On MA Applied Imagination in the Creative Industries, we use a three-step strategy to enable you to develop and apply new creative knowledge. The first unit works to open and inform your imagination. This learning strategy involves individual projects and teamwork. You will work with your peers in rotating groups, responding to projects devised to stimulate and reinvigorate the imagination. New briefs are created each year in response to the contemporary climate. The second unit becomes a more personal journey in which you begin your own research project. The final unit comprises the conclusion of this project, your reflections on your learning and the steps you will take to share your outcomes with others.
Unit 1: Imagination
In Unit 1, you will be immersed in a series of short, individual and team-based projects, designed to interrogate contemporary global agendas. You will use your peers as primary sources of knowledge and gain skills from external stakeholders.
The projects in this unit pose questions which defy predictable answers – for example, we might ask you to construct and test a fully operational time machine. They are devised to take you outside of the familiar conventions of creativity. This helps to locate resistance to change, often established through specific disciplinary backgrounds and cultural conditioning. We aim to build awareness of personal and collective resistances which may inhibit the creation of new paradigms.
Unit 2: Application
In Unit 2, you will be asked to define your research proposal. You will also be required to establish the networks required for stakeholder engagement and external verification. You are expected to demonstrate an understanding of the methodologies of action research, in order to interrogate your research question and obtain new knowledge.
In this unit, the course team will support you in finding your “best way” forward, without predicting or prescribing your next steps.
Unit 3: Applied Imagination
Unit 3 requires you to complete the external verification of your research question. The unit comprises the completion of your research outcomes, as well as your presentation for assessment. This will also be shown to the public as part of the Festival of Applied Imagination.
Mode of study
MA Applied Imagination in the Creative Industries is offered in both full-time and part-time mode. Full-time mode runs for 45 weeks over 12 months. You will be expected to commit 40 hours per week to study, which includes teaching time and independent study. Part-time mode runs for 90 weeks over two academic years. You will be expected to commit 20 hours per week to study, which includes teaching time and independent study.
Credit and award requirements
The course is credit-rated at 180 credits.
On successfully completing the course, you will gain a Master of Arts (MA degree).
Under the Framework for Higher Education Qualifications, an MA is Level 7. All units must be passed in order to achieve the MA but the classification of the award is derived from the mark for the final unit only.
If you are unable to continue on the course, a Postgraduate Certificate (PG Cert) will normally be offered following the successful completion of 60 credits, or a Postgraduate Diploma (PG Dip) following the successful completion of 120 credits.
