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Introduction
As part of the MA Contemporary Dialogues portfolio, you will be encouraged to engage with contemporary issues and material investigation, including critical and theoretical dialogues, as fundamental to your progression and individual practice.
Design Crafts workshops allow for specialism in ceramics, glass, or metals or to work across disciplines, including photography, print, and textiles, encouraging you to develop an interdisciplinary approach involving those traditionally associated with Design Crafts practice and beyond. Hand-made and digital processes can be considered, as can writing and text as forms of making and thinking.
The course will culminate in a student-led exhibition and critical report.
Why choose this course?
1. The master's Contemporary Dialogues portfolio offers a unique interdisciplinary learning environment, with access to workshops and staff across the faculty.
2. Master's and research students are supported by a highly committed and professional team of lecturers and technical demonstrators, who together create a diverse, supportive learning environment.
3. SCA offers full and part-time options and, to help support our master's students, we deliver the majority of core teaching on Thursdays and Fridays.
4. Swansea College of Art (SCA), now part of UWTSD, has deep roots. Founded in 1853, it is the oldest art school in Wales; extensive premises include the beautiful Alex Building.
5. Our art and design courses are regularly highly rated.
Overview
The Master's Contemporary Dialogues portfolio at Swansea College of Art offers a unique postgraduate experience.
Graduates and professionals from a wide range of specialities benefit from multidisciplinary learning together with expert lecturers and a broad range of facilities.
You will have the opportunity to draw upon experiences and knowledge from across the different pathways and reflect on this in your own personal study.
The research environment benefits greatly from the input of our teaching staff and visiting lecturers, most of whom are research-active artists, designers, and theoreticians of national and international significance.
In the first part of the programme, you will complete a series of taught modules. You will participate in multidisciplinary exchanges, through seminars and lectures involving students from all programmes within the Contemporary Dialogues portfolio, to stimulate new perspectives and challenge directions. The cross-fertilisation of ideas through such dialogues is expected to promote a rethinking of the perceptions and production techniques appropriate to your discipline.
Throughout the taught part of the programme, you will be expected to undertake material investigations and research into contemporary themes, with consideration given to environmental, economic, social, and cultural issues.
Modules
The Master's portfolio is an innovative interdisciplinary postgraduate course. The course structure facilitates learning within and across disciplines, creating connections with staff and students with a breadth and depth of knowledge and experience.
The first part of the course is delivered through three 20-credit modules, which aim to expand experience and deepen knowledge, the emphasis is on experimentation and research.
The next phase of the course is student-led. Students select from a range of learning opportunities, which are of most interest and use to their individual learning experience. During this 60-credit module, students are encouraged to develop individual or collaborative research, through practical and theoretical exploration and experiment, supported by practical workshops, lectures, seminars and tutorials.
The final phase of the course is a student-led Major Project. Students consolidate their work with the aim of presenting the outcome publically, such as, for example, an exhibition, product prototype or book. This part of the course is supported by seminars, tutorials and a programme of visiting lectures which offer professional development opportunities.
Full-Time
Semester 1/Year 1
The Thought Experiment
Conducted at the beginning of the Master's programme in Art and Design, the Thought Experiment is a 20-credit module which provides an opportunity to discover research methods pertinent to the acquisition of experiential, as opposed to cognitive, knowledge, in a light-hearted but serious introduction to the programme.
Collaborative Dialogues
Collaborative Dialogues follows, and is intrinsically linked to, the Thought Experiment module.
After watching all the student presentations, collaborative teams of like, or complementary, minds form. These teams are tasked with developing a project which can be ‘real’ or hypothetical, blue-sky thinking or prototype in nature.
We are interested in your ability to collaborate, to work as a team and to harness your personal creativity in a team-working environment in ways which are positive and multiply the creative potential of the group.
Coexistent Perspectives
The Coexistent Perspectives 20-credit module combines an introduction to complex theoretical and philosophical ideas with independent academic research.
Semester 2/Year 1
Explorative Research and Praxis
The Exploratory Research and Praxis Module is designed to enable students to develop ideas through practical experimentation and philosophical exploration. Ideas are posed and questioned, theories tested and ways of working developed.
During this semester, ideas developed during the first semester are carried forward. These may involve the continuation and development of collaborative concepts and/or ways of working, or an individual inquiry.
Semester 3/Year 2
Confirmative Praxis
This module continues on from findings in the Explorative Research and Praxis module. It is concerned with the completion and presentation of the candidate’s Major Project and requires evidence of original research and data gathering, as well as a literature review of theoretical and conceptual thought.
Your Confirmative Praxis provides an opportunity to develop a full-scale project, which would normally be presented or exhibited in the public arena. This project of work should show a clear trajectory of artistic inquiry of an individual nature, as students move from the time-tabled taught modules through to a period of negotiated individual personal work.
Part-Time
Semester 1/Year 1
The Thought Experiment
Conducted at the beginning of the programme, the Thought Experiment is a 20-credit module which provides an opportunity to discover research methods pertinent to the acquisition of experiential, as opposed to cognitive, knowledge, in a light-hearted but serious introduction to the programme.
