School. of Humanities 2016/17

Transcription

1 School of Humanities 2016/17

2 The School of Humanities offers students the opportunity to develop their own practice in the fields of history, theory, writing and curating. The School has a distinctive and highly innovative research culture based upon its extremely close relationship to art and design practice. We play a vital role at the heart of College life. Prior to joining the RCA in 2010, Professor Jane Pavitt was the University of Brighton s Principal Research Fellow at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A), where she co-curated a series of exhibitions on twentieth-century and contemporary design, including Brand. New (2000), Brilliant (2004), Cold War Modern: Design (2008), and Postmodernism: Style and Subversion (2011). From , she was also Head of the History of Design programme at the RCA. Her specialist teaching and research interests include post-war design and its social/political contexts, and design curation. Dean of School Professor Jane Pavitt

3 The School of Humanities has a unique role at the heart of RCA culture. It represents a broad range of interests in teaching and research across the history, theory and interpretation of art and design, with core practices in writing, research, curating and criticism. Disciplinary interests span the fine arts, architecture, design, craft, communication, film, photography, digital media, science and technology. We train the historians, curators, writers, journalists and critics of the future, and play a vital part in the dialogue between history, theory and practice. The School offers three full-time, two-year MA programmes: Curating Contemporary Art, Critical Writing in Art & Design, and V&A/RCA History of Design, which is run in partnership with the Victoria and Albert Museum. In addition, the School also provides College-wide Humanities teaching for all MA art and design students, through its Critical & Historical Studies programme. Alongside our MA programmes, we offer research degrees (MPhil and PhD) on a full- or part-time basis. Our Doctoral Studies programme in the Humanities supports more than 60 research students, working either across the School or within a particular programme. We are committed to experimental and interdisciplinary research, and the programme affords students the opportunity to draw on the broad range of supervisory expertise offered by the School as a whole. Many of our research students, therefore, work in ways that combine the practices of history, theory, curating and writing, as appropriate to their specific areas of research interest. In addition, and as appropriate, Humanities research students can be co-supervised by tutors in other Schools, combining practicebased investigations with Humanities research. Working with its network of external partners, the School supports a large number of Collaborative Doctoral Awards, co-supervised (for example) with Tate, the V&A, the Science Museum, and the British Postal Museum & Archive. All research students are supported by a lively programme of events, exhibitions, seminars and workshops. The School of Humanities has a reputation for research excellence, with a track record in attracting funding from the AHRC, the Getty Foundation, the British Council, the British Academy and European Funding Councils, among others. Our School-wide research themes include Design and the Welfare State; The Experiment in Art and Design; Art and Conflict; Heritages of Communism; Performance Cultures; Cultures of Curating; and Global/ Transnational Networks in Art, Design and Curating. School of Humanities

4 Staff Humanities staff are highly regarded historians, theorists, writers and curators, all with extensive teaching experience at postgraduate level. Each programme is supported by a core staff team, and by a wide range of visiting scholars and practitioners. For further information on staff, including research interests, exhibitions and publications, please visit: rca.ac.uk/staff Applications are welcomed from Anyone with a good BA degree, most often but not exclusively in a Humanities/Arts subject (including studio courses in art and design). We welcome applications from students of all ages, and value both prior academic and professional experience. Applicants with a commitment to writing, and a strong interest in art and design practice. Applicants with relevant practical experience, who have worked in a paid or unpaid capacity within the visual arts/design and are able to demonstrate an existing commitment to their future career path. Those considering a research degree can discuss their project in advance of application with the Dean of School, Head of Programme or an appropriate tutor, by contacting: humanities-research@rca.ac.uk. For College-wide and programme-specific requirements, please see: rca.ac.uk/entrance-requirements Alumni The Royal College of Art is rightly proud of its graduates achievements. Alumni from the RCA form part of an international network of creative individuals who have shaped and continue to shape the culture surrounding all of us. The School of Humanities trains the curators, writers, historians and theorists of the future, who go on to have diverse careers in the arts, including museums and galleries, art consultancy, media and journalism, and in academia. Our alumni network offers an important support structure for students in the School, and many of our alumni are visiting tutors in the School. Well-known alumni include: Professor Christopher Breward, Principal, Edinburgh College of Art; Professor Guy Julier, University of Brighton Professor of Design Culture and V&A Research Fellow; Omar Kholeif, Curator at Whitechapel Gallery and Editor of Ibraaz; Francesco Manacorda, Artistic Director, Tate Liverpool; Giorgia Mancini, Curator, National Gallery, London; Emily Pethick, Director, The Showroom; Rick Poynor, writer and editor; Celia Joicey, Director of the Fashion & Textile Museum, London; Bisi Silva, Founding Director, CCA Lagos; and Sally Tallant, Director, Liverpool Biennial.

