Arts MRes Presentation

ARTS AT NORTHUMBRIA

Welcome to Arts MRes at Northumbria University

If you have any questions, members of the teaching team are available on Live Chat throughout the presentation and for 15 minutes afterwards to answer your queries.

YOUR COURSE

Arts MRes Whether you are a practitioner in Art or Drama, or a scholar of film, visual culture, or arts education, the Arts MRes offers an opportunity to develop your understanding of your specific subject through an extended research project.

Why Arts MRes at Northumbria?  From day one, your learning is centred on your specific research project, and much of the module content is decided by the students each year.  Group seminars provide a dynamic opportunity to test your ideas, and share knowledge of concepts and research methods with other students.  Whether you are a recent Film Studies graduate, or an arts practitioner with an established career, the emphasis is on supporting, questioning and developing understanding with your fellow MRes students – all under the guidance of tutors with specialist research knowledge in the arts.  Consequently, MRes students push their studies forward in critically rigorous, and sometimes unexpected ways!  MRes graduates find it a smooth transition into PhD study, or new career opportunities in the arts.

Why Arts MRes at Northumbria?  REF2014 placed Northumbria’s Art and Design research within the UK top ten for “research power.”  Prepare for a PhD - an MRes offers much more research experience and more extensive research training, allowing you to hit the ground running when you start a PhD.  Many professions value research skills but a full, three-year PhD may not be necessary. An MRes offers a shorter, more focused route to research training.  Many of our alumni work in the creative sector, education or as self-employed practitioners.  The Arts MRes also enables practitioners in Art, Drama or other parts of Visual Culture to investigate the conceptual and theoretical aspects of their practice.

Arts MRes at Northumbria  Regular one-to-one tutorials with project supervisors will enable you to develop your project effectively.  Learn from staff with specialist knowledge in art and design theory, film and television studies, curating, arts festivals, landscape, architecture, fashion, socially engaged arts, performance and digital arts practices.  Demonstrate advanced self-management skills, including the ability to take responsibility for a large-scale project, make editorial choices, and produce an extended piece of written work to high scholarly standards using academic conventions.

Arts Mres

Examples of Current Modules

MRes Dissertation

Research Development

Critical Contexts

Research Methods

Academic Language Skills in FADSS (optional)

DISCLAIMER: Please note that information, advice and guidance received at the Open Day is accurate as of today, and is subject to change as we review our courses and our offers to ensure that you are receiving the best possible educational experience. The University continues to monitor guidance in relation to Covid-19 to ensure compliance with government requirements and to ensure the health and safety of our students and staff. Our website is the most up to date place to review our information.

Ways to Study 1 Year Full-Time September start Module Overview

2 Years Part-Time September start Module Overview Year 1

Module Overview Year 2

Academic Language Skills in FADSS Level 7 (Optional, 0 Credits)

Academic Language Skills in FADSS Level 7 (Optional, 0 Credits)

(Core, 90 Credits)

Research Development

Research Methods

Research Development

(Core, 30 Credits)

(Core, 30 Credits)

Critical Contexts

MRes Dissertation

(Optional, 30 Credits)

(Core, 90 Credits)

Academic Language Skills in FADSS Level 7

(Optional, 0 Credits) MRes Dissertation

(Core, 30 Credits)

Research Methods (Core, 30 Credits)

Critical Contexts (Optional, 30 Credits)

Teaching and Assessment Teaching The Arts MRes is based around self-directed study, but you are supported by a framework of three modules.  Modules are worth 30 credits.  You will also complete an MRes Dissertation worth 90 credits.  You study for 180 credits in total.  This course involves seminars (small group discussions), workshops (interactive, practical sessions) and a dissertation (large scale research project) as well as regular meetings with a designated “Principal Supervisor.”

Teaching and Assessment  Teaching is focussed on individual tutorials and group seminars – in which concepts, themes and research methods are investigated in dynamic discussion. The emphasis is on sharing knowledge and interrogating ideas.  Contact time in university totals 5 hours per week (full time), and you will be expected to supplement this with 20 to 25 hours per week of private study.  Assessment is through submitted written coursework and presentations methods – totalling around 6000 words (over two assignments) per module.

Teaching and Assessment Assessment focuses on:  Developing research techniques and presenting findings to an audience of academics and students.  Working with classmates to organise, advertise and present a one-day symposium of research papers that express your scholarly projects.  Writing critical reviews, essays and project plans relating to the artworks, theories, academic scholarship, and research methods relevant to your specific area of research.  An extended dissertation of 20,000 words. The dissertation is intended to demonstrate a highlevel of independence in research, problem-solving, writing and presentation.  The companion course, MRes Design provides for students to choose the 20,000 word dissertation, or produce a major project with a 10,000 word dissertation.

If you are joining us in September 2020 • Your health and wellbeing are our priority – but so is your education, and we will work tirelessly to deliver our quality learning experience safely.

• If you can travel safely to us, we will welcome you from 21st September 2020 for your induction programmes; teaching will start from 28th September. If you can’t travel to us safely, you will start online and join us when you can.

• Learn on campus with fellow students, as appropriate, through small group teaching, with access to digital hubs, classrooms, laboratories, studios and clinics, and with full access to the University Library – one of the best academic libraries in the UK. • On-campus learning will be combined with flexible online study; with online lectures (both live and prerecorded), interactive activities, webcasts, seminars, workshops, discussion groups and more. You will experience a truly blended learning experience.

