27 Mar 2012

Creative Arts Masters Platform / School of Art, Design and Printing Dublin

The Creative Arts Masters Platform at DIT brings together the new
MA in Visual & Critical Studies, the new MA in Critical Art Practice
and the new MA in Design Practice.

Creative Arts Masters Platform
Call for Applications: Deadline April 30th
Programme commences Sept. 2012

Joint Initiative
Jointly delivered by the DIT School of Art Design and Printing and the Graduate School of Creative Arts and Media (GradCAM — www.gradcam.ie ) this programme of three new Masters awards brings together the cutting edge of practice, advanced theory and engaged research across art, design and visual & critical studies.

New Model of Masters Education
This is a new model of MA Platform that brings together fine art and design practices; taught and research-based learning; practical and theoretical strands of activity; production work and critical/curatorial work; in a way that respects the differences between each of these disciplines and traditions, while forging a common framework of critical dialogue, knowledge- sharing and interdisciplinary exchange between specialists. This is an intense, immersive and demanding new platform for highly motivated critical practitioners and theorists. Each individual Masters student will be expected to participate actively in both the learning community of the Masters programme itself, and in the larger peer-community of the Graduate School of Creative Arts and Media with its inter-institutional networks of doctoral, post-doctoral, associate researchers, international visiting scholars and global partners.

 
About the Platform
The programme of learning in each MA culminates in the delivery of a major project which can be either practice or theory based, and which can be individually or collaboratively realised.
Key features of the new Platform approach are: the integrated delivery of Masters and Doctoral research learning; access to a much wider range of specialist graduate and staff research seminars than is typical at Masters level; access to multiple international networks and exchange opportunities; shared modules mapping the current state of contemporary cultural practice and debate, drawing out the big questions for our particular historical moment by drawing upon the advance knowledge of artists, designers, philosophers, historians, architects, musicians, sociologists, geographers and other creative intellectuals. This programme brings with it an opportunity to interact with a wide range of expertise, ideas and challenges both within and beyond the domain of contemporary art and design.

Programme
The MA platform is designed for honours graduates in Fine Art, History of Art, Design, Interactive Design, Curating, Media, Architectureand the Humanities such as Philosophy and English Lit. The MA platform has been developed by the School of Art, Design and Printing in collaboration with the Graduate School of Creative Arts and Media (GradCAM — www.gradcam.ie) which delivers a structured Doctoral programme. The MA platform provides an opportunity to expand, develop and to pursue an inquiry through any one of the three MA programmes integrated by the MA platform.

Specialist Options and Cross-cutting Themes
The Platform will provide access to specialist workshops, seminars, lectures, and project work in a number of research themes, with the individual student choosing to focus in one or more areas but having initial access to the full spectrum of ideas and practices, including:

Text and Type
Critical typography at the intersection of academic, cultural and professional paradigms for thinking text, type and contexts.
Design Participation and Usability
Cultural and social factors in design with a particular focus on participatory culture, networks and ethnographicaly-informed practice.
Engaged Citizenship
Design thinking operating in conjunction with the city, its citizenry and its infrastructures.
Semiotics and the Visual
The historical and linguistic bases of semiotics insofar as these bear upon, and challenge, models for the interpretation and construction of visual material.
Memory and Material Culture
Memory studies and visual and material culture, interrogating personal, collective, private and public modes of remembrance.
Interpretation, Representation and Criticism
The construction of critique, criticism, and critical practice across disciplines, the distribution of the right to criticism.
Transdisciplinary Practices
The challenge of working across specialisations, the use of participatory, interventionist, collaborative and dialogic modes of working including strategies of image-making and recent documentary practices in contemporary art.

New Creative Masters of Arts Platform
T: +353 - (0)1- 402- 4138
E: artdesignprinting@dit.ie
E: noel.fitzpatrick@dit.ie

This platform is based on a collaborating community of educators and practitioners working in concert to create an ecology of cultural production and enquiry. It brings academics, designers, artists, historians, philosophers, critics and curators together in a way that respects the difference between these practices but recognizes the need for the big ideas and the big challenges to be addressed by communities of enquiry, practice and dialogue.

Some of the key contributors include: Dr. Noel Fitzpatrick, Dr.Niamh Ann Kelly, Dr. Ronan McCrea, Dr. Mick Wilson, Tim Stott, Mary Ann Bolger, Clare Bell, Barry Sheehan, Gregor Timlin, Brenda Duggan, Amy Walsh and Brian Fay. InArtist, Netherlands), Kojin Karatani (Philosopher and Literary Critic)Andrew Selby (Loughborough University UK) Prof. Suzanne Buchan (University for the Creative Arts UK), Francis Lowe (Coventry University UK), Björn Franke (RHA, UK) Kristina Ilmonen (Sibelius Academy FI), Susanne Rosenberg (Royal College of Music, Stockholm, SW).

Teaching Team and International Visiting Specialists
What are the aims of the programme?
The MA is designed forhonours graduates in fine art, design, multimedia, architecture and the humanities and is centered around the development and delivery of a major project which can be either practice or theory based.
Key features of this approach are the integrated delivery of masters and doctoral research methods as well as a special series of lectures providing a survey of key ideas in the study of contemporary cultural practice.

¶ How many places are offered each year? 10 — 15
¶ Where is the programme located? The programme’s lecture and seminar rooms and computer labs are housed in dit mountjoy square. Some seminars will take place in gradcam.
¶ How do I apply for to the programme? Through the DIT postgraduate website or by contacting the school
¶ How are applicants selected? By quality of application and by interview
¶ Can I visit the college to view the facilities? Yes, by prior arrangement with the school office t: +353-(0)1-402-4138 or email: artdesignprinting@dit.ie
¶ What are the entry requirements? 2.1 Honors primary degree or equivalent
¶ What facilities are available? There are seminar and lecture rooms and computer/internet facilities in DIT Mountjoy square, as well as a designated gallery space in portland row. Dedicated studio space is available during the summer months
¶ When will I find out ifmy application was successful? The programme chair will contact you. If you are interested in the programme please contact Dr Noel Fitzpatrick — noel.fitzpatrick@dit.ie for an informal discussion.