Master of Arts in Culture Industry

at Goldsmiths, University of London United Kingdom

Taught jointly by the Departments of Anthropology and Social, Therapeutic and Community Studies, this MA offers a stimulating synthesis of theory and practice. In short, it is at the heart of what Goldsmiths is all about.

This MA, launched in 2015, is the third of three related pathways. The first, the MA Applied Anthropology and Community and Youth Work, was started in 1992 and is aimed at students who wish to pursue a career in youth and community work and who need a professional qualification.

A second pathway, the MA Applied Anthropology and Community Development, was launched in 2012 as an option for international or home students who do not need an NYA qualification and for those who want to specialise in community development.

This third pathway has been created in response to a growing number of applicants with an arts background and arts interests, and is aimed at students who wish to work in community arts. The three pathways entail different placements but are taught together, providing many opportunities for exchange of ideas and collaboration amongst students.

The MA Filmmaking (Producing) will provide you with a thorough training in all aspects of producing – from the conception of an initial idea through to development, financing, production and release.

This Masters, a pathway of the MA Filmmaking, provides excellent training for a successful career as a producer. As part of the programme you'll have the opportunity to specialise in either development, where you will work with writers and directors to develop new ideas, or line producing, where you will focus more on how to run a production and a crew, and how to also take a production manager or assistant director role.

What we offer

• The programme is housed in a new purpose-built media facility equipped with state-of-the art teaching spaces including film and photography studios equipped with Arri lighting and Greenscreen, Avid Media Composer, Final Cut Pro and Adobe Premiere Film Editing, Animation, Digital Special Effects, Pro Tools Audio Postproduction and Foley suites.
• Our studio spaces, and extensive production facilities and informal rehearsal and meeting spaces create an environment where you can discuss and collaborate with scriptwriters, actors, directors, other producers and your shoot team. We also have established relations with casting directors, agents, production designers and other professionals who will both advise you and provide their skills to enhance your productions.
• You work on at least one film per term in your specialist role, culminating in a major production towards the end of the degree. In addition to your specialist area, you attend classes in related disciplines such as Film Directing and Editing and collaborate with students across specialisations on film projects. This framework is designed to stimulate collaborative practice by providing you with a breadth of filmmaking knowledge combined with a high level of expertise in your chosen filmmaking discipline.

History is a relevant, dynamic, fascinating, and important field of study which, at Goldsmiths, is approached in creative, innovative, and exciting ways.

History - the study, analysis and understanding of the past - is as important today as it has ever been and it continues to make vital contributions to how we comprehend and interact with the world around us.

Understanding past societies fosters emotional intelligence and allows us to appreciate the diversity and adaptability of human life. Understanding our pasts can help us to shape our futures and, crucially, help us shape those futures intelligently, insightfully, fairly, and with compassion. History is here and now as well as being there and then.

Students studying History at Goldsmiths have a great deal of choice over what to study, beginning with options in Year One. Our geographic scope covers Europe (including significant British expertise), the Americas, Asia and Africa. Chronologically, we have a strong focus on early modern and modern history, while also covering earlier periods.

Why study BA History at Goldsmiths?

• We are exciting and challenging: our innovative interdisciplinary approaches to the subject encourage our students to approach and explore the past thematically rather than chronologically and we venture into issues, areas and topics that are often overlooked.
• We are global: our international body of staff research and deliver modules covering a wide geographical range including Asia, Africa, the Americas, the British Isles, Eastern and Western Europe, and the Middle East.
• We excel in what we do: our academic staff are nationally and internationally recognised award-winning experts in their fields, they are at the forefront of research excellence and research-led teaching.
• We put you first: our students are always our top priority and our staff are excellent educators who foster independent and progressive thinking in challenging but supportive environments.
• We broaden minds: history stimulates critical and analytical thinking and, at Goldsmiths, we also encourage creative and imaginative thinking that takes our students beyond the traditional boundaries of the subject.
• We think about your future: alongside intellectual and personal development we equip our students with the skills and experience they need to progress into a rewarding career. This might be through our History in Practice work-placement module or through other career-orientated opportunities and forms of assessment.

The best journalism is based on a sound understanding of the history that has shaped the world we inhabit today.

There is a strong and growing tradition of deeper journalistic investigation into issues and events in the recent and more distant past (however that might be defined). This might be to unearth new knowledge, to investigate and reinterpret existing thinking, or to revise and update past ideas and understandings.

This innovative, collaborative, and interdisciplinary programme, jointly delivered by the Department of History and the Department of Media, Communications and Cultural Studies, emphasises that the causes and results of events in the past are fiercely contested by historians.

Why study BA History and Journalism at Goldsmiths?

• History - the study, analysis and understanding of the past - is as important today as it has ever been, and it continues to make vital contributions to how we comprehend and interact with the world around us. It is a relevant, dynamic, fascinating and important field of study which, at Goldsmiths, is approached in creative, innovative and exciting ways.
• Understanding past societies fosters emotional intelligence and allows us to appreciate the diversity and adaptability of human life. Understanding our pasts can help us to shape our futures and, crucially, help us shape those futures intelligently, insightfully, fairly, and with compassion.
• The essential skills of researching, interviewing, and writing in a number of different long-form and short-form styles and formats are delivered alongside tuition for a range of digital tools including video reporting, the use of social media for research and dissemination, and how to work in the world of online, multimedia journalism.
• An international body of staff research and deliver modules covering a wide geographical range including Asia, Africa, the Americas, the British Isles, Eastern and Western Europe, and the Middle East. Academic staff in both departments are nationally and internationally recognized award-winning experts in their fields who are at the forefront of research excellence and research-led teaching.

