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MA - Creative Practice

Whether you are progressing from undergraduate studies or you are an established professional with a desire to diversify your practice, our exciting and innovative Creative Practice masters will enable you to develop and extend your creative portfolio and boost your professional aspirations.

Multidisciplinary practice is a defining aspect of the programme and you will be part of a rewarding learning environment that opens-up opportunities for creative exchange or collaboration on projects.

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Download our Prospectus


Creative Practice cover image

Course Overview

The choice is yours. You will draft, initiate and project-manage your own creative briefs, with guidance from programme tutors. You can specialise in one medium or work on projects, either individually or collaboratively, across multiple media. You will have access to technician expertise and the industry-standard facilities at our Brampton Road campus. Our MA will give you the practical, technical, and applied knowledge to develop the flexible skills needed to forge a career within a constantly shifting cultural landscape.

The MA Creative Practice programme is structured across a full-calendar year starting in late September and culminating the following August. The programme leads towards the completion of a major MA Project, and professional presentation in the final Masters exhibition. Working under the guidance of your tutors you can approach the practical modules thematically, as part of one overarching project, or as a series of mini briefs.

On this course you will...

  • Study in industry-standard studio spaces that include Mac and PC computer suites carrying the latest high-specification design and video production software and hardware.
  • Benefit from opportunities to showcase your work within a professional context including the final MA show.
  • Have access to technical expertise and facilities including the printmaking studio, 3D workshop, audio-visual store, photography darkrooms, editing suites, motion capture tech and a production studio with a full lighting rig and multi-camera set-up.
  • Gain from the professional development built into module content -tutors have great industry links, which gives you the opportunity to network and make industry contacts.
  • Learn from academic practitioners that are experts in their field, have published and/or exhibited nationally and internationally and are involved in practice-led research.
Apply (Full-time)
Download our Prospectus

Course Structure

What you will learn

Our learning environment works to cultivate practical and theoretical expertise to help foster versatility in creative media. We encourage innovative, lateral approaches to creative practice though a structured timetable of theoretical lectures, practical workshops, student led seminars, visiting speakers, action based and experiential research, self-directed and tutorial-based learning.

Cultural and visual discourse is taught throughout, displaying the important synthesis between theory and creative practice. You'll fully engage in these processes to develop creative reflexivity, to embed the necessary skills to advance your professional progression and life-long learning.

Module content comprises taught and workshop elements which are centred on exploring creative materials and processes, practice-led research, theoretical frameworks, storytelling techniques and developing the entrepreneurial skills needed to help you succeed as a confident, forward-thinking practitioner.

Year one
  • Materials and Processes (Semester 1)
    Encourages a considered philosophical and practical approach to creative practice at an advanced professional level and to design and/or adopt appropriate strategies to address the specific requirements of a creative brief which may be discipline-specific or interdisciplinary in conception.
  • Critical Contexts (Semester 1)
    Offers an advanced theoretical appreciation of the creation, consumption, and reception of cultural works. The module will deploy examples of creative practice drawn from disciplines including art and design, media production, literature and the performing arts and will explore how such works may be subject to a variety of critical viewpoints. The module comprises of a series of lectures and class discussion that will explore topics such as semiotics, narratology, gender, postmodernity, the environment and ecocriticism.
  • Professional Practice (Semester 1)
    Introduces you to a range of subjects relevant to advancing you professional development in the creative industries. You will be encouraged to implement strategic thinking and forward planning in regard to developing a vocational skillset and formulating a plan-of-action targeted towards your projected career trajectory. The module comprises a programme of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) taught sessions, alongside input from industry sources in the form of practitioner guest talks and may include visits to external organisations.
  • Creative Practice (Semester 2)
    Reflecting on modules completed in semester one and/or looking ahead to the final project, students will develop a systematic plan of action to address a designated brief that will lead to the realisation of a creative project.
  • Major Project Proposal (Semester 2)
    Seen in conjunction with the final MA project, the purpose of this module is to enable students to synthesise the knowledge and understanding gained through study up until this point towards the production of a fully researched and developed MA project proposal document and accompanying portfolio.
  • Creative Enterprise (Semester 2)
    Supports you as you prepare, initiate and implement a real-world brief, giving you the opportunity to apply your knowledge base and interpersonal skills within a professional setting. The key aims are to develop communication skills, encourage confidence in preparing and managing live briefs, and to enhance future career prospects by giving students invaluable exposure to actual workplace situations
  • MA Project (Semester 2: extended)
    The final MA project module affords the opportunity to realise practical and theoretical studies to date in the form of a major body of work, produced independently under the guidance of your personal supervisor. The completed project – or elements thereof - will be included in the public-facing Masters’ exhibition that marks the culmination of the MA.

Student and Alumni Work

Skatequay by Lucy Hadley
Pillars by Richard Berry
Waiting by Dwayne Bell at the MA Exhibition
It's Grim Up North by Graeme Glease
Camera Trap Project 1 by Cain Scrimgeour
Oakleaf Vases by Marisa Devonshire
  • Image from the campus
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  • Location

    Carlisle - Brampton Road Campus

    Located just outside the city, right on top of Hadrian's Wall, the Brampton Road campus is full of history, buzzing with excitement, creativity, and a sense of endless possibility. The home of creators, entertainers, rule breakers, and change-markers.

    Find out more

Find out more about studying with us

Attend an Open Day at Cumbria

An Open Day is your opportunity to explore one of 5 campuses, meet your lecturers, and find out how the University of Cumbria could become your new home.

Take the next step towards achieving your dreams.
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A student stands in front of a wall splattered with paint.