The 2-year Master’s programme in Semiotics provides interdisciplinary background and gives a theoretical base for application of semiotic ideas to a wide variety of disciplines and scientific study. The programme binds together the theory of semiotics and three core modules - cultural semiotics, biosemiotics and sociosemiotics.
The tradition of excellence in semiotic theory in Tartu was established by Juri Lotman in 1960s, the founder of semiotics of culture and the Tartu-Moscow Semiotic School, as well as the oldest journal of semiotics, Sign Systems Studies.
The International MLitt in Crossways in Cultural Narratives is a two-year taught postgraduate programme open to both European and non-European students. It is run by an international consortium of the following universities:
The programme centres on the theme of crossways and cultural hybridisation. Its major discipline is literature with a comparative approach, but it includes modules in aesthetics, history of ideas, semiotics, linguistics and communication. Study at St Andrews focuses on the areas of cultural identities and comparative literature.
The course is divided into four semesters. Students spend Semesters 2 and 3 at the same university, and Semesters 1 and 4 at two different universities. Please note that students may not choose a mobility track comprising both St Andrews and Sheffield, and they may not spend the same academic year in both Canada and the UK.
Students may choose their modules (subject to final approval by the Crossways Academic Council), or they may choose a preselected pathway of modules.
During the programme, students participate in courses delivered through lectures and seminars which are graded by either continuous assessment, the preparation of a researched dossier or examinations at the end of the semester. At the end of the course, students work autonomously on a final dissertation under supervision by members of the consortium's teaching staff.
Students who study at St Andrews for Semester 2 and 3 have the option of going on a work placement during their second semester or between their second and third semesters. Those on a work placement will write a short 6,000-word dissertation report as well as a 4,000-word academic essay reflecting on their placement.
Students are encouraged to arrange their own work placements at an organisation of their choice. All work placements are conditional upon the approval of the local coordinator.
Further particulars regarding curriculum development.
Below are the modules which are compulsory for study at the University of St Andrews.
For more details of modules offered at St Andrews, including weekly contact hours, teaching methods and assessment, please see the latest module catalogue which is for the 2017–2018 academic year; some elements may be subject to change for 2018 entry.
The Master in International Screenwriting and Production is a graduate program that aims at creating professional scriptwriters, story editors and producers, providing them with a thorough understanding of the audiovisual industry and a strong knowledge of the storytelling techniques, which are the heart of every project of feature film and television series.
The MISP is a full-time intensive course, with a maximum enrollment of 42 students. The diploma, issued by Università Cattolica, is recognized as a first level Master’s degree by the Italian Government.
The MISP will allow students to acquire the required knowledge to work in the entertainment industry, both as writers and/or professionals working in production or distribution companies, TV networks, talent agencies or as production assistants.
Students will receive a comprehensive and high level training which effectively combines the academic expertise of university professors with the professional know-how of high-ranking professionals with international profiles.
Graduates from the MISP are exposed to a wide range of career opportunities. Graduates have both the theoretical knowledge and the methodological tools suited to pursue professional and managerial careers as:
● Screenwriters or creative producers of television series and feature films;
● Authors of TV entertainment programs and documentaries, copywriters, creators of video games and web series, writers of comic books and novels and fiction editors in publishing companies;
● Story editors and script consultants;
● Supervisors of evaluation, acquisition and programming of TV shows;
● Professionals working in different areas of the television and film industry (physical production, distribution, acquisition, product placement, etc.)
Here is a list of some Professors and Guest Lecturers:
● Eleonora Andreatta - Director TV series and TV dramas for Rai Fiction
● Luca Bernabei, CEO Lux vide, Rome
● Armando Fumagalli, Director of the Master, professor of Semiotics and History of Cinema, UCSC; script consultant for Lux vide
● Robin Lyons - Animation Writer and Producer – Calon (UK)
● Luca Manzi - Writer for novel, theatre and television, and co-founder of the Master Program
● Cristiana Nobili - Director, Original Live Action Production, Disney Europe, Middle East and Africa (London)
● Paolo Sigismondi, professor of Global Entertainment, Annenberg School of Communication, University of Southern California, Los Angeles
● John Truby - Screenwriter and script doctor for Disney, Universal, Sony Pictures, Fox, HBO, BBC
● Screenwriting theory (8 ECTS/ CFU)
● Script analysis and project evaluation (8 ECTS/ CFU)
● Writing techniques for audiovisual products (12 ECTS/ CFU)
- Screenwriting practice: treatments, scenes and dialogues, scripts, pitches.
- The writing of genres and adaptation.
- Writing for different formats: comic books, novels, documentaries, entertainment TV shows, advertising, the web, mobile media, and transmedia projects.
- Screenwriting and production of animation projects.
● The audiovisual industry (4 ECTS/ CFU)
- Industries and audiences.
- TV acquisition and programming and film distribution
- The physical production: pre-production, shooting, post-production, contracts and budgeting.
● Communication ethics (4 ECTS/ CFU)
Three months before the end of theoretical classes, the students will have to choose between one of the following careers: screenwriting or production. The students, who choose the screenwriting career, will have to write and deliver a final project from which the writing abilities developed during the program should emerge. Typically,the final project takes the form of a script for a feature film, which can either be an original idea or an adaptation.
The final project can be written in English, Italian, French or Spanish. The students, who choose the production career, will have the opportunity to undertake an internship within an established production or distribution company, a TV network, an advertising agency or on a film set.
The MISP aims at providing its stu- dents with the adequate knowledge, wide-ranging skills and contacts to meet the requests of an increasingly global and varied audiovisual industry.
In previous years, alumni from MISP (which, until 2015, was taught in Italian: Master in Scrittura e produzione per la fiction e il cinema) have been working as writers and producers for top rating TV series and highly successful feature films, or as writers of best selling novels, published in many countries; many of them have been working in high-ranking audiovisual companies such as Cattleya, Disney, Endemol, Focus Features, Freman- tle, Lux Vide, Mediaset, RAI, SKY, among others. They work not only in Italy, but also in London, Los Angeles, Madrid, New York, Paris, etc.
Graduates from the MISP are exposed to a wide range of career opportunities. Graduates have both the theoretical knowledge and the methodological tools suited to pursue professional and managerial careers as:
All scholarships are assigned on a merit basis and will be mostly given to students who apply by the priority deadline. Some scholarships may also target specific geographic regions.
Scholarship value: €4500
Edinburgh College of Art: Postgrad study in Art, Design, Architecture, Music, History of Art
