The MA is transdisciplinary in focus, and offers you the opportunity to develop a specific design practice or area of research at Master’s level in relation to environment topics. Students may have training in design, arts, architecture and landscape architecture. In addition, the programme offers a thesis pathway option, which may be suitable for applicants with training in cultural and social theory, environmental studies, and geography. Applicants will have had some exposure to the creative industries, arts and practice, whether as actual practitioners, curators or people from disciplines engaged with thinking and writing about practice-based fields.
The MA helps you to:
develop a systematic understanding of relationships and connections between design and environment, as informed by both theory and practice
develop reflective abilities through exploring new practices and discourses in design and environment
review methods and processes used in design and environment practice and research
research, explore and extend understanding of sustainable practices and their social impact in design and related fields
develop new approaches and skills to a high level to inform and develop practical and intellectual domains of professional work.
Depending on their area of focus, graduates from the programme will also develop strong conceptual and critical design skills alongside a broad range of transferable skills in areas such as project management, creative facilitation, research methods, and also a working understanding of contemporary environmental topics in relation to creative practice.
What you study
The MA in Environment and Design is structured around core modules, options courses and a major project.
Core modules
Design and Environment (30 credits) explores relations between design and environment. How do creative practitioners undertake environmental projects? What are the assumptions about what constitutes environment? What is the prevailing rhetoric about how to do something in the environmental arena? How do the different scale and media of design constitute the environment and scope of environmental effect differently? In this core module, we consider theory and practice at the intersection of design and environment; we critique and expand on the prevailing environmental discourses and practices; and we propose alternative models for environmental thought and practice.
Researching Design and Environment (30 credits) explores the means through which we know about – and find out about – design and the environment. We examine research paradigms, including what kinds of questions can be explored through observing and engaging in practice, and what questions emerge through empirical, critical and theoretical inquiry. We explore methodologies; create new research tools; and analyse and present research in new ways for the purposes of specific users and audiences.
Additionally this new MA offers breadth through a number of options (totalling 60 credits) that have been planned in collaboration with other MA programmes within the department. These options include:
Design Ecologies
Technonatures
Materialities
Sustainability
Other options are currently available on the MA in Design in Critical Practice, and we anticipate further options being added as new MAs are offered within the Design framework. The core and option units allow students to develop understandings and expertise that they can draw together and utilise in their final project (60 credits).
The final project will enable students to engage in a significant research undertaking in a context of their choosing that will inform understandings of design and environment. The project can be undertaken as either practice-based research supported by theory or theory-based research supported by inquiries into practice.
For an explanation of qualifications, have a look at our IAG page on this site www.creativeway.org.uk/quals. Applying:
Deadline: 1 March. Please include examples of your written or practice-based work: either a written work of at least 4,000 words (eg dissertation, research report, other writing sample), or documentation of your creative practice in the form of 12 slides, a CD-ROM, or another appropriate representation accessible on widely used software. If you choose the latter, please include an index that outlines your project titles and topics in a brief written statement (approx 250 words). If chosen for an interview you will present a portfolio of work, typically including a range of art and/or design pieces, sketchbooks, and samples of written assignments. At interview we look for your potential in critical and creative thinking – the two essential aspects which will allow you to flourish as a postgraduate student in the Department.
Please see How to apply.
Entrance requirements:
You should have a first degree of at least upper second class standard in Design, Architecture, Art, Geography, Sociology, Cultural Studies or related field. You will need to present, in portfolio and at interview, evidence of developed critical and creative thinking related to environment topics through creative practice and/or written work. We expect a high standard of achievement in creative practice and/or written work, and competencies in the use of technology used to produce practice-based projects. If your first language is not English, you should normally have a minimum score of 7.0 in IELTS or equivalent.
A Progression Agreement is a formal arrangement between two or more
education providers. It spells out what a learner needs to do to be
considered for a place on a named programme of study. Progression Agreements
may vary in the conditions they specify but they all aim to give guaranteed
pathways into higher education.
Advice on courses and careers:-
The Creative Way IAG team provides a specialist service for anyone
interested in finding out about courses and careers in the creative and
cultural industries. We can provide information direct to Students,
Parents/ Carers, Tutors and Careers Advisers via email, phone or organised
workshops and 1 to 1 sessions.
To find out more, visit our IAG page on this site on
http://www.creativeway.org.uk/IAG Or contact one of our career advisers: Matt Ball 07889 001764
m.ball@uel.ac.uk or Sarah
Comerford 07515 051509
s.comerford@uel.ac.uk