Creative Practice

Master of Arts

Course Details

Course Code	SG_GCREA_M09
Level	9
Duration	1.5 years
Credits	90
Method of Delivery	Blended
Campus Locations	Sligo
Mode of Delivery	Full Time

Apply Now How to Apply

Apply Now How to Apply

Course Overview

The Yeats Academy are now offering a range of Masters programmes in 17 creative disciplines. We have called these Pathway Specialisms.

Pathway Specialisms offered include:

Architecture
Creative Enterprise
Creative Writing
Cultural and Creative Industries
Design
Design & Craft
Directing and Production
Drama and Performance
English Literary Studies
Film and Digital Media
Fine Art
Interior Architecture
Interdisciplinary Practice
Music Performance Management
Playwriting
Screenwriting
Theatre and Performance Design

Once you decide your Pathway Specialism, you can decide from one of two ways to undertake your Masters study.

You can complete the course in a minimum of 3 Semesters (15 months) or take a maximum of up to 5 years in a part-time mode. The programme is 90 credits, with 30 credits of taught modules and 60 credits of 1:1 supervised research.

This programme will give each student the opportunity to direct their own study tin the direction of either Research-Led/Based or Practice-Led/Based.

The Research-Led/Based approach will provide students with the opportunity to conduct advanced enquiry into a research question. The student may employ a wide range of research methods derived from the social sciences or the arts to address concerns that are encountered in their creative field/industry. The student has a choice of assessment modes:

through a written dissertation (100% and 24,000-30, 000 words)
through a combination of written dissertation (no less than 60 % and 15,000-18000 words) and other research artefacts (up to 40%).

The Practice-Led/Based approach provides students with the opportunity to pursue advanced enquiry into creative disciplines through practice. The focus is on the development of the students own creative work. The students dissertation will be split between a practice component (60%) accompanied by a written element (40%) of 9,000 – 12,000 words.

So in summary, our Master of Arts allows students to foster either a practice-led industry based research element or applied practice as the primary.

The programme is designed as Level 9 Masters study for applicants who already hold an Honours Degree (2:2 minimum) in a cognate area.

Programme Aims

The Masters programmes acknowledge the importance of responding to the communities they serve providing economic and cultural benefits both regionally and nationally. A vibrant and productive creative industry sector is fundamental to economic growth and prosperity across all sectors of Irish society, as well as having a key role to play in the creation and sustaining of personal, local and national identity and cultural expression.

This programmes aims to offer you the opportunity to develop and demonstrate mastery in the theory, methods and practice of applied research within the creative industries. Study undertaken at Masters level explores aspects of knowledge at the forefront of an academic or professional discipline. You will be expected to demonstrate originality in the application of knowledge, and to gain understanding of how the boundaries of knowledge are advanced through research. You will be able to deal with complex issues systematically and creatively.

This Masters programmes aims:

to provide access and progression pathways for regional, national and international students for a career in the creative arts.
to provide creative industry professionals with the opportunity to research and innovate to inform their field and the realm of creative practice both regionally and internationally.
to allow creative practitioners to develop a range of creative research skills that will enhance both their practice and career opportunities, also providing national and international progression pathways to further research at PhD level.
to allow creative practitioners to develop the skills in relation to analysis, research, creativity, technical proficiency, collaboration and communication.
to facilitate regional, national and international students to participate either on campus or from a distance through blended modes of delivery
to develop both national and global leaders in creativity and the arts based on our unique culture and creativity

Graduate Attributes

The MA graduate will be equipped to work and apply learning to a vast array of disciplines and professions within the Creative Industries. Unique attributes will include research and practice based skills within their chosen specialism. Transferrable skills will see the graduates as independent thinkers, critical thinkers, problem solvers, collaborators, and adaptive learners with innovative initiative.

On completion, graduates will be able to:

-contribute and innovate in a variety of creative employment fields

-develop creative entrepreneurship and competency in the creative industries

-work both as creative individuals and as part of a team

-benefit from experiential learning opportunities in facilitation, collaboration and leadership

-enhance their own sustainable professional practice in a way that incorporates an ethos of self-directed and life-long learning
-nurture visual awareness, literacy and critical faculties in order that they may consider, for example, aspects of form, semantics, human factors, business and professional practices, sustainability issues and cultural influences in the construction and development of creative practice skills and solutions
-deliver confident written, oral, practical, physical and research skills that demonstrate knowledge and understanding of creative practice industries in a wide variety of professional contexts.

Transfer policy

All students will enrol on one of the Masters programmes. By the end of Semester One students must choose their Specialism Pathway and may change their Programme Pathway. This must be completed formally through the submission of a comprehensive research proposal and agreed with the Programme Coordinator and Supervisor.

