Social Practice & The Creative Environment - Clare Street & Online - Blended

MA Social Practice and the Creative Environment (MA SPACE) is a vibrant, experimental level 9 programme, which focuses on Social Practice and the Creative Environment. The programme maintains a reputation as a world-class provider of postgraduate education in the field of social art practice/socially engaged art practice.
This taught MA programme is based on the study of the theory and practice of socially engaged creative practice and the production of work based on these principles. Social Art Practice has been described as art activism, critical art, socially engaged art, social practice art, activism, political art, participatory, dialogical or collaborative art. MA SPACE invites candidates from Art, Design and other related fields who are interested in creating art that addresses topics such as; Space and Place, Food Politics, Gender Politics, Ecology, Climate Change, environmental politics, Science and Art, Civil Rights, Globalization and Economics, Health, Trans-Global Movement, Labour and Land Politics and more.

MA SPACE offers a strong theoretical and critical grounding in the area of social practice. It equips postgraduates with appropriate research skills, educates in the roles participants will play within communities/situations/spaces, and ultimately, offers a deep level of authentic experience and situated learning through the delivery and documentation of a self-chosen social practice project.

MA SPACE is delivered by both LSAD staff and a varied range of visiting lecturer specialists through a mix of active learning, field research and engagement in the wider world. The core teaching staff are high profile practicing artist's in the field of Social Art Practice. MA SPACE also has a panel of visiting artists and practitioners, both national and international, who lecture on the programme providing diverse exemplars of social art and design practice.

MA Social Practice and the Creative Environment at LSAD is now Irelands first online master's programme in Socially Engaged Art practice. Building on over ten years of excellence, MA SPACE has been shortlisted twice for the prestigious HEA Graduate Ireland Postgraduate Programme of the Year Awards in 2019 and 2020.The programme is delivered over one year with contributions from the best international practitioners in the field. The online delivery is further supported with a number of West of Ireland based gatherings, where we will get to know each other and will build a new learning community in the field of social art practice.

This innovative MA programme is distinctive in that;
· It is focused on Social Practice
· It is delivered through theory and practice
· It is open to practitioners of art and design
· It is also open to experienced graduates outside of the art and design fields.

MA SPACE students will immerse themselves in a challenging seminar programme which supports their engagement in a range of theoretical dialogues encompassing the position of artists, designers, cultural practitioners and other engaged disciplines in contemporary society.

An important element of this programme is a wider public engagement in the process. This is an opportunity for postgraduate students to apply their knowledge and abilities to initiate, develop, and complete a Social Practice project.

The aims of the MA SPACE programme are to:

Build on the MA SPACE reputation as a world-class provider of postgraduate education in the field of social art practice/socially engaged art practice.

Develop the LSAD focus on art education towards a more contemporary, collaborative and adaptive level. ?
Offer a specialisation in social practice that leads the growing significance of the discipline within contemporary art and design practice.

Produce students who can think, act, manage and collaborate at an appropriate post-?graduate level.

MA SPACE graduates form a new network of creative professionals.

Respond in a more focussed way to the needs of broader society, the city and beyond.?
Ensure that postgraduate students will work closely with cultural, educational, voluntary and public and community partners.

Year 1
Commentaries - Critical Grounding, Taking a Position 20 credits
Transactions, Roles and Research 15 credits
Practice - Analysis, Contextualise, Assimilate 15 credits
Social Practice: Major Project 25 credits
Documentation: Critical Reflection and Evaluation of Major Project 15 credits

What are the entry requirements?
Minimum Entry Requirements
Candidates entering the course must have: A minimum 2.2 honours degree in their chosen Art, Design, Humanities, and/or related fields of study e.g. Architecture, New Media, the Performing Arts and Multi-Media.

Equivalent qualifications including the pre-NFQ NCEA National Diploma. Applicants with equivalent qualifications on the European and International frameworks will also be considered. International students must evidence a proficiency in English language.

Candidates with prior experiential learning will be considered for the MA SPACE programme. The work of candidates with prior experiential learning is assessed by an internal panel of experts to asertain that the candidate can operate at Level 9.

All qualified candidates will be interviewed in order to assess their interest in or previous experience in the area of Social Practice, and their potential contribution to the group dynamic. Applicants will also need to undergo Garda Vetting, as many students may work with groups containing children and/or vulnerable adults.

International Applicants
Non-EU applicants should apply directly to the International Office at LIT allowing plenty of time for completing the visa process. Applications for September start should be made by July 1st at the latest.
Contact: International@LIT.ie

Application Deadline
Applications should be made by Wednesday September 1st, 2021 at the latest.

1 year

LOCATION Clare Street, Online.