Course summary
MA Design Crafts – Contemporary Dialogues at Swansea College of Art is designed for creative individuals looking to explore contemporary craft practices through hands-on and theoretical learning. As part of the Contemporary Dialogues portfolio, this course invites you to engage with contemporary issues and material investigation, ensuring you develop a deeper understanding of your own individual practice. You will have the opportunity to explore both critical and theoretical dialogues as a core part of your learning journey. Through specialised Design Crafts workshops, you can choose to focus on ceramics, glass, or metals, or take a more interdisciplinary approach by working across various materials and disciplines, including photography, print, and textiles. This variety will encourage you to broaden your creative outlook and experiment with both hand-made processes and digital processes. In addition to traditional craft methods, this course embraces new technologies and encourages innovation. You will have access to cutting-edge facilities, including 3D printing, which allows you to integrate digital design with traditional making. Whether you’re working in jewellery, textiles, or other materials, you’ll be able to push the boundaries of craft and design. The programme also considers writing and text as forms of making and thinking, allowing you to explore how words and craft can come together in your creative practice. Throughout your time on the course, you’ll be supported in developing your own voice as a designer, with a focus on finding innovative ways to approach materials and ideas. As the course progresses, you’ll work towards a final student-led exhibition, where you’ll have the opportunity to showcase your work and bring together everything you’ve learned. Alongside this, you will complete a critical report, allowing you to reflect on your practice and the contemporary craft field in a thoughtful and professional way. This final project will help you develop valuable skills for career development in the creative industries, whether you aspire to work as a designer, craftsperson, or in another creative role. By the end of the course, you’ll have built a portfolio of work that reflects your individual style and skills, along with a strong foundation in both traditional and digital craft practices. This course offers a dynamic and exciting journey into the world of contemporary craft, giving you the tools to succeed in a rapidly evolving creative landscape.
Modules
The MA Design Crafts – Contemporary Dialogues course encourages creative exploration and critical reflection. We emphasise a hands-on approach to craft-making, blending traditional techniques with digital innovation, all while fostering a critical understanding of contemporary craft practices. Our aim is to develop your individual practice and prepare you for the professional world of craft and design. The master’s Contemporary Dialogues portfolio at Swansea College of Art offers a unique postgraduate experience. Graduates and professionals from a wide range of specialities benefit from multidisciplinary learning together with expert lecturers and a broad range of facilities. You will have the opportunity to draw upon experiences and knowledge from across the different pathways and reflect this in your own personal study. The research environment benefits greatly from the input of our teaching staff and visiting lecturers, most of whom are research-active artists, designers, and theoreticians of national and international significance. In the first part of the programme, you will complete a series of taught modules. You will participate in multidisciplinary exchanges, through seminars and lectures involving students from all programmes within the Contemporary Dialogues portfolio, to stimulate new perspectives and challenge directions. The cross-fertilisation of ideas through such dialogues is expected to promote a rethinking of the perceptions and production techniques appropriate to your discipline. Throughout the taught part of the programme, you will be expected to undertake material investigations and research into contemporary themes, with consideration given to environmental, economic, social, and cultural issues. Throughout this course, you will explore a range of materials, including ceramics, glass, metals, and textiles, while developing both hand-made and digital processes. You will engage with material investigation and critical and theoretical dialogues, which will deepen your understanding of contemporary craft practices. The course culminates in a student-led exhibition and critical report, allowing you to showcase your personal approach to design and craft. Compulsory Modules: Coexistent Perspectives (20 credits) The Thought Experiment (20 credits) Collaborative Dialogues (20 credits) Explorative Research & Praxis (60 credits) Confirmative Praxis (60 credits)
Assessment method
Assessment is carried out through coursework, both written practical and presented. There is a 4,000-word theoretical essay with poster presentation in Semester 1, and a 5,000-word report in Semester 3, which accompanies the practical work. There are no exams on this course. Students are formatively assessed throughout a module. Summative assessment takes place at the end of a module, which includes presentation of the work to the assessment team. A variety of teaching and learning methods are used throughout the course, which include, among others: Tutorials These tutorials are held on a regular basis. In Semester 1, full-time/Year 1, part-time, each student sees and discusses his/her work with a member of staff as part of each module. In Semesters 2 and 3, full-time/Years 2 and 3, part-time, students work more independently and sign up for tutorials within, or across, their discipline, in addition to those scheduled when their work requires support. As a team, we ensure that every student in the final semester/year of the course is seen by at least one member of the academic staff each week. Group Tutorials/Seminars These are held on a regular basis, across all stages of the course, with one member of staff. They provide an excellent opportunity for students to share and exchange ideas with their peers in a structured manner, in addition to valuable input from staff. Informal & Formal presentations Some of the modules have a presentation of ideas as part of the module outcome and are an essential way of sharing ideas across the course. Presenting work informally to peers is also part of the seminar teaching and a way of getting valuable feedback on the progress of the work. Exhibiting work At the end of the course there is an opportunity, if appropriate, to show outcomes from the course in a curated exhibition. Students are also supported to create their own exhibitions during the middle part of the course, if they wish to do so.
Entry requirements
We normally require an undergraduate 2.1. However, we also consider candidates with relevant experience and aim to interview all applicants.
Fees and funding
Tuition fees
No fee information has been provided for this course
Tuition fee status depends on a number of criteria and varies according to where in the UK you will study. For further guidance on the criteria for home or overseas tuition fees, please refer to the UKCISA website .
Additional fee information
No additional fees or cost information has been supplied for this course, please contact the provider directly.
Provider information
University of Wales Trinity Saint David
College Road
Carmarthen
SA31 3EP