MA Cultural and Creative Industries
Cardiff, United Kingdom
MA
DURATION
1 year
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
EARLIEST START DATE
TUITION FEES
GBP 22,700 / per year *
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* for overseas | for home: £11,700
Key Summary
About: The MA Cultural and Creative Industries at Cardiff University combines theory, research and professional practice to build conceptual knowledge and practical skills for cultural and creative sectors. You'll study digital creativity, media production and audience engagement, complete an industry placement and an individual research project in Cardiff’s media quarter.
Career Outcomes: This MA prepares you for freelance work, starting a creative business, roles in SMEs, embedded creative positions in non-creative organizations, cultural policy roles, or academic research and doctoral study. You'll gain skills in project management, digital media, audience development and professional practice and industry-facing experience with Creative Cardiff.
Reflecting contemporary knowledge, theory, practice and research around the creative industries this programme will help you develop the skills needed to meet the challenges of this exciting sector.
Supported by leading-edge research and professional practice, the MA in Creative and Cultural Industries offers a balance of theory and professional study.
We provide you with conceptual knowledge and professional skills that will enable you to identify emerging areas of opportunity within the creative industries. You will become a flexible and reflexive practitioner with the skills and knowledge to adapt to the changing demands of the creative workplace.
You will explore the effect different political, economic, social and cultural contexts have on how these industries operate so that you can apply critical thinking to professional scenarios to further your effectiveness in your chosen career.
Learn How to Manage Media Production
You will also learn about the practice and theory of digital creativity and the skills and knowledge needed to manage digital and social media in a creative context as well as explore the innovative ways in which creative practitioners are connecting with their audiences, embracing digital, immersive and mixed media methods.
As well as gaining valuable practical and professional skills and industry work experience, you will undertake an individual piece of research. This will act both as a critique of the current state of your chosen field of interest and as a vehicle for the development of your professional skills appropriate to your future career ambitions.
Work With the Creative Sector
A key part of the MA Cultural and Creative Industries, and what makes this programme stand out, is its industry-facing nature, including a professional placement module. We engage directly with external partners from the cultural and creative industries and make use of our home in the heart of Cardiff.
We involve creative industries businesses, organisations and practitioners at the forefront of the field in workshops, field visits and guest lectures throughout the programme.
The programme is suitable for graduates seeking a career in the cultural or creative industries or for professionals wishing to enhance their existing knowledge and career prospects. The programme will also prepare students for doctoral research in the cultural and creative industries broadly defined.
Why Study this Course
Creative Networking
Through our partnership with Creative Cardiff, you'll have access to the city’s biggest professional network of creative businesses.
Research Excellence
You'll study in one of the UK’s leading schools for cultural studies research, ranked 2nd in the UK.
Cardiff Central
You’ll be based in the heart of Cardiff’s vibrant media quarter in a purpose-built facility adjacent to the new BBC Cymru/Wales building.
Industry Placement
A placement opportunity in Cardiff’s vibrant creative sector will equip you with both professional skills and valuable work experience.
The programme runs for one academic year, starting in September.
The early part of the programme provides a robust theoretical and practical grounding on cultural and creative industries theory and research via a range of core and optional taught modules. Following on from this taught stage, you will undertake a Professional Development and Placement module. Together, these modules are worth 150 credits
Subject to successful completion, you will then progress to the Professional Research Project module (30 credits), which is submitted at the end of August and which you will develop with support from your supervisor.
You will study several core and optional modules as part of the programme that combine to give a comprehensive understanding of all aspects of the cultural and creative industries. You will gain practical industry experience via the Professional Development and Placement module during semester 2. There will also be an opportunity to study several optional modules drawn from our suite of current Master’s level modules. The taught phase concludes in May/June and, subject to successful completion, you will progress to the Professional Research Project phase, through which you will develop and practice research skills relevant to your choice of subject. The Professional Research Project is submitted at the end of August. The Professional Research Project is designed to build on your placement experience and acts both as a critique of the current state of your chosen field of interest and as a vehicle for the development of professional skills appropriate to your future career ambitions.
Core Modules for Year One
- Putting Research into Practice 2
- Professional Development and Placement
- Practice and theory of digital creativity
- Introduction to the Creative Management of Social and Digital Media
- Introduction to Cultural and Creative Industries
- Critical Issues in Creative Labour
- Professional Research Project
Optional Modules for Year One
- Media Law
- Global Crisis Reporting
- Social Media and Politics
- Public Relations, Offline and Online
- In the Editor's Chair
- Reporting Business, Finance and Economics
- Citizen Media: Digital Storytelling
- Communicating Causes
- Emerging Journalism
- Cultural Theory and Analysis
- Global Music Industries
- Media, Science and Health
- Short Form Video Production
How will I be Assessed?
