In your first year you'll study with our partner, ARU College. This module will provide you with the necessary skills to begin studying at level 4 in art, design and related courses. You'll be introduced to the core skills necessary to succeed in higher education, including researching and referencing appropriately, demonstrating appropriate ICT skills, and communicating effectively verbally and in writing. You will be introduced to practical art and design skills including developing skills of visual storytelling, image-making both in traditional and digital media, visual language and communication, formulating an independent creative response to a broad range of subject matter. You'll also be introduced to the fundamentals of design from a creative perspective, and to some of the key ideas/movements dominating art, design and culture, during the past few centuries. You will work extensively in groups and collaboratively, with students from art and design, architecture and engineering pathways. The module is made up of the following eight constituent elements: Interactive Learning Skills and Communication (ILSC); Information Communication Technology (ICT); Composition and Style; Creative Workshops 1; Approach to Design; Critical and Contextual Studies; Creative Workshops 2; Specialist Project.
This module takes a unique approach by integrating theory and practice through lectures and practical workshops, giving you holistic opportunities to appreciate the significant relationship between the two approaches through practical, experimental application and research-practice opportunities. It offers technology-enhanced learning and teaching delivery in both analogue and digital production and post-production techniques. You will first be introduced to the practical and theoretical skills you need to develop critical photographic projects, exploring use of light, composition, creative camera controls, film and darkroom printing whilst developing your practice and an understanding of photographic visual language, research and theory. You will also have the opportunity to experiment with a range of alternative outcomes through appropriate methods of risk-taking, while an introduction to Lightroom will give you the tools to catalogue your images and discuss the use of metadata. You will also be introduced to historical and contemporary photographic theory, including an introduction to the wider fields that interconnect with the subject such as cultural studies, sociology, anthropology, psychology, and politics, and get an insight into photography’s relationship to theories of representation, identity and culture. A 24-hour project will provide you with the development of employment skills in a real-world scenario, where you will respond to a photographic brief within a tight time-frame. Your final submission at the end of Trimester 1 will include the development and research book, evidence of contextual and historic research in the form of an essay and a set of digital and analogue photographic prints. In Trimester 2, the module will further develop your photographic skill set and an awareness of how your own photography can contribute to and critically reflect upon a range of genres in photography. You will explore the relationship of photographic influences to your own practice, and single and multiple studio flash lighting in a range of genres including still life, fashion and portraiture, and discuss the appropriate use of different camera formats, while practical workshops will introduce you to the creative use of analogue colour printing and scanning negatives, and producing colour analogue and digital prints from negatives. Research and writing workshops will also introduce you to a range of photographic genres and you will discuss how contextual research influences current practice, producing a critical response to a photographer’s work by analysing their practice and responding creatively to your findings. You will also create a contextual and creative response to photographic practitioner and present it in an internal student research conference. Your final submission at the end of Trimester 2 will include the development and research book, evidence of one expanded area of research and practice in the form of an essay and developed body of photographic work and evidence of your ‘In the style of’ photographic work and research.
View the full module definitionThis is an intensive practice-based module that will introduce you to the fundamentals of lighting, the digital post-production workflow and time-based media as integral parts of photographic practice. You will explore the practical use of constant and available lighting for photographic capture; digital imaging techniques using Photoshop; and time-based media processes and presentation methods, through a series of lectures, practice-based workshops and discussions, where you will be actively working on a range of projects and activities, individually and in groups. The emphasis is on learning key skills and gaining knowledge in these rapidly evolving aspects of photographic practice through creative experimentation and enquiry. You will explore the relationship between techniques, methods and ideas through assigned projects, class activities and self-guided learning, as well as exploring the historical and contextual aspects of photographic lighting and cinema and the work of practitioners in the fields of studio, time-based and digital practice to complement and enrich your practical work. The module will include technical workshops, fieldwork and study visits to museums and art galleries. You will have access to technical resources during timetabled taught and self-guided sessions. Your research and progress will be evaluated through a combination of tutorials, self-assessment and peer group reviews, which provide an arena for critical exchange and formative feedback.
View the full module definitionThis module will expand your professional practice by introducing a wide range of digital and analogue processes and skills, as well as skills in promoting and marketing your photography online. You’ll be introduced to the digital medium format, analogue medium format and 5/4in cameras along with complex studio, on-location lighting and post-production skills. With tutorial support you will define a critical path, negotiating the range of technical possibilities presented. You will research and develop an ambitious body of work, reflecting critically on the process at significant stages throughout the project’s development. The module emphasises the importance of researching and developing an individual visual language, which can explore a range of complex techniques, subject matters and photographic genres and will lead to a carefully considered published photographic sequence as a multimedia piece and/or photographic book. In practical workshops you will explore new techniques to build upon your existing skills base. A series of lectures will introduce you to photographers who work with sequenced bodies of work, methods and approaches to sequencing photography, layout of publications and the process of self-publishing. You will also develop skills in project planning and time management. The module also focuses on your acquisition, development and review of key professional marketing principles, strategies and best practices. Through a pragmatic approach grounded in established literature, it will cover the complementary dimensions of professionalism such as social media and public profile management (CV, portfolio, website); rights, permissions, ethical considerations, legal requirements and project planning. Key industry speakers will deliver innovative professional lectures while you consider one specialist, practical area of your photographic work from this module to critically reflect and promote online. Group critiques and individual tutorials will develop and shape your project. You’ll be expected to make active contributions to class discussions and peer to peer critiques. This module will support your employability by giving you an insight in a wide range of professional practices.
