Course summary

Lancaster's degree in Fine Art and Creative Writing is taught jointly by the Lancaster Institute for the Contemporary Arts (LICA) and the Department of English and Creative Writing. This course is ideal for anyone with strong academic and creative abilities who wants to study fine art alongside creative writing. Your Creative Writing courses are taught by a team of widely published authors through a combination of lectures, readings, practice and discussion in regular tutor-led workshops. Your degree includes an Introduction to Creative Writing in your first year, and in your second and third years of study you will choose additional genre-specific units such as Short Fiction, Poetry Writing or Creative Non-fiction. Fine Art at Lancaster gives you the opportunity to integrate Art Practice with Art History/Theory at a high level. From the first through to the final year of your degree you will develop creative and technical skills in painting, drawing, sculpture, digital art and their hybrids. While we have no ‘house style’ the emphasis is on Fine Art practice and Fine Art ‘thinking’ rather than illustration. Our aim is for you to develop the practice and ideas that best reflect your aims and values as a young Fine Artist. Your tutors will be professional artists and publishing historians and the mix of academic and creative skills gained at Lancaster makes you highly attractive for postgraduate study and employers. To prepare students for their work placement year, our Careers and Placements Team will provide advice and guidance on: the skills required to create effective CVs, cover letters and applications; tips and techniques on how to make an impact at interviews and assessment centres; how to create a relevant digital profile; and how to research employers and career sectors of interest. In addition, there is great emphasis placed upon developing self-awareness and on how to present yourself in a professional manner to employers. This optional provision will be delivered via a blend of traditional and digital methods including face-to-face workshops, online webinars, e-courses and 1:1 appointments. The University will use all reasonable effort to support you to find a suitable placement for your studies. While a placement role may not be available in a field or organisation that is directly related to your academic studies or career aspirations, all placement roles offer valuable experience of working at a graduate level and gaining a range of professional skills. If you are unsuccessful in securing a suitable placement for your third year, you will be able to transfer to the equivalent non-placement degree scheme and continue with your studies at Lancaster, finishing your degree after your third year.