Art & Social Action

This MA is suited to graduates from multiple backgrounds who are committed to developing their creative practices to address social issues, spatial injustices and civic life through community collaboration, public intervention or collective action.



Engaging with theory and practice, and delivered by a diverse team, this programme provides its student cohort with dynamic educational experiences in local and national contexts; across and beyond academic boundaries, to develop their practices in response to their own research and engagements within diverse contexts, including urban and rural place-based sites, temporary and online communities, and public and cultural settings.



Full time students will be required to be on Campus 2 days a week (Monday and Tuesday) to attend the taught programme and their practice could be situated anywhere on the island of Ireland. While the early phases of practice on the programme will require the applicant to be based in NCAD two days a week to access in-person teaching, applicants will be able to undertake major projects in the final 30 credit capstone module in settings of their own choosing. This would allow a successful applicant from abroad to undertake a capstone project in their home setting and to be supported remotely with occasional visits to Dublin.



Opportunities to Engage

Socially engaged artists, designers, activists, educators, community workers from diverse backgrounds with distinct benefits for peer-to-peer learning and breadth of experience. Based in an EU capital and taught through English, Dublin offers a significant arts infrastructure and arts community, strong cultural heritage and tradition across art forms, including a well established and thriving field of contemporary collaborative/socially engaged art practice. The location of NCAD, based in the heart of Dublin with long-standing connections to national and local practice, and a connection to multiple civic society and cultural organisations and institutions.

MA in Art & Social Action Programme Specification (Full-time).



As a 1-year FT MA programme and a 2-year PT MA programme, Art and Social Action has been designed to encourage the progressive development of key skills, confidence and understanding, while ensuring that individual students can focus their practice on themes and issues which concern them.



Students on the programme have considerable autonomy in designing and realising their own projects in 10 credit ‘practice’ modules in the first phase of the programme (first FT trimester or the PT equivalent thereof), second phase of the programme (second FT trimester or the PT equivalent thereof), and in the capstone project which acts as the culmination of the programme.



Autumn Trimester:

PGCFAF1005 Situating Practice in Civic Society 10 credits

PGCFAF1020 Framing Research in Art & Social Action 5 credits

PGCFAF1006 Practice in Public 10 credits

PGCFAV1001 Spatial Politics - Spatial Practice OR CFA Option 5 credits



Spring Trimester:

PGCFAF1007 Dublin City Practice Lab 10 credits

PGCFAV1002 Critical Discourses of Social Practice 5 credits

PGCFAF1008 Project Development 10 credits

PGCFAE1002 Critical Pedagogies OR CFA Option 5 credits



MA Summer Trimester

PGCFAF1009 Major Project Realisation 30 credits



MFA Summer and Autumn Trimesters

PGCFAF2001 Major Project 2 (MFA) 60 credits

All applicants are expected to present an approved Bachelor degree at minimum level of 2nd class honours (2.2)



Applicants who do not meet the minimum academic entry requirements may be considered on the basis of prior work or learning experience (RPEL). Candidates may be required to pass a qualifying examination set by the relevant department before being accepted to a Masters degree programme. Attendance at selected undergraduate lecture courses at NCAD, together with related written work may be prescribed.



You may apply for the programme if you are currently completing your Undergraduate Degree. NCAD will review the rest of your application If necessary, we can make you a Conditional Offer. When your degree is completed and you send us final transcripts we will upgrade this to a Full Offer.



Essential Supporting Documents

• A Statement of Interest - A Statement of Interest - 500 written words or a 2 minute video/audio file framing your reasons for applying to the programme.

• A recent CV

• Certified transcripts of previous programmes followed

• Certified copies of degree / certificates and/or other appropriate third level qualifications bearing the official stamp of the institution.

• Academic Reference (Head of School/Department preferred), or if you graduated more than 4 years' ago please submit an employer reference instead.

• Portfolio / Evidence of previous work:

° Applications must be supported by documentation that best represents your practice.



° Applicants are requested to upload a document via the online application with access to a portfolio/collection of documentation of your previous work. This document can include a link to an on-line portfolio or a link to a folder on Google Drive.



° Whatever your background or discipline, we do require evidence of previous work undertaken. What you include will depend on your experience and background. Whether you are coming from a background in art, education, community work, theatre, dance, youth work, music, architecture, activism or other related areas, feel free to submit any material you feel showcases an aspect of your practice and skill-set that is relevant to the programme you are applying for.



° We are open to reviewing written work, short video presentations, or any form of documentation of a project, including that which is theoretical or technical in nature. Some candidates may chose to describe projects they have been involved with in a "case study" format, eg. for the MA in Art and Social Action, you could consider writing or presenting a case study of a project you have been involved in, outlining the intentions, methods, approaches and challenges that were encountered and your role in the process.



° There is no set requirement on the number of pages, images or projects that you share with us - this is up to each individual applicant.



English Language Requirements

All programmes in NCAD are taught through English. International Applicants are asked to provide proof of their English Language Proficiency.



Full details of acceptable tests and the standard required can be found at the following link: https://www.ncad.ie/study-at-ncad/international/english-language-requirement/

Applications are open. Please see "Application Weblink" above.

1 year full-time or 2 years part-time (Year 1 classes take place on Tuesdays and Year 2 classes take place on Wednesdays).

Programme commences September 2026.

Career

The Art and Social Action programme has been designed to support the professional practice needs of a range of learners. Although not a narrowly vocational programme, it recognises the value and importance of ‘real world’ learning, and so features modules which are offered in formal partnership with external organisations including Create – the National Development Agency for Collaborative Arts.



Although students may choose to develop projects which constitute a deep investigation of theories of social-engagement in art, it is expected that the large majority of students on the MA/ MFA programme will engage directly with different stakeholders to realise public projects. As such, the programme is committed to supporting the acquisition of skills required for successful professional practice in art as well as in related fields such as education, public programming in museums and galleries and community based arts.