View the full module definitionThis module builds on the histories, contexts, and theories introduced at Level 4, and is designed to enable you to build a framework in which to situate yourself and your developing practice as a critical, creative practitioner. With the support of lectures, seminars, as well as independent reading and research, you will consider your work, as well as the work of other creative professionals, within broader historical, theoretical, and critically informed contexts. You'll also start to engage with the ethical considerations and responsibilities that are increasingly urgent for professionals working in the creative industries today and begin to develop an increasingly detailed theoretical knowledge of your discipline. You'll explore and examine critical issues and debates within a variety of creative practices, through examples that address, complicate and problematise key topics which you will analyse in depth. The curriculum content is responsive, meaning that learning activities are open and flexible, and function in relationship to current events, discourses, and emerging debates.
View the full module definitionRuskin Modules are designed to prepare our students for a complex, challenging and changing future. These interdisciplinary modules provide the opportunity to further broaden your perspectives, develop your intellectual flexibility and creativity. You will work with others from different disciplines to enable you to reflect critically on the limitations of a single discipline to solve wider societal concerns. You will be supported to create meaningful connections across disciplines to apply new knowledge to tackle complex problems and key challenges. Ruskin Modules are designed to grow your confidence, seek and maximise opportunities to realise your potential to give you a distinctive edge and enhance your success in the workplace.
This module provides an opportunity to develop creative works through a variety of three-dimensional media. You'll be guided through workshops exploring different media options available in the 3D technical facilities such as, wood, plaster and ceramics. You'll also be invited to research and experiment with other spatial practices and approaches, concerning the dynamics of space and the physical movement of the body or audience. The incorporation of other expanded media and materials such as moving image, sound, photography, ephemeral material and digital media will also be introduced as options to also be explored through installation. You'll be introduced to key concepts and the history of spatial and three-dimensional practices and through lectures and discussions. For successful completion of this module you'll continue to conduct your own contextual research, to inform the decisions you are making in the development of your work/s.
This module provides an opportunity to explore your creative practice through the medium of printmaking. The programme of study will demonstrate how you can utilise a variety of printmaking processes, in conjunction with fieldwork and research, to articulate ideas and explore new possibilities in image making. Both traditional and photo-based printmaking processes will be introduced, allowing you an opportunity to explore the medium of printmaking to align with your individual creative interests. The emphasis throughout the course will be on the integration of technique and practice to explore ideas and concepts. By exploring the printmaking workflow, from the hand-rendered, to the photographic and the digital, you'll experiment with approaches to printmaking to enable a clearer understanding of the medium and how it can be a key component of your creative thinking and wider practice. You'll be expected to complete set tasks and to conduct contextual research to support your work. You'll be expected to share your creative outcomes and research though participation in class discussions. Tutorial guidance will be given to help develop your practice and research.
The Archive: Creative Futures module invites you to work directly with archives holding visual historic materials, and critically engage with the archive through creative practice. These archival documents cover photographs, illustrations, fine art, graphic design, fashion and many other visual expressions. Additional to the visual material, you'll have access to contextually relevant material such as magazines, publications and even personal notes. The module will guide you in untangling the often challenging and problematic material via a decolonial context. You'll develop critical and creative research tools that allow you to challenge historic societal prejudices often contained within the materials. You'll explore how the material can be considered, challenged and ethically (re)used through (re)invention and (re)contextualisation. As creative practitioners, you'll engage with the content of the archive in a non-traditional way, developing creative responses that celebrate the diversity of human experience. Through lectures, archive visits, seminars and workshops, we'll seek access points to activate the material through your contemporary creative practice. No prior knowledge of historic colonial narratives is needed, the module will provide a space in which these complex themes can be discussed and engaged with. You'll be guided in developing individual and collaborative positionalities, producing ethical responses and meaningful creative outcomes. Throughout the module, you'll prepare your outcomes for potential publication by bringing together ideas, challenges, successes and epiphanies and reintroducing your responses into the archive to continue the circular archival process.
