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ADA001
Materials, Methods and Media
30 credits
This module will introduce students to various techniques, materials and mediums through practise-based experiments, play and problem solving. You will be introduced to different creative processes and methods of working that will help you to develop your ideas and engage in critical and reflective practice.
100% Coursework
ADA002
Image, Type and Narrative
30 credits
Students will experiment with media, photography and typography to explore the relationship between image and word. This module enables students to gain knowledge within subject areas and explore the importance of developing an independent voice. Projects will become increasingly student driven as they develop their ability to propose ideas and solutions through self-directed inquiry, discovery and production.
100% Coursework
ADA003
Risk and Resolution
30 credits
Students will consolidate their skills, knowledge and understanding in initiating, researching, developing and presenting a final project and exhibition. This module will also enable students to continue to research and develop their strengths as an independent art and design practitioner and prepare them for their next stage of study.
100% Coursework
ADA004
Critical Themes in Art & Design
20 credits
This module introduces students to transformative phases within the historical and contemporary context of art, design, photography and media. Students will learn to ask critical questions and find answers through information gathering, reading and research. Through articulating responses, students will be introduced to academic conventions in preparation for progression to further Higher Education.
100% Coursework
ART418
Fine Art Studio 1: Processes and Materials
40 credits
This introductory module introduces students to the diverse natures of fine art and the role of the studio within it. It aims to provide students with the skills to identify and investigate individual and collaborative interests and concerns through practical engagement in the studio and through interdisciplinary research; to develop students' capacities for self-criticism through informed debate; to develop student confidence in recognising and using processes and materials relevant to their developing practice; and to introduce practices of documentation. Lectures, seminars, and workshops support students to relate examples of contemporary fine art practice to their own, studio-based explorations of relevant concepts, material processes and techniques.
100% Coursework
ART419
Interdisciplinary Approaches 1
20 credits
This practice-based module introduces students to interdisciplinarity and to how artists have worked collaboratively in multi-disciplinary, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary ways with researchers and communities. Students will learn a range of approaches and methods and will experiment with and test their artistic responses to themes that draw on interdisciplinary research.
100% Coursework
ART420
Interdisciplinary Approaches 2
20 credits
This practice-based module enables students to consolidate their awareness of ideas and approaches to interdisciplinarity and to how artists have worked collaboratively in multi-disciplinary, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary ways with researchers and communities. Students will deepen their approaches and methods and will experiment with and test their artistic responses to a theme that draws on interdisciplinary work and develops out of Interdisciplinary Approaches 1.
100% Coursework
ART421
Art Writing 1
20 credits
This module focuses on exhibition visiting and creative review writing to introduce key ideas, methods, and approaches in fine art practice. Students will begin to develop skills in creative-critical writing through being introduced to examples and excerpts of art writing. Students will visit local and online exhibitions as part of this module and will produce a collection of short experiments in art writing.
100% Coursework
ART422
Creative Reading 1
20 credits
This module introduces key ideas, methods, and approaches within contemporary art practices through techniques of creative reading of critical texts. The focus is on concepts, methods and approaches that are current in contemporary art and are relevant to students’ emerging practices and will lead to a coherent expanded essay (choice of written, video, or audio) that evidences a sustained research process.
100% Coursework
ART525
Creative Reading 2
20 credits
This module will examine key theories and ideas which relate to contemporary fine art practice through close and creative reading of texts collaboratively selected by the tutor and students. These will be used to explore areas of artistic inquiry as well as strategies for researching, writing and engaging in practical research within a group and individual framework.
100% Coursework
ART526
Art Writing 2
20 credits
This module focuses on experiments with critical reflection and art writing through key theories and ideas which relate to contemporary art practices. Building on the previous module, selected works, texts, and modes of writing will be used to explore areas of enquiry and textual and print forms as artistic practice.
100% Coursework
ART527
Fine Art Studio 2: Collaborations and Collectives
40 credits
This module provides an opportunity for students to develop a negotiated art practice through sustained studio experimentation and a DIY/DIWO (Do It Yourself / Do It With Others) culture, including strategies for navigating collaborative practices. The studio-based module will develop an awareness of contextual frameworks in relation to art practice and enable students to research and experiment with materials, processes, concepts and environments in preparation for a public show of art practice.
100% Coursework
ART528
Artist Placements in Interdisciplinary Settings 1
20 credits
In this module students will undertake research into interdisciplinary contexts and practices of the artist placement, with a particular focus on questions of socially engaged and participatory work across a range of settings. Students will also develop a detailed proposal for an artistic response to the interdisciplinary placement context they have researched, including designs, drawings, models.
