MA in Aural & Visual Cultures
This MA programme investigates how our understandings of visual culture are radically reconfigured through the different kinds of attention to aurality, musicality, audition, telephony, phonography, noise and the voice. It focuses on areas where the meaning of the intersection of aural and visual domains is of paramount importance and considers a diverse range of modern and contemporary fine art practices; including video, performance and installation art as well as an array of sonic arts and experiments.
1 year full-time or 2 years part-time.
Full-time students attend on Thursday and one other day each week (determined by the choice of special subject); part-time students attend on one day each week in the first year and on Thursday in the second year.
You should normally have, or expect to gain, an undergraduate degree of at least second class standard in art history, fine art, another studio-based practice, arts administration and related activities, or a humanities discipline other than art history which demonstrates your ability to undertake work at Master’s level. If you have little or no formal training in art history or a related humanities discipline, you may need to take a preparatory year of study on the Graduate Diploma in Contemporary Art History. You may also be required to attend an interview.
If your first language is not English, you normally need a minimum score of 7.0 in IELTS or equivalent. Find out more about our English Language requirements.
AHRC. Before applying for AHRC funding, please discuss this with the Department of Visual Cultures.
Please see Tuition fees.
Please see Staff research interests.
Contact Mark Fisher
This intersection has provided a rich seam of novel critical possibilities, the identification of new cultural objects and formations and margins of aural-visual interest. It has generated different types of artistic and other cultural practices too. As a result of this recent theoretical and practical work, the programme is also able to offer a set of new approaches to cinema, to the idea of voice and to whatever it is that constitutes a musical performance. The programme is also particularly interested in conjunctions of sound and architecture, the acoustic constellation of social space and the multitude of different daily exercised habits of listening.
Whilst grounded in the intellectual context of visual culture, the programme draws on recent work from anthropology, architecture, urban studies, film and film studies, cultural studies, music and elsewhere.
What you study
The MA in Aural and Visual Cultures follows the same structure as the MA in Contemporary Art Theory. Therefore, the programme comprises a non-assessed introductory course, the Common Core Course Readings/Processes, and four assessed components: the Special Subject: Auditions, one other Special Subject (either Vocalities or Transforming Critical Practices Laboratory), the MA Symposium and the MA Dissertation. You also attend the weekly guest lecture/film screening programme and two or more one-day workshops, one of which is a writing workshop. You have the option of auditing another Special Subject should you wish to do so, subject to availability and in agreement with the course tutor.
With the exception of the Special Subjects Auditions and Vocalities, components of this degree are also attended by students on the MA in Contemporary Art Theory course, allowing you to benefit from interaction with this group.
Register your interest
If you register your interest in this programme we will keep you informed about open days and send you relevant further information. If you subsequently decide to apply for this programme you will be able to use the same login details to apply.
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