Do you want to advance your knowledge of contemporary art and pursue a professional career in the field of curatorial practice?

Curating refers to a wide range of activities including the care of collections and the development of exhibitions, festivals, screenings, digital platforms and more. Curators engage with historical knowledge and respond to urgent social issues, staging culture as a way of bringing together multiple publics.
Visual Cultures at Goldsmiths has been at the forefront of curatorial research for well over a decade, helping to redefine the profession. Drawing from this research, taught by leading curators and researchers, BA Curating combines a strong grounding in art history and contemporary cultural theory with the development of practical know-how and industry experience.

Why study BA Curating at Goldsmiths?

• Visual Cultures at Goldsmiths is internationally renowned for its research on Curatorial Practice and you will be learning from leading theorists and practitioners.
• You will study compulsory modules on curatorial history, theory and practice alongside option modules in art history and visual culture that allow you to focus on your particular interests.
• You will be mentored to develop the know-how and practical skills necessary to practice as a contemporary art curator through a number of practical assignments as well as an industry placement in your second year.
• You will develop your ability to work collaboratively and will work with your peers in your third year towards your degree show.
• You will be supported to develop student-led projects and will have access to our dedicated Curating Room to host your events.
• You will benefit from the rich programme of events at Goldsmiths as well from world-class exhibitions at the newly opened Goldsmiths Centre for Contemporary Art.
• Our London location means you’ll never run out of galleries, events, museums and visual culture to explore in the capital.

This degree encourages you to develop an independent critical involvement with works of art and visual culture, to examine changing historical conceptions of art and the artist, and to explore the visual arts in their wider cultural and political contexts.

Why study BA History of Art at Goldsmiths?

• You'll investigate modern and contemporary art, art theory and visual culture from around the world, approaching the subject from a fresh perspective which puts an emphasis on key areas of debate rather than chronology.
• We'll explore visual culture in all forms to broaden your outlook. You’ll not only examine the kinds of artefacts you might see in museums and art galleries, but also those that make up our everyday environment: like architecture, city and landscapes, adverts, TV and film, websites, the body, and street style.
• You’ll study at one of the top creative universities in the UK (Which? University 2018) based in vibrant South-East London, where you’ll discover everything from art spaces and studios to foodie pop-ups and markets.
• Our London location means you can take advantage of the many galleries, art spaces, museums, cultural facilities and specialist libraries the city has to offer.

There is a growth in the number of entrepreneurs starting businesses with social and environmental purposes. This exciting MA will enable you to develop a critical understanding of and practical insights into modes of social enterprise.

There is an urgent need for talented individuals who can design novel solutions to our most profound societal challenges.

This international MA provides practical and sociological tools to individuals motivated to develop alternative economic practices and frameworks to meet such challenges. These might include (but are not limited to) social enterprises, collaborative innovation networks, hubs, digital platforms, support intermediaries and/or policy proposals.

Benefitting from the MA’s timely educational content as well as from its firm roots in London’s rich networks, our students go on to become thought leaders in the burgeoning social innovation field, advancing it in a creative fashion from their chosen angle. Past graduates have gone on to create their own social enterprises or to work for prestigious organisations such as the Yunus Institute and Social Enterprise UK, while some have elected to carry out advanced research into social innovation.

This degree aims to equip you with creative, interpretive, critical and analytical skills, so that you can participate in and contribute to the expanding field of contemporary art.

Why study BA Fine Art at Goldsmiths?

• You'll make and study contemporary art in a dynamic, critical and interdisciplinary environment
• We'll equip you with the skills that will help you develop independent thought and confidence in your practice, as well as transferable skills suitable for employment in the creative industries
• You'll have your own studio space from day one, and will have access to excellent facilities including specialist art practice areas
• All staff on the programme are practising artists, curators and writers, here to respond to the work that you make and to help you understand how it contributes to, and challenges, the critical debates that exist in the study area and beyond
• Since 1990, former Goldsmiths students have been nominated for the Turner Prize more than 30 times, and have won the prize on 8 occasions.

There has never been a more exciting time to study media and communications. The digital age has transformed our experiences from shopping, to chatting to friends, to searching out information, to political activism. Our mediated worlds impact upon the rhythms and rituals of our daily lives changing the way we think about things, the way we create things, even the way we conceive of ourselves.

We encourage you to look at issues holistically. Alongside lectures and seminars we run workshops, screenings and cultural trips to encourage you to explore the role of the media in our lives as widely as possible – from the individual and organisational level to corporations, the state, and the market across both the public and private sectors.

This is a theory-driven MA, but you also have the opportunity to do a practice option in a range of areas including Journalism, Campaigns and Design, and the Screen School. Plus you get the chance to apply your knowledge to a subject that ignites your interest and do your own independent research as part of your dissertation. From how people mediate the self through body piercing to how we form intimate relationships through social media, your dissertation topic is entirely up to you.

The MA Luxury Brand Management equips you with the management, entrepreneurial, marketing and professional skills to work in the luxury goods and experiential luxury industry.

The luxury brands sector encompasses the fashion and retail industry, as well as sectors such as tourism, hospitality, food and beverage, film, digital media, dance, music and theatre. This MA debates the concept of luxury in a historical and cross-cultural context, and offers a strong academic underpinning on theories of luxury and consumption.

You will explore the role of luxury in conserving traditional arts, especially with regard to Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas.

The programme combines formal teaching with dissertation research, underpinned with visits to key luxury brand enterprises in London and elsewhere, and draws on Goldsmiths’ alumni for inspirational talks. This programme offers practice-based assignments and voluntary intern opportunities in various cultural organisations and luxury corporations that have established links with Goldsmiths.