MA Arts in Social Contexts

In detail, the Programme structure can be divided into two sequences of activity.

The first represents the specific aims of the compulsory introductory core modules comprising the first 60 Programme credits (Post-graduate Certificate level) which are to give students, with diverse practical and intellectual backgrounds and skills, a firm grounding in the different approaches to the analysis, making and evaluation of aesthetic practice, and its relationship to the specifics of context and audience. These practical and theoretical explorations are complemented by structured activities to help students develop essential library research skills in the gathering, organisation and deployment of evidence, data and information derived from a variety of primary and secondary sources. These first modules culminate in a student initiated and directed practical project in a context of the student’s own choice.

The second reflects the level of choice open to students via the structure of the next 120 Programme credits (Post-graduate Diploma/MA levels). Here, again the student is free to choose the content and focus area of their main project work but they are also required to make a structured choice from within a set of Elective modules designed to enable students to deepen their knowledge in a focused exploration of particular aspects of a specialist field of study and at present students can select from the following areas:

• Arts in Education
• Theatre for Youth
• Arts in Criminal Justice Settings

The range of Electives on offer is under constant review and new Electives will be offered as a perceived demand is identified.

From this point in the Programme onwards a student can link their pattern of study with the themes and content of the Elective modules and thereby progress towards a named degree route in these areas e.g. MA Arts in Social Contexts/Theatre for Youth etc. or should the student wish to graduate without linking their qualification directly to the focus area of the Elective module then they would be free to pursue other suitable project possibilities towards an award of the generic MA Arts in Social Contexts degree.

The final modules of the Programme are therefore centred on student choice and give opportunities for a student to demonstrate a broad understanding of artistic phenomena, and of a particular sub-field of the discipline at advanced level; and to produce a substantial piece of practice-led research on a topic of their choice.

The course is open to:

• Arts graduates
• Practising professional arts workers and practising artists with training to first degree level or equivalent
• Practising arts workers without any formal qualifications but with demonstrable and quantifiable experience in the field
• Youth Theatre Leaders, social workers, youth leaders or educators wishing to extend their arts practice within existing working contexts.

You may also be interested in postgraduate research opportunities at the RSAMD.