Collaborative Dialogues
Collaborative Dialogues follows, and is intrinsically linked to, the Thought Experiment module.
After watching all the student presentations, collaborative teams of like, or complementary, minds are formed. These teams are tasked with developing a project which can be ‘real’ or hypothetical, blue-sky thinking or prototype in nature.
We are interested in your ability to collaborate, to work as a team and to harness your personal creativity into a team-working environment in ways which are positive and hopefully multiply the creative potential of the group.
Coexistent Perspectives
The Coexistent Perspectives 20-credit module combines an introduction to complex theoretical and philosophical ideas with independent academic research.
Semester 1 and 2/Year 2
Explorative Research and Praxis
The Exploratory Research and Praxis Module is designed to enable students to develop ideas through practical experimentation and philosophical exploration. Ideas are posed and questioned, theories tested and ways of working developed.
During this semester, ideas developed during the first semester are carried forward. These may involve the continuation and development of collaborative concepts and/or ways of working, or an individual inquiry.
Semester 1 and 2/Year 3
Confirmative Praxis
This module continues on from findings in the Explorative Research and Praxis module. It is concerned with the completion and presentation of the candidate’s Major Project and requires evidence of original research and data gathering, as well as a literature review of theoretical and conceptual thought.
Your Confirmative Praxis provides an opportunity to develop a full-scale project, which would normally be presented or exhibited in the public arena. This project of work should show a clear trajectory of artistic inquiry of an individual nature, as students move from the time-tabled taught modules through to a period of negotiated individual personal work.
Entry Criteria
We normally require an undergraduate 2.1. However, we also consider candidates with relevant experience and aim to interview all applicants. Where possible, we invite prospective students to experience a day of teaching to see if it suits their expectations.
ENTRY REQUIRED DOCUMENTS
Home Office Share Code
For EU students only.
IF no Qualification
Please provide CV with at least 2 years of work experience, and employee reference letter.
Assessment
ASSESSMENT METHODS
1. INTERNAL ENGLISH TEST if you don't have an English accredited certificate
2. Academic Interview
Assessment
Students attend a formal briefing at the beginning of each module and are issued with the Assessment Specification. Assessments from the first three 20-credit modules all give feedback on different forms of research methods, which the students are encouraged to explore in term one. This feedback then influences the choice of research and praxis as the students progress within their specialist study.
During the Explorative Research and Praxis Module, students present their research and portfolio work to staff and students across a full range of subject areas and benefit from different perspectives and disciplines within art and design as well as their peers and tutors. During the Confirmative Praxis and Major Design Project modules, students take part in a Work in Progress symposium and gain formative feedback from both staff and students.
A variety of teaching and learning methods are used throughout the course, which include, among others:
Tutorials
These tutorials are held on a regular basis.
In Semester 1, full-time/Year 1, part-time, each student sees and discusses his/her work with a staff member as part of each module. In Semesters 2 and 3, full-time/Years 2 and 3, part-time, students work more independently and sign up for tutorials within, or across, their discipline, in addition to those scheduled when their work requires support.
Group Tutorials/Seminars
These are held on a regular basis, across all stages of the course, with one member of staff. They provide an excellent opportunity for students to share and exchange ideas with their peers in a structured manner, in addition to valuable input from staff.
Informal and Formal presentations
Some of the modules have a presentation of ideas as part of the module outcome and are an essential way of sharing ideas across the course. Presenting work informally to peers is also part of seminar teaching and a way of getting valuable feedback on the progress of the work.
Exhibiting work
At the end of the course, there is an opportunity, if appropriate, to show outcomes from the course in a curated exhibition. Students are also supported to create their own exhibitions during the middle part of the course if they wish to do so.
Career Opportunities
Graduate prospects
Interiors
• Designer maker
• Editorial – magazines, blogging, websites, illustration
• Freelance for interior brands and clients
• In-house roles for interior brands
• Interior stylist
• Lifestyle product designer
• Pattern designer
• Screen printer
• Textile designer
• Trend prediction and interior forecasting
• Wallpaper designer
Fashion
• Design assistant
• Design studio roles
• Designer maker
• Digital textile designer
• Editorial - magazines, blogging, websites, illustration
• Fashion stylist
• Freelance for brands
• Graduate trainee positions
• In-house roles for brands
• Lifestyle and accessory designer
• Pattern designer
• Screen printer
• Textile designer
• Trend prediction and fashion forecasting
Stationery
• Giftware design – wraps, and associated accessories and ranges
• Illustrator
• Stationery design – cards, books, lifestyle ranges
Arts Bodies
• Artists in Residence
• Community projects
• Exhibiting maker
• Gallery management
• Project management
• Stocking and selling through curated gallery shops
• Volunteering
• Workshops
Retail
• Buying
• Personal stylist
• Selling through retail outlets
• Styling
• Visual Merchandising – design and installation
Teaching
• Community Workshops and Arts groups
• PGCE – Secondary, Primary, FE
• University lecturer
• Visiting lecturer
• Workshop, freelance
Work modes
• Employment
• Enterprise
• Freelance
• Self-Employment
• Voluntary
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