5 MA Critical Writing in Art & Design: Albertopolis Companion, Student publication

6 Critical & Historical Studies Taught by a team of specialist historians, critics and philosophers, and led by Joe Kerr, the Critical & Historical Studies (CHS) programme provides a unique environment for postgraduate art and design students to reflect on their own practice, and to engage critically with students from their own and other disciplines. Critical & Historical Studies delivers both a studio-related and a College-wide seminar and lecture programme to all studio-based MA students in the College, enabling students to engage with ideas that are relevant to their work in an exciting and challenging manner. The College-wide programme is also available to Humanities students. CHS also delivers the MA Dissertation programme for all students in Schools excepting Humanities, shaping the intellectual framework within which they can begin to establish a coherent relationship between theory and practice, and explore the theoretical background of their chosen discipline through a structured tutorial process. Exciting, thought-provoking and inspiring lectures by tutors within the programme and highprofile visiting speakers, as well as individual tutorial support from our programme s team, ensure that students are fully prepared and supported through their academic journey. CHS staff are authorities in the varied fields of art, architecture, craft, communications and design, but their emphasis is on nurturing a commentary that acknowledges the shared concerns of these disciplines in an international contemporary framework. There are a broad range of Research students (MPhil and PhD) attached to the CHS programme and supervised by its staff. We accept research students in a range of subject areas across art, design, craft and architecture, with a close relationship to practice, and an emphasis on the art-school context for undertaking thesis-based research, whilst engaging fully with the historical and theoretical positions that art and design practice embodies. Current research student topics supervised by the programme include Modern British Art Criticism; Visualising the Planet Mars; Current Architectural Curatorial Practices; Mapping Modernity in Victorian London; Translation and Craft Practice; Haptic Display Techniques for Exhibiting Costume; and an exploration of Literary Utopias of the 1930s. chs@rca.ac.uk rca.ac.uk/chs

7 Critical Writing in Art & Design Taught by a team of writers and critics, and led by Professor David Crowley, the Critical Writing in Art & Design programme is designed to develop the literary and intellectual skills required to write about art and design in an age of rapid technological and cultural change. This full-time, two-year MA explores different aspects of writing about and for contemporary culture. Students are encouraged to develop specialist knowledge of a field of art and design, and to refine their skills as writers, editors and thinkers in a variety of contexts including radio and the internet. Drawing on the teaching methods of the art school, this programme makes full use of the crit, briefs and writing workshops, providing a lively environment for intellectual exchange and collaboration. In 2016 the programme will start a close collaboration with the RCA s School of Fine Art, sharing classes and projects with students on the Critical Practice pathway. Students on the programme publish their work both online and in print, and work alongside graphic designers and other peers at the College to produce a major publication in the second year of their studies. In recent years these have included Albertopolis Companion, a book that presents hitherto untold histories and new interpretations of the streets, monuments and institutions which make Kensington, London, their home, and Ends Meet, a collection of essays on cultural, economic and social exchanges. On graduating, Critical Writing in Art & Design students have a portfolio of different skills in writing, editing and critical understanding, and will belong to a network of RCA graduates. This will enhance their opportunities to pursue a career in the arts and cultural industries. Students and graduates from the programme have published articles in many key art and design periodicals including Cabinet, Frieze, The Guardian, The White Review, and Sight and Sound, as well as books for MIT Press, Zero Books and Afterall. Research students (MPhil and PhD) can be attached to the Critical Writing in Art & Design programme and be supervised by its staff. Current and recent research students attached to the programme have explored the Phenomenon of The Essay in Literature, Film and Architecture; Badness in Art and Literature; Viscosity in Culture; Open Source Platforms in Design; Marxism and New Media Art; and Écriture féminine and Contemporary Art. cwad@rca.ac.uk rca.ac.uk/cwad