A New Vision for the Irish Creative Practice Landscape

ATU Sligo is located in Irelands ‘Creative West’ on the north-west coast of Ireland, on the Atlantic edge of Europe. The north-west has traced one of the most enduring lines through the history of civilisation; an area rich in ancient lore, apparent in both the physical remains of human settlement, archaeological monuments and in the lineage of storytelling passed from one generation to the next. In this evocative landscape of ever-changing light and glacially sculpted topography, the lines between history and mythology are intertwined. Through the centuries, creativity from art, architecture and design to literature and music have flourished from this region. The region has played a critical role in the works of many internationally renowned creative talents most notably in the works of William and Jack B. Yeats.

Recognising this strong creative culture, with a view to facilitate an ecosystem of creativity and promote the future growth of the creative industries in the region, ATU Sligo restructured its creative programmes to bring about the formation of a new Department of Arts, Design and Architecture. This has brought all the creative disciplines that were in the past spread throughout different departments and faculties together for the first time. All programmes are delivered using a vibrant mix of studio work, critical and creative thinking, and research, and have opportunities for cross-pollination and interdisciplinary practice.

In June 2019, ATU Sligo officially launched the Yeats Academy of Arts, Design and Architecture. The vision is for The Yeats Academy to be catalyst for creativity, regionally, nationally and internationally. It will provide an accessible learning experience across creative disciplines that engage with and build on the rich cultural legacy and genius loci of our region. It illuminates the value of creativity and cultural contribution to society, and seeks to make a lasting contribution, locally and globally.

We aim to:

-Be Inquiring
-Be Innovative
-Be Engaged
-Be Collaborative
-Be Transformative
-Be Fearless

Whilst aware of our globalised and fluid surroundings – we draw on the existing ‘spirit of place’ of the north-west where we can see a display of the important dimension and distinctive powers that our place, our landscape, our region has on artistic and creative practice of this generation – as it has to generations of creative practitioners that have come from or been drawn to this magical, mythical, magnificent place with its deep rooted history, evocative landscape, rich culture and creative spirit.

We recognise the value of Creative Culture as an asset. We acknowledge the symbiotic link between a Creative Culture, a successful economy and a thriving society. We advocate that a Creative Culture can be an engine for economic and social development and become a path for economic growth. We realise that a Creative Culture is a powerful tool to engage citizens and communities, and is intrinsic to improving quality of life and living standards and can make a real difference to people’s lives. We believe that a Creative Culture provides the best possible platform from which to pursue key social goals, such as tackling disadvantage, inequality and accessibility. We support the vision for Project Ireland 2040 – to have ‘a creative, innovative and culturally attuned society in our region, so that people, businesses and communities are equipped to further both our national economic output and our artistic endeavour.’

The Masters programmes encapsulate the vision of our new Department.

Why Study at the Yeats Academy?

This programme will allow you to:

Develop research and practice mechanisms to apply your creative talent to encourage innovative solutions,
Advance your peer-to-peer interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches to creative practice in emerging areas,
Forge links with other creative industry professionals in fields that will strengthen your career,
Build stronger partnerships with employers and industry stakeholders though the Institute’s networks,
Be part of an active research alliance at the forefront of the creative arts,
Engage with regional creative and cultural communities to ensure that the region develops into a better place to live and work for all