In this module you'll explore how a creative response can be shaped by, and respond to, the unique characteristics of a specific site. You'll investigate the relationship between the production of a creative outcome and the context of a distinct environment. You'll be introduced to and guided through the application of methods and approaches to making creative work for a specific context. You'll consider how architectural, spatial, historical, material, environmental and cultural elements can influence and lead creative and curatorial decisions. Working directly with an external partner site, you'll develop and execute a creative work that responds to the context of the site and its identity. You'll develop skills in adaptive thinking, contextual research, and interdisciplinary approaches, culminating in a public-facing exhibition or installation that reflects the interplay between place, creative outcome, and audience.
This module provides you with the opportunity to further develop and refine your photographic practice and finalise a major body of work. Throughout the module you will consider the crucial importance of experimentation during image capture, postproduction and presentation methods. You will experiment autonomously using the facilities and workshops available to you, and will need to be critical in context and practice, acutely aware of your materials, processes, influences and contextual frameworks. You will critically investigate a range of creative solutions to practical problems. At the midpoint, you will prepare a proposal for a demanding photographic project, demonstrating your capacity to work to a planned schedule, research your creative options imaginatively, and embrace a critical framework. You will need to display, in both preparatory and finished work, an advanced understanding of the methods, techniques, materials and processes appropriate to your Major Project. Throughout both trimesters you will document your progress in a Research and Development workbook that charts your experimentation and critical contextualisation. Finally, you will evaluate and frame your practice through a critical essay. Your Research and Development work will be subject to peer and tutor formative assessment throughout the module, and summatively assessed together with your final submission. You will actively engage in group activities and 1:1 tutorials with your tutors and visiting lecturers, taking on board challenging formative feedback positively. You will also develop advanced methods of publishing and/or presenting your work by taking into account audiences and curatorial and editorial considerations, and widen your creative industry networks by taking advantage of internal and external photographic events.
View the full module definitionThe Research Project is intended to foster your independent study with the individual guidance of a supervisor. For this module, you will devise your own clearly defined project through independent research, with the support of supervisions, lectures, workshops, and field tips. Your project may reflect on, analyse, expand upon, or enhance, your own studio work and interests. Your project will be agreed upon in consultation with academic staff and your supervisor, to ensure suitability and sufficient academic rigour. Your Research Project is an extended piece of work which is intended to strengthen and build upon the work undertaken in your previous years of study. Your project will demonstrate a contribution to knowledge of your field, and show you are able to undertake prolonged and in-depth research that investigates, critically analyses and evaluates your area of study. Throughout the Trimester, you will develop an individual research topic with the support of your supervisor. You are encouraged to take a creative, critical approach to your subject, and there is support for a wide range of topics and approaches. Your project should build upon the links between theory and practice, and engage with critical issues that are relevant to your chosen topic. Throughout the module, you will draw on a range of sources appropriate to your research, that might include: primary and secondary sources; art and design work; archives; databases; visual and material culture; critical literature; multimedia output; your own studio practice; and industry-specific publication. There may be overlaps with your studio-based practice. However, the practice-based work included in the Research Project must academically contribute to the final Research Project in terms of the theoretical and methodological framework contextualising it. At the end of the year, you will have the opportunity to present your work as part of the CSA graduate showcase.
View the full module definitionGaining work experience enhances employability, and work based learning offers you the chance to key gain industry knowledge, skills, contacts and networking opportunities. This module will give you the opportunity to explore a working environment in the industry that you have identified as relevant to your future career. The module will encourage self-managed learning, and serves to enhance your employability by developing communication, personal organisation, team-working, and networking skills and providing opportunities to apply those skills to real-world experiences thereby increasing self-reliance and confidence. The experience can be used as a basis for directing and focusing your career plans and can influence your final year projects. Lectures, group tutorials and seminars will explore skills analysis and reflective writing. You are required to identify, negotiate and agree with an employer (or employers) the terms of the placement or freelance work in association with a module tutor, to ensure that the module learning outcomes can be achieved. You will be given guidance and will be required to submit a placement/freelance registration form and risk assessments for approval by the module tutor. The work may be carried out in a variety of settings depending upon your requirements, areas of interest and availability of opportunities. The minimum period will be a minimum of 100 hours, and you can undertake more than one placement/freelance work for the module. You will also create a workplace diary that logs activity and supports an analysis of the learning achieved during your experience alongside evidence to support your application process. You are also asked to create a reflective report on your work experience. The report will include market and background information on the employer, market sector analysis, an outline your role(s) on the placement(s); academic and vocational analysis; transferable/employability and specialist skills analysis, knowledge and experience analysis; a final evaluation (impact on your final year and career aspirations); and will include copies of the submitted registration and risk assessments and other supporting appendices. Alongside contributing to module sessions and briefings, additional module support will be provided by the Anglia Ruskin University Employability Services through drop-in support and CV Surgery sessions and the Anglia Ruskin Enterprise Academy (AREA). You will also have access to a range of online employability information via the Careers and Employability Portal and AREA network.
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