project module. The MFA project encourages you to develop professional skills that help you to identify, instigate, and deliver projects with external partners, such as communities, galleries or businesses. You find a project partner, agree a brief and then deliver the project to a professional standard.

Course structure

MA: full time – 16 months including a summer break, part-time – typically 3 years.
MFA: full time – typically 2 years, part-time – typically 4 years. When studying part-time, you share teaching with full-time students.
Starts September.

Core modules
-Research directions and critical studies
-Advanced art practice
-Art

Optional modules
Art contexts that include:
-Art writing
-Curating art
-Art in space and place
-Drawing from the archive
-Gallery – public realm: making art inside and out

MFA core module – MFA students only
-Studio methods
-Art and its publics

Assessment: self-negotiated models of examination enable students to present agreed bodies of work for self and peer group assessment as well as evaluation by tutors.

Other admission requirements

An IELTS score of 6.0 with 5.5 in all skills (or equivalent) is the standard for non-native speakers of English. If your English language skill is currently below an IELTS score of 6.0 with a minimum of 5.5 in all skills we recommend you consider a Sheffield Hallam University Pre-sessional English course which will enable you to achieve an equivalent English level.

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Art, Media and Society is a renewed, fully English-taught Master's specialization within the Master's program Culture Studies.

The Master’s specialization in Art, Media and Society focuses on the transformations that cultural products undergo as a result of digitalization and globalization. In this program you will analyze how digital cultural products and artefacts critically reflect societal issues, such as the financial crisis, the rise of populism or the ‘tyranny of intimacy’ of social media. Furthermore, you will investigate the public impact of activities carried out by a range of different authors and artists. You will use theories and analytical tools to understand what is at stake here. Central questions are: How can art reshape the public sphere? What are new dimensions of information in the current public sphere?

As a student of Art, Media and Society, you take an interdisciplinary approach to media and art in the modern digital and culturally diverse society, and find yourself at the interface between culture, media, aesthetics and politics.

In this Master’s program, you study digital cultural products and artefacts in contemporary society: phenomena of high and mass culture as well as fashion and advertising, narrative forms of expression such as journalism and personal blogging, as well as literature and visual art focusing on varied purposes: to articulate human rights, to challenge neoliberal development, and to forge alternative local and transnational solidarities. You investigate how information circulates in various contexts, what the social, political and ethical implications are of cultural products, and how roles of producing and consuming these products are negotiated.

In addition, you study theories about the way cultural products and artefacts are experienced and responded to. You practice and further develop your ability to communicate your knowledge and to define, formulate, develop and implement projects. The purpose of the Master’s specialization in Art, Media and Society is to educate professionals with clear profiles.

Career Perspective Art, Media and Society

Art, media and society prepares you for a career in today’s global, digital and cultural diverse society. An average of 80 % of our students finds a job within a year after graduating. Our alumni work in the (online) media sector, in education, as programmer of film, theater, festival or debate. The third unit of the Master’s program is especially focused on developing the specific role of the cultural scholar in society.

The program prepares you for a job in the cultural sector, or the media sector, in which you have to organize, analyze, interpret, write and present.

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