You will learn about key artistic practices, histories, theoretical concepts, themes and methodologies that have contemporary significance in terms of artistic activity. You will be introduced to different contexts in which art is produced, understood and disseminated, and to historical, theoretical and social discourses in which art has been situated and contextualised. You will develop an appreciation of the forms and diversity of historic and contemporary art practice and the ability to reflect critically on historical and contemporary art practices. The module will help you to develop competence in skills enabling you to undertake critical visual analysis, independent research and present findings through the medium of discursive writing. You will be exposed to a series of topics which are aimed to aid you in identifying a theme or issue of historical, theoretical or critical significance, and survey and assess available material on this theme or issue. This critical approach to the history and theory of art will inform and support studio activity at level 4 and further exploratory research and practice at level 5.

Lectures will explore major historical, theoretical and critical themes influencing the production and reception of art practice in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Topics covered in the lectures may include:

- Concepts and context of the avant-garde
- Semiotics
- Psychoanalysis
- Surrealism
- Feminism
- Marxism
- Popular culture as art practice
- Art and technologies (including film and video, the Internet and video gaming)
- Photography and the image
- Art and the environment
- Art and the body

In this module you will be introduced to some fundamental principals in artistic production; how materials and methodology contribute to the production of meaning in art. You will develop your practical knowledge of key processes from semester 1 while gaining insight to a range of critical contexts that are informed by material concerns in art making. These concerns will be drawn from the expanded field of contemporary art practice and will include contexts in the use of non-traditional materials such as found material, language, sound, site and situation.

The Engagement and Participation module aims to provide you with opportunities to explore personal values and aspirations while undertaking a live brief and working in collaboration with peers and external professionals. Through the module you are encouraged to consider different ways to creatively experience and access contemporary art. Supporting your ongoing professional practice, you will learn about exhibition and outreach processes, and explore broader questions relating to audience, ethics, professional skills and safe working. You will reflectively learn about a range of artists, methodologies, production, exhibition and the cultural sector. Responding to a live brief, you will devise creative responses and activities working with peers and external cultural sector partners.
All these activities support transferable ‘soft’ skills and helps you to gain a deeper understanding of contemporary art.
For assessment you will be required to reflect upon your personal experience, learning and development.

This module provides opportunities for you to unlearn theme-led ways of making art, and instead to develop your studio practice through process and practical making. You will learn technical skills in a range of resource areas to support you in this exploration.

The module will introduce you to ways of making contemporary art through experimenting, collaborating and exploring your curiosities. You will learn to develop and produce a range of collaborative and individual artworks supported by academic staff through directed and self-directed approaches within studio, technical workshop, project space areas and online platforms.

You will learn to take risks and to work in an open-ended way, supported through a range of teaching approaches. You will learn to discern between a range of views within the subject offered to you by the academic team. You will create a studio community by negotiating a shared space of making, and by sharing interests, ideas and critical observations in an open and supportive way. You will develop critical and reflective approaches to producing and displaying your work.

This module provides you with the opportunity to undertake a dynamic learning experience centred on the development of your own independent fine art practice. You will be supported in this process to experiment through the initiation of individual and collaborative artworks within studio, workshop and project space areas as well as in virtual spaces. It will enable you to provides you with the opportunity to undertake a dynamic learning experience centred on the development of your own independent fine art practice. You will be supported in this process to experiment through the initiation of individual and collaborative artworks within studio, workshop and project space areas as well as in virtual spaces.
build on the specialist instruction and workshop experience gained in semester one, you will learn how to integrate your knowledge of material and technical processes with formal and conceptual experimentation so as to build an independent and ambitious studio practice. The academic team will draw upon their own subject expertise to introduce you to a diverse range of contemporary fine art practice that will create a rich learning environment in which risk-taking, speculative enquiry, and curiosity are encouraged. You will encounter a range of learning approaches through peer group working, individual tutorials, group critiques, seminars, lectures, studio and exhibition tours that will enable you to gain confidence in the discussion and analysis of your own artwork and that of your peers. Some of these activities will take place via online platforms.
You will broaden your knowledge of the contexts in which contemporary art is produced and disseminated, and develop an understanding of how a vibrant studio culture is created through the sharing of interests and models of good practice within your peer group, and expressing your ideas and critical observations freely and openly.

Through this module you will begin to develop a creative and critical research practice that feeds into, and is informed by your studio work. You will learn technical skills that develop your material research.

The module will introduce you to critical voices, key debates, artistic positions, and philosophical contexts relevant to contemporary art. Through tasks and exercises led by the academic team you will gain practical research skills to access this content, and a range of methods to engage with it.

Following your own lines of enquiry, as well as those directed to you by lecturers you will learn how to find and use online and library-based resources including books, e-books, journals, gallery press-releases and examples of artist self-publishing. You will learn how to discern critically between the voices and opinions you encounter within digital and print resources, and engage with them through discussion with peers and staff, and through writing. Gaining these research skills will equip you to widen your subject knowledge and offer ways of working through your own thinking and making. They will build a foundation for you to develop your own artistic and philosophical positions as you move forward through the programme.

Academic skills when studying away from your home country can differ due to cultural and language differences in teaching and assessment practices. This module is designed to support your transition in the use and practice of technical language and subject specific skills around assessments and teaching provision in your chosen subject. The overall aim of this module is to develop your abilities to read and study effectively for academic purposes; to develop your skills in analysing and using source material in seminars and academic writing and to develop your use and application of language and communications skills to a higher level.

The topics you will cover on the module include:

• Understanding assignment briefs and exam questions.
• Developing academic writing skills, including citation, paraphrasing, and summarising.
• Practising ‘critical reading’ and ‘critical writing’
• Planning and structuring academic assignments (e.g. essays, reports and presentations).
• Avoiding academic misconduct and gaining credit by using academic sources and referencing effectively.
• Listening skills for lectures.
• Speaking in seminar presentations.
• Presenting your ideas
• Giving discipline-related academic presentations, experiencing peer observation, and receiving formative feedback.
• Speed reading techniques.
• Developing self-reflection skills.