8 Curating Contemporary Art Founded over 20 years ago, the internationally renowned Curating Contemporary Art programme (CCA), led by Professor Victoria Walsh, is centred on providing students with a comprehensive knowledge of both the practical skills and theoretical issues that inform contemporary international practices of curating and commissioning contemporary art in the social, political and cultural context. The programme s distinctiveness is its approach to practice-based learning through sustained collaborative and public-facing projects with external partners. The international scope and diverse backgrounds of students offers a rich and unique peer-led learning environment to share knowledge of artists, ideas and curatorial issues across the globe. With an emphasis on integrating theory and practice, first-year teaching takes place through a programme of lectures, seminars and workshops by CCA staff, visiting curators and artists. During the second year, students have the opportunity to develop small group projects in the RCA galleries, or to work in collaboration with leading London arts organisations to test and demonstrate their ideas, working with artists and practitioners across multiple platforms and media. In the second year, students also undertake a substantial individual piece of research through the dissertation. This academic year, a new option allows students to engage in the expanded field of curatorial practice, which will further equip them with knowledge and skills for the work environment including creative thinking, formal innovation in communication, and the ability to conceptualise and reflect through diverse media and technologies. Committed to research-led teaching, CCA staff are all actively engaged with curatorial research, ensuring the cultural significance, critical integrity and intellectual vibrancy of their teaching. Research students are a vital part of the ethos and culture of CCA and students (MPhil and PhD) are supervised by staff whose expertise ranges across curatorial research into new subjectivities and identities, transnationalism, museums of modern art, art and conflict, cultural value and the digital, and performance-based practices. Interest in new curatorial research methodologies is a particular aspect of CCA including collaborative, situated, practice-based research, performance-based research, exhibition reconstructions, and developing areas of online networked research. The programme offers students exceptional opportunities to engage with emerging and high-profile artists, writers and curators, world-leading public collections and exhibitions of contemporary art. cca@rca.ac.uk rca.ac.uk/cca

9 V&A/RCA History of Design The V&A/RCA History of Design MA programme is internationally recognised as the leading centre for postgraduate study in the history of design. Led by Dr Sarah Teasley (RCA) and Dr Marta Ajmar (V&A). the programme provides tools and perspectives for history social, economic, political, cultural and technological through design and material culture, across a global geography from the fifteenth century to the present day. Specialist areas for teaching and research include fashion and textiles, architecture, science and technology, making/craft, practice-based history and global history through material culture. Taking advantage of our location in the V&A and RCA, with access to cutting-edge art and design practice and one of the world s outstanding museum collections, we see artefact-based research as central to our approach and embrace history that is public-facing, experimental and committed to scholarly excellence. The programme is jointly managed by the V&A and RCA. Teaching and learning is researchled and committed to challenging the borders and conventions of the discipline. In the first year, MA students follow a combination of core courses and specialist seminars and workshops, and undertake supervised independent work designed to develop specific skills for research and analysis at postgraduate level. Students are introduced to artefact-based research and a diverse set of methods and critical/historical perspectives integral to history of/through design and material culture. The second year focuses on independent, original research in the form of a major dissertation, supported by two tutors. To support professional development across a variety of careers, over the two years students also create a portfolio of studentand staff-initiated projects, including internal projects at the RCA and V&A. By graduation, History of Design alumni gain a broad skillset for research, analysis and communication and join the extensive RCA and V&A networks, supporting careers and further study in universities, museums and further afield. Our alumni work internationally as academic researchers and lecturers, curators, designers, journalists, writers and policymakers. Teaching staff are active researchers, and our research is supported by funders including the AHRC, ESRC and EPSRC, the Wellcome Trust, the Leverhulme Trust, the British Academy, the Andrew W Mellon Foundation, the Pasold Research Fund and the European Scientific Fund. Research students (MPhil and PhD) can be attached to the History of Design programme and be supervised by its staff. website: unmakingthings.com hod@rca.ac.uk rca.ac.uk/hod