Assessment methods vary from module to module but, across the MA programme as a whole, you can expect a mixture of coursework, essays, portfolio work, presentations, individual and group projects, and research projects.
What Skills Will I Practise and Develop?
- Critically discuss and explain concepts, theoretical frameworks and models, both contemporary and historic, underpinning scholarship and research in the creative industries as well as the interdisciplinary nature of this field
- Critique contemporary issues and debates that frame discourse about the creative industries; cultural policy-making; creative work and labour and creative practice, and how and why these are evolving in both a local and global context
- Critically appraise emerging or new models of creative practice, creative production and participation, and how different political, cultural, economic and business contexts influence these
- Distinguish working and professional practices relevant to particular creative industry sectors and the skills required to work in a variety of contexts within these sectors.
Intellectual Skills
On successful completion of the program, you will be able to demonstrate the ability to:
- Engage in critical debate around the principles, theories, philosophies and practices related to the creative industries
- Critically evaluate the appropriateness of strategies, practices, techniques and methods used for, by and within the creative industries; and within own research and practice
- Draw upon and synthesise ideas from both professional and academic sources of knowledge and apply these to generate new and compelling insights
- Analyse and solve complex problems or issues, deal with them systematically and creatively, and make sound judgements in the absence of complete data
- Consider and evaluate their work reflexively, about academic and/or professional conventions, issues and debates.
Professional Practical Skills
On successful completion of the Programme you will be able to demonstrate:
- Ability to select and apply appropriate techniques, methods and approaches for generating original insights relevant to the study of a wide range of practical and/or theory-informed issues in the creative industries
- Ability to carry out independent research and inquiry for essays, projects or creative productions involving sustained and critical enquiry
- Ability to apply a range of digital tools to a high level of proficiency to build a professional presence
- Ability to choose and utilise appropriate formats and media with which to present ideas and findings to an audience
- Adaptability, creativity and self-reflection in conceiving, producing and delivering projects and outputs of industry relevance using a range of platforms
- Originality and autonomy in tackling and solving a range of different problems.
Transferable/Key Skills
On successful completion of the Programme, you will be able to demonstrate the ability to:
- Exercise initiative and self-direction and take personal responsibility for your own learning and personal development, adopting a self-reflective approach
- Determine the scope of a task/project, and identify, schedule and appropriately manage resources required to complete the task/project on time with the flexibility to respond to changing circumstances
- Analyse situations, solve problems and evaluate solutions (understand and interpret instructions, grasp new ideas and concepts, put forward innovative solutions), demonstrating sound critical judgement in decision-making in complex and unpredictable situations
- Deliver work to a given length, format, brief and deadline, properly referencing sources and ideas and making use, as appropriate, of a problem-solving approach
- Organise, synthesise and communicate ideas or arguments in a persuasive and effective manner
- Work productively with others in a group or team, showing abilities at different times to set common goals; manage or coordinate tasks/projects as needed; listen effectively; gain the cooperation of others and negotiate.
We are committed to investing up to a total of £500,000 in this high-value competitive scholarship scheme to support UK students who are planning to start an eligible Master’s programme in 2024/25.
The Scholarships are each worth £3,000 and will be awarded in the form of a tuition fee discount.
Eligibility
UK students are eligible to apply for the Scholarship. You normally need to have achieved at least a 2.1 or equivalent in your first degree to be eligible. You need to apply to study at Cardiff University and be made an offer to study before your fee status can be confirmed.
We recognise the majority of our students undertake postgraduate qualifications to improve their prospects in the job market. That’s why we’ve designed our MA in Cultural and Creative Industries to allow you to follow a wide variety of careers in any number of cultural, creative or associated sectors.
You may want to consider working as a freelancer or start your own creative business. Other options include working within small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), or as an ‘embedded’ creative in a non-creative business. You may decide to pursue policy-making or go down an academic career path and pursue further study.
How will I be Taught?
Most modules are delivered through a mix of workshops, lectures and seminars or tutorials which complement the practical and academic elements of the programme. To encourage collaborative learning, you will be taught in organised lecture and seminar/workshop sessions and there are ample opportunities for one-to-one tutorial and specialist support throughout the programme, both from academic staff and industry specialists.
In lectures, you will be given an overview of a particular aspect of the module content. You will have opportunities to ask questions and be reflective in these sessions. Workshops and seminars provide you with the opportunity to practice techniques, discuss ideas, apply concepts and consolidate your understanding of the lecture topic.
In addition to timetabled classes, we invite creative industries businesses, organisations and practitioners to take part throughout the programme as guest speakers, to provide contextual, first-hand knowledge of current debates and trends and enable you to relate the knowledge provided in class sessions to real-world examples.
To complete the programme, you will be required to work during and outside formal teaching sessions and to make good use of the facilities provided.