100% Coursework
ART529
Common Challenge: Artist Placements in Interdisciplinary Settings 2
20 credits
In this module, students will develop and realise a collaborative research-led practice in an interdisciplinary placement and/or residency setting. There will be a specific focus on strategies for collaboration, community-based practice and socially engaged art. Students will work in groups with interdisciplinary partners to develop collaborative outputs to be disseminated to a public audience.
100% Coursework
ADA600
Common Dissertation: Critical Practices
20 credits
The module engages students in situating practice through research, contextualisation and critical reflection, in relation to their final stage study and post University aspirations. Programmes can offer: a traditional dissertation; preparation for an extended dissertation; situating existing practice; or the construction of a new body of work as practice-based research.
100% Coursework
ART626
Fine Art Studio 4: Going Public
40 credits
Students will realise a negotiated conceptual framework for an individual and/or collaborative artistic body of work, with reference to contemporary practices, approaches and theories. The module will enable students to realise independent, practice-based enquiries into source material and appropriate professional practices, linked to critical research. This will be developed into a body of work for final presentation that is suitable for public exhibition. The module also requires students to work together collaboratively to develop a Degree Show, drawing on the full range of professional skills required for the creative industries.
100% Coursework
ART627
Art Publication
20 credits
In this studio module, students will develop an art publication that aligns with their current art practice and areas of research. The module questions what constitutes 'publication' - from artist books to 'zines to broadsheets to video essays to performance lectures – and explores the theoretical implications for contemporary art within a network of communication and circulation.
100% Coursework
ART628
Fine Art Studio 3: Resolving Practice
40 credits
Students will develop a negotiated conceptual framework for individual and/or collaborative creative methods, with reference to contemporary practices, approaches and theories. The module will enable the development of student learning towards an increasingly independent enquiry into source material and appropriate practices, linked to critical research and professional practice. The focus will be on further development of research practices to ground and underpin student practice together with the development of detailed proposals and plans for work to be developed for exhibition at the end this module, which will be carried forward to the subsequent module in Semester 2.
100% Coursework
UCAS tariff
32 - 48
Contextual offers: Typically, the contextual offer for this course is 8 points below the advertised tariff. A contextual offer is an offer to study at university that takes into account individual circumstances that are beyond your control, and that can potentially impact your learning and your exam results, or your confidence in applying to university.
New student | 2024-2025 | 2025-2026 * |
---|---|---|
Home | £9,250 | £9,535 |
International | £17,100 | £17,600 |
Part time (Home) | £770 | £795 |
* UK Government announcement on tuition fees
On Monday 4 November 2024, the UK Government announced a proposal to increase tuition fees for home undergraduate students from £9,250 to £9,535 per annum from September 2025 onwards. The University of Plymouth intends to apply this new fee from September 2025. However, implementation of this increase will be subject to parliamentary procedure. This change applies to new students starting their studies in September 2025. For current and returning students, the University is reviewing fees and will update you as soon as possible.
A wide range of collaborative and independent learning activities are designed to equip you with experience, skills and confidence
A practice-based programme
With two-thirds of your time spent in the studio, the facilities for you to create your own artwork need to be exceptional – and they are!
Collaboration, placement and exchanges
Progress your skills by working with local artists and arts organisations, taking part in a short placement, residency or international exchange.
Exhibitions, open studios, trips and visiting artists
Pop-up shows and exhibitions, open studios and test spaces develop your professional practice and engage with different audiences.
You are encouraged to connect with these initiatives and develop work with organisations such as Nudge, Ocean Studios, Leadworks, Plymouth Arts Cinema and Plymouth Art Weekender; galleries such as the Levinsky Gallery, The Box and KARST; and initiatives such as Imperfect Cinema, CAMP, JarSquad, Flock and Take A Park.
Increase your knowledge and develop a critical questioning approach through intellectually stretching multidisciplinary learning.
"I have really enjoyed the fact that you learn so many different techniques and disciplines."
Laura discusses her work and how research has shaped her as a person – as well as an artist – and inspired her to go on to further study.
"I go into a space with the idea that I’m going to create a mark."
Eleanor Neason's 'The Lived Body' explores our subjective experiences and how we perceive and experience ourselves in our surroundings and space.
"The fine art course is one of the most collaborative, open, versatile courses around."
Molly McAndrews began collaborating with Laura Rosser during her first year. Four years later, they have collaborated on multiple funded projects.
Curators, arts facilitators, digital designers, lecturers and teachers, sculptural fabricators, film-makers and artists in their own right