Course Details

Year 1

Semester	Module Details	Credits	Mandatory / Elective
1	Introduction to Dissertation This module prepares for advanced enquiry to inform a specific area of creative practice, or within an interdisciplinary framework, anticipating the dissertation that the student will conduct in the second and third semesters of the Masters programme. During this module the student develops their research thinking and writing, refines their research questions, aims and objectives, produces a preliminary literature review, and designs their research proposal. Concurrent modules expose students to a range of practice-based, traditional and cross-disciplinary approaches to research. The intent expressed in the student's dissertation proposal at the conclusion of the module determines whether they will choose to complete the Masters of Arts through Creative Practice or the Masters of Arts through Research. Learning Outcomes 1. Propose anoriginal research and/or creative process in response to aligned research question(s), aims and objectives. 2. Contextualise proposed research and/or creative practices in relation to extant theory and practice 3. Identify, source and manage literature to inform a preliminary literature review. 4. Selectsuitableresearch methodologies and/or creative processesinaccordance with ethical concerns 5. Planresearch and/or creative enquiry withingiven resource frameworks	10	Mandatory
1	Place, Space and Culture This module considers theories of space, place and place-making, and examines how people engage the material and social worlds of place. A range of frameworks of reading and knowing place are considered from geological, anthropological, performative, ecological, archaeological, and architectural perspectives. We investigate the social construction of place in terms of class, gender and sexuality and the impact of globalisation, modernity and postmodernity on concepts of place. We explore both the appropriation and loss of place, as well as 'placelessness' and the non-place. We consider place as change/event and as ecological relationship/interaction. We discuss ethnography as a way of looking and students will be introduced to strategies for encountering/documenting place, considering the importance of images, stories, objects, buildings, embodiments/perceptions and language in the interpretation/production of space in everyday lives. We will consider how spatial analyses can yield insight into inequalities and exclusions as well as offering the means for possible cultural or ecological interventions to reflect, challenge or transform place and identities. The ethical implications of interacting in spaces and looking will also be examined. Students will apply these studies and ethnographies to their own creative enquiries and practices. Learning Outcomes 1. Understandtheories of place and space in relation to aligned frameworks of reading and knowing space 2. Critically reflect on the experiential, material and representational dimensions of place and culture 3. Produce a piece of research that reflects understanding of theoretical concepts of place, space and culture 4. Develop a conceptual framework for ethnographic approaches to space and place 5. Apply ethnographic methodolgiesto a specific creative practice 6. Acknowledge and encompass ethical and practical issues in the design and implementation of a piece of place-related research 7. Interpret and communicate research processes and outcomes relating to place and space in a meaningful manner	10	Mandatory
1	Creative Practice Research Methods Aim: This module develops an understanding of the major critical issues in the field of creative practice as research and research for the arts and design. It introduces a range of methodologies appropriate to the production, documentation and analysis of performance, design, film, text, arts and literary practice. Content: Through an interdisciplinary approach, students will be placed in a creative and critically informed environment in which to evolve, critique and consolidate their individual practice and/or enquiry. The theatre/studio, akin to a laboratory, will be key to exploring the relationship between the creative enquiry and its critical investigatory purpose. This module will equip postgraduate practitioners and researchers with a broad introduction to constructing and designing research appropriate to their type of enquiry. Initially, students will survey divergent contemporary approaches to creative practice and research by way of analysis and engagement with critical theory, including issues of semiotics, phenomenology, ethnography, technology, gender and the body in performance. In the second half of the semester, students will work to define and engage with a particular creative research question/problem and explore their critical approaches with both supervisor and peer review support. Students will complete a final research paper/practical project that frames and supports their practice and/or research, including research documentation. Learning Outcomes 1. Demonstratein-depth knowledge and understanding ofmajor critical issues in the field of creative practice research appropriate to the production, documentation and analysis of performance, design, film, text, arts orliterary practice 2. Critically analyse and reflect upon the practitioners own work and other artists practices and contexts. 3. Source, collect,manage and reference data and literature appropriate to the learners area of enquiry 4. Demonstrate a critical understanding of the ethical and practical implications of research 5. Demonstrate the relationship between theory and methodology	10	Mandatory