10 MA Curating Contemporary Art: Ping Pong Go Around, Lee Wen, Whose Game Is It? Exhibition Photograph by RCA/Dominic Tschudin

11 Research The School is at the forefront of arts and humanities research by way of original and significant contributions to design history (particularly in Asia and Europe), curating contemporary art, critical writing in art and design, and critical and historical studies. Recent and ongoing research projects include Art and International Conflict: Building Networks, Discourses and Understanding (AHRC); Fashion and Translation: Britain, Japan, China, Korea (AHRC); MeLa: European Museums in an Age of Migrations (European Commission); and Cultural Value within New Media Cultures of Networked Participation (AHRC). Researchers in the School publish work in books and journals, curate major exhibitions, make programmes for broadcast media and work closely with many international institutions including Tate, the Science Museum, the Bard Graduate Center New York, and in a long-established partnership with the V&A. The School regularly hosts public events, from one-day specialist workshops, like the experimental novel; the design of socialist modernity in Eastern Europe; and a 2015 workshop on John Berger, as well as international conferences, such as the 40th Annual Association of Art Historians conference in humanities-research@rca.ac.uk rca.ac.uk/humanities-research Research Students: MPhil and PhD We welcome applications to undertake original research by thesis (c. 40,000 words for an MPhil and 80,000 words for a PhD) or by project (students explore aspects of practice such as publishing or curating). Research students in the School engage with a broad range of subjects across the fields of art and design history and criticism; the history and practice of curating; and critical and cultural theory. We are committed to extending the reach of these fields. Research students play a large part in the life of the School. There are currently over 60 full-time and part-time research students, who together form a lively community of writers, thinkers and makers working closely with RCA artists and designers, often sharing skills and interests by organising symposia and exhibitions. Like all good researchers, our students produce new ways of thinking about and understanding the world. Many have gone on to publish their research, and to establish significant careers in the arts, cultural institutions and academia. The School has secured doctoral funding such as AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Awards, PhD studentships via its membership of TECHNÉ, the London and South-East Doctoral Research Consortium, and has research students working in collaboration with the V&A, the London Postal Museum & Archive, Tate and the Science Museum. Research in the School of Humanities

12 MA V&A/RCA History of Design: Show 2015, installation view

13 Students across the School have a dedicated work space within their programme, as well as a newly equipped shared School workspace for both research and MA students. They can also make use of the cross-college resources such as the Drawing Studio and digital facilities in Kensington, and the Moving Image Studio on the Battersea campus. Our students make use of the library facilities at the RCA, the National Art Library at the V&A and the multitude of specialist libraries and archives across London and the UK. National and international study visits are organised each year to introduce students to important art spaces, collections and archives abroad. The School also provides opportunities for students to meet and work with students from other MA programmes and related research degrees within the College, London and internationally. All students in the School are expected to present their work to their peers and tutors in regular work-in-progress seminars, and to participate in RCA end-of-year exhibitions. Students are encouraged and supported to publish their work, and the School regularly hosts conferences and events at which they can present their work to a wider, external audience. MA and research students are also supported by a programme of professional development, throughout their period of study. Critical Writing in Art & Design Students have a dedicated studio equipped with computers running a range of software including sound- and film-editing packages, as well as professional sound recording equipment and HD video cameras that are available for student projects. Curating Contemporary Art The programme has a suite of dedicated workspaces for seminars, meetings or computer work, equipped with imacs and a projector, and its own small specialist library, which students may use for shortterm loans. Students may also make use of the library and archive resources of the Tate and V&A. V&A/RCA History of Design Students have use of seminar and computer-equipped workrooms at both the RCA and V&A, and a dedicated programme library at the V&A. Students on the programme also have direct access to the National Art Library and facilitated access to V&A collections. Research (MPhil/PhD) Research students have use of a set of workspaces in the School including a student common room. Funding support and facilities are made available for research students to organise public-facing events and scholarly exchange. Facilities

14 Facilities: Humanities Seminar, Photograph by Richard Haughton

15 Admissions Royal College of Art Kensington Gore London SW7 2EU +44 (0) rca.ac.uk School For more information about the School please visit rca.ac.uk/school-of-humanities

16 Critical & Historical Studies Critical Writing in Art & Design Curating Contemporary Art V&A/RCA History of Design H