MA Academic Practice

The MA in Academic Practice in Art, Design and Communication is designed for UAL staff who have completed PgCert in Academic Practice and who wish to pursue academic practice ideas in more depth.

You will build on what you learnt on the PgCert, and deepen your engagement within a closer community. The MA provides opportunity for more intense focus on a specific area of teaching and learning that inspires you, within an art, design and communication context.

Learning about philosophical dimensions of knowledge production will enable you to understand how they inform approaches to research. Through reflecting on and mapping your own position, you will start to create your identity as a researcher.

By giving space to noticing and working on your own practice, you will develop a different sense of the boundaries of your work and your relationship with your work. This new orientation to the world will engender a more confident and informed approach to all aspects of your academic practice and your work life.

You will investigate and play with a range of research methodologies and methods. We will critique research traditions and practices, considering decolonial imperatives. You will interrogate your own standpoint and are encouraged to question established norms, harnessing art school disciplinary practices to inform a creative approach to research.

You will synthesise this learning in a clear, feasible research proposal, which sets your trajectory for the year long Major Project study. On completion of your Major Project you will design an engaging way of sharing your work with a relevant audience, inviting feedback and evaluating its impact.

You will document your interests, identifying a topic to explore in depth for the duration of the course. You will encounter a range of research methodologies and methods drawn from the arts and social sciences, whilst considering what it means to decentre academic research traditions in the 21st century.

You will investigate your chosen methodology, experimenting within and around it, and exploring the work of other researchers with similar interests. Through developing a research proposal for your Major Project, the theoretical and practical outlines of your research will start to form.

Unit 2: Major project

Unit 3: Dissemination and impact

The MA is a part-time course that follows on from the PgCert Academic Practice.  It can be taken over either 2 or 3 years. Under exceptional circumstances participants are allowed a maximum of 3 years to complete the course.

Download the MA Academic Practice Course Diagram (Word 24KB).

You will attend classes approximately every 3 weeks (some online, others face-to-face) as you progress through the 3 consecutive course units. These are supplemented by a series of monthly guest lectures, seminars and workshops, which will be delivered online and recorded so you may access the content asynchronously if you prefer.

Each of the 3 units requires an average of 10-12 hours work per week, including teaching hours and independent study.

The MA also provides regular writing workshops. This quiet time away from your usual place of work is a supportive space for generating text, with the option of informal peer and tutor review.

AP(E)L – Accreditation of Prior (Experiential) Learning

Both your UAL line manager and staff development contact need to agree you can apply to study. You must record your intention to undertake the MA at your summer PRA prior to the course starting.

You can then download the Internal authorisation form (Word 48KB) and apply online.

Step 2. Complete an online application

External applicants

The MA Academic Practice is not open to external applicants in 2024/25.

Opportunities for all

UAL is committed to diversity, individuality and equality. We support all students, including those who have dyslexia, long term health conditions, mental health issues, physical or sensory impairments or autism spectrum disorders.