Year 2

Semester	Module Details	Credits	Mandatory / Elective
1	Interdisciplinary Craft and Technique In this module learners work in a collaborative experimental environment where they challenge their thinking about making work in general and about their own practice in particular. Learners will explore the why, what, how, where of the work that they make and the why, what, how, where of their art in a broader context, demonstrating professionalism throughout the process to the final presentation for an audience. Learning Outcomes 1. explore arts interdisciplinarity within a range of contexts, with a range of artists, performers, and co-collaborators and participatein a range of public performances/presentations 2. demonstrate appropriate professional management skills for public presentation/exhibit/performance 3. developcollaborative and problem-solving skills necessary to interdisciplinary work 4. develop, enhance and informtheir ownarts practice 5. creatively generate and presentideas for an individual or collaborativeproject, performance, exploration or dissertation 6. critically analyse their own practice/performance, and that of others 7. Synthesise and evaluate thelearning in a portfolio of their work	10	Mandatory
1	Yeats Academy Creative Practice Specialisation Learners will choose ONE from a number of strands offered below: Theatre Design Acting Directing and performance Playwriting Screenwriting Performance Art/Live Art Photography and Digital Media Writing and English Literature Drama and Film Studies Writing and English Literary Studies Fine Art Creative Design Architecture Interior Architecture The course will support imaginative, experimental and interdisciplinary enquiry through a range of media and approaches. The course is structured so as to balance general and specific demands of various practices. Students will be encouraged to work collaboratively as well as be independent, self-directed critical thinkers. The emphasis of the course is on the student completing a large practice-based project. This culminates with the production of a final exhibition, film screening or project presentation with a thesis demonstrating appropriate critical contextualization of the practice based work. Learning Outcomes 1. Critically analysetheir work in a broader theoretical context 2. Documenttheir own creative specialisation pathway using written and oral skills 3. Test appropriate research methodologies for their creative practice 4. Interpretarchival materials in order to demonstrate knowledge and skills of specialisation 5. Plan, documentand reflect on their own creative process and practice 6. address ethical and practical concerns in the design of a pilot research project	05	Mandatory
2	Yeats Academy Creative Practice Dissertation Working alongside and building from the taught modules, this dissertation is concerned with advanced enquiry into a specific area of creative practice, or within an interdisciplinary framework. The individual practitioner/researcher is interested in interrogating and developing advancements in his/her chosen area. In consultation with their tutors, learners will plan, organise and deliver a successful practice-based dissertation. The dissertation may also take the form of an extended portfolio of creative work with a smaller accompanying written element. Learners will demonstrate how to develop practice-centred research thinking and writing in the first term. In the second term they will further develop skills in applied practice research and accompanying critical theory in their particular field, as well as refining their practice research question(s) in preparation for the final dissertation. Depending on the creative practice area, the dissertation assessment will depend on the learners' chosen product/artefact/realisation research-type dissertation with a 60/40 split where 60% is on the creative practice and 40% is contextualising the work in written reflective practice. 60/40 split will mean the written component will be up to 9,000 – 12,000 words with 60% as the practice or 40/60 split will mean the written component will be up to 15,000 words with 40% as the practice or Learners may also take the traditional research route where 100% of the dissertation is a written document of up to 25,000 words. Learning Outcomes 1. Produce an original body of work in practice 2. Demonstrate advanced critical research skills in relation to their selected practice 3. Communicate in written form by integrating, analysing and applying key texts and practices 4. Integrate theory and practice 5. Identify literature for review 6. Develop the capacity for self-directed learningand show the ability to manage a complex practice-based research project 7. Select and apply a suitable research methodology 8. Articulate resourcing requirements and plans within the given resource frameworks 9. Engage in a problem-based experiential learning with a progressively increasing degree of self-direction and autonomy in designing your own learning, and practical research opportunities.	45	Mandatory

Recommended Study Hours per week

Students can expect a total effort of 30 hours per week.

Examination and Assessment

Assessment is on-going throughout the year, however, there is a greater emphasis on the final module which is valued at more than half the overall credits for the MA, which sees the learner produce a substantial piece of practice, which is showcased at the end of the Summer in front of an audience of creative practitioners. Some of the rubric assessment for the practice includes knowledge breath, know-how, knowledge competence, and competence context.

On-Campus Attendance Requirement

Mandatory attendance all day on Fridays.

Download a prospectus

Postgraduate Prospectus Online, Flexible & Professional Development Prospectus

Entry Requirements

All candidates are required to submit a brief 300-word Statement of Intent that outlines their motivation for applying, their engagement with their intended Pathway Specialism, and a preliminary topic for thesis study (bullet points are sufficient).

All Candidates must also upload either:

A) a portfolio of selected work which should include relevant previous work (eg. artwork, drawings, photographs, film, podcast, or evidence of work in a cognate area).

B) a sample of writing up to 1,000 words (eg. prose, poetry, academic assignment, etc.)

Please note: You may be called to an interview. We may ask you for additional information about your work.

Fees

Total Fees EU: €6300

Candidates will be required to provide their own materials for study and research. There will be several short study trips to Irish and other European cities that students will be expected to participate in. For this, you should allow €500 plus spending money.

Total Fees Non-EU: €14000

Subject to approval by ATU Governing Body (February 2025).

Further information on fees

Careers

“Culture and creativity are the greatest assets of any society. It is our duty to do everything we can to unleash the full creative potential of our people.” Creative Ireland Programme 2017

Official statistics from the CSO indicate that a total of approximately 13,000 people were employed in Creative Sector in the West of Ireland in 2015. The industry consists of close to 5,000 companies, the large majority of which are small to micro in scale. The creative, cultural and craft enterprises in the western region have a value of €729 million. The results of the Economic & Social Impact Assessment: West of Ireland Creative Sector Report (May, 2018) suggest that employment in the overall creative sector has experienced healthy growth in recent years with more than half of all business less than five years old. It is predicted that this rate of growth will continue up to 2040. On this basis, employment in the creative sector of the west of Ireland could reach over 15,000 by the end of the decade. Our programmes are intended to support this growth and facilitate industry-led research that will promote the development of the creative industries from the region and beyond.

This course will support and encourage imaginative, experimental and interdisciplinary enquiry through a range of approaches that will enhance both your creative practice and your career opportunities.

Further Information

Who Should Apply?

This programme is suitable for anyone interested in Creative Practice in the Arts, Fine Arts, Writing and Literature, Screen Writing, Playwriting, Creative Design, Interior Design, Photography, Film Making, Theatre and Performance, Theatre Design.