• Online learning will be collaborative and engaging – designed for a virtual experience and tailored to you and your subject and delivered through our user friendly learning environment – Blackboard Ultra – providing access to virtual classrooms, laboratories, studios, clinics and our library online.

• Taught, directed and independent learning activities will be clearly communicated week by week, developing your critical thinking and enabling you to challenge yourself and each other, and apply your learning.

Our Staff  The Arts MRes team have wide ranging professional experience and research specialisms, which are aligned to the courses to inform teaching.  Your individual project supervisor will be allocated on the basis of specialist knowledge in your specific subject area.  You will meet them every three weeks for individual tutorials.

Rupert Ashmore is an art and design historian whose research spans fine art, photography, film and digital media.

Ysanne Holt is Professor of Art History in the Department of Arts. Her research is focussed on themes relating to 20th and 21st century art in Britain.

You are in control of your research  With a student-focused course of study, supported by supervisors specifically chosen to compliment your project, research is embedded in the Arts MRes course from your initial project proposal.  You will be encouraged to think about, develop, evaluate and refine your research approaches throughout the programme.  As an MRes graduate you will have proven that you are an academic researcher with expertise in a specialist area.

Entry Requirements  Applicants should normally have A minimum of a 2:2 honours degree in a

relevant subject. Applicants with appropriate work experience and/or a relevant professional qualification will be considered.  International qualifications - if you have studied a non-UK qualification, you can see how your qualifications compare to the standard entry criteria, by selecting the country that you received the qualification in from our country pages at www.northumbria.ac.uk/yourcountry .  English language requirements - International applicants are required to have a minimum overall IELTS (Academic) score of 6.5 with 5.5 in each component (or approved equivalent*). * The university accepts many UK and International Qualifications in place of IELTS. You can find more details at www.northumbria.ac.uk/englishqualifications .

YOUR CAMPUS

Our Facilities • Northumbria are 11th in the UK for Facilities.* • Major campus investment in recent years – Sport Central, Student Central, Digital Commons, Architecture Studios, Computer and Information Sciences Building.

• One of the best academic libraries in the UK, held Customer Service Excellence (CSE) accreditation since 2010, and with 24/7 access.*** • Our IT, library and course resources are all ahead of sector for satisfaction.** *Times Higher Education Student Experience Survey 2018 *** National Student Survey 2019 *** Digital library is currently 24/7, access to library learning spaces reviewed in line with Covid-19 guidance.

Arts MRes Facilities  Seminars are taught in Sandyford Building at City Campus, in the centre of Newcastle and encourage discussion and the exchange of ideas between researchers from a wide range of disciplines.  You will gain access to specialist postgraduate training workshops.  All students are continually informed of events on and off campus, as well as opportunities of special interest to their research through the electronic learning portal.

YOUR EXPERIENCE

On-course Experience  As the MRes course is centred around research, you will immediately be part of Northumbria’s research community.  You will exchange ideas with postgraduate researchers from other disciplines in the Arts, Design and beyond.  You can also attend research seminars presented by postgraduate researchers and staff, such as the regular Wednesday afternoon Visual and Material Culture research seminars.

YOUR FUTURE

Career Success at Northumbria  Boost your earning potential: according to the Department for Education’s Graduate Labour Market Statistics 2017, postgraduates earn on average £6,000 a year more than their undergraduate counterparts.  Which? University Student Survey 2018 ranked us as one of the top rated universities for ‘job readiness’ in the UK.  Northumbria is ranked 2nd in the UK for graduate start-ups based on turnover (HEBCIS Survey 2017/18).  Our Careers and Employment Service will help at every stage, from finding part-time jobs that fit alongside your studies and volunteering opportunities, through to finding your first full-time job after graduation.

Where do our graduates go?  The Arts MRes is an ideal way to develop a set of impressive outlooks, attributes and skills whether you wish to pursue further academic research at doctoral level or build a career in the cultural professions or education.  MRes students develop a host of skills relating to project organisation, teamwork, marketing, using communication platforms, and event management through directing an individual research project from initial proposal to finished thesis and by organising an academic symposium with others from different disciplines.  As such, our graduates have advanced their careers in the arts, as self-employed practitioners or in the cultural industries. Many have gone on to PhD research and teaching in Higher Education. Some even work at Northumbria!

THANKS FOR WATCHING.

What’s Next?

• Have any questions? Why not speak to our academics who are live right now, using our LIVE CHAT feature on the bottom right?

• To explore our other live events, presentations and live talks go back to the main event menu or view ‘My Itinerary’ • For Application queries email bc.applicantservices@northumbria.ac.uk • For Postgraduate queries email nu.postgraduate@northumbria.ac.uk • For Course queries email r.ashmore@northumbria.ac.uk

DISCLAIMER: Please note that information, advice and guidance received at the Open Day is accurate as of today, and is subject to change as we review our courses and our offers to ensure that you are receiving the best possible educational experience. The University continues to monitor guidance in relation to Covid-19 to ensure compliance with government requirements and to ensure the health and safety of our students and staff. Our website is the most up to date place to review our information.