Master of Science in Craft

at Manchester Metropolitan University United Kingdom

This course combines the study of art history, focusing on developments since the nineteenth century, with the essential practical skills and critical perspectives needed by the contemporary curator. And Manchester School of Art school provides a distinctive, vibrant environment in which to consider art’s historical development and its relationship to society.

The course shares much of its teaching with BA (Hons) Fine Art and Art History, and students from the two courses collaborate on projects and exhibition-making. It is taught by a multidisciplinary team of practicing artists, art historians, curators and theorists.

The University's exhibition spaces, cultural programs and collections are used in the course’s teaching, providing opportunities to acquire valuable, professionally relevant experience and skills. The course also enjoys links to the city and region's galleries and arts organizations.

Based at the Manchester Metropolitan University Q-Step Centre in the Department of Sociology, this MSc approaches the study of quantitative methods in an innovative way. Right now, there is a demand for graduates with quantitative skills, and it is a demand our students are equipped to meet. Students studying on this MSc will be ready to pursue a career involving quantitative research skills within a diverse range of organisations. Students will also be prepared for doctoral study, which requires advanced skills on quantitative methods recognised by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and other research councils.

The course focuses on the development and application of key quantitative methods and analytical techniques. It focuses on the use of quantitative methods within real-world contexts and a key aim is to develop graduates' career-ready skills in this field.

Manchester Met’s Q-Step Centre is recognised as a centre for excellence in the teaching and training of quantitative methods, with a national and global reputation for its pedagogy. It has innovative research partnerships with a range of local organisations, and the community research projects run by the centre look to build on current knowledge to develop new strategies, aimed at empowering and transforming communities.  You will be taught by research-active academics from Q-Step and other multidisciplinary research centres including Policy Evaluation and Research Unit (PERU), Manchester Centre for Youth Studies, Big Data Centre in Sociology Department and this real-world research feeds directly into what they will be taught. The international research experience of the centre is embedded into the course content and delivery of the course is enhanced by incorporating cross-comparative survey data in lab activities and assessments. You will also have the opportunity to do your dissertation in collaboration with projects being carried out with these centres' international research partners. You will also be exposed to a variety of different perspectives and views within the discipline through lectures, seminars, talks and workshops delivered or co-delivered by international experts.

Placement options

• Placement-based dissertation, in which you will produce a piece of research on behalf of one of our partner organisations. We will help your source your placement.
• We work with over 25 partners across Greater Manchester to provide students with placements across diverse sectors.

This program is firmly rooted in the tradition of drawing and the individuality this discipline instils.

The course will provide you with the opportunity to combine illustration with animation. Through a variety of challenges, you will develop strategies and skills to enable you to successfully cope with a range of visual communication problems and contexts. Ambitions are realised through a research-informed questioning of practice that embraces the potential outcomes of page or screen.

Graduates have gone on to postgraduate study in many national institutions including the Royal College of Art, the National Film School and Manchester Metropolitan University. Graduates have also become freelance illustrators, animators, filmmakers, designers, pre-production artists, storyboard artists, and teachers.

Philosophy shapes the way we think about ourselves, our relationships with each other and the natural world. Now, more than ever, reflection on these relationships is so important.

Drawing on a rich and varied tradition of philosophical theory across Anglo-American and the continental European traditions, our MA in Philosophy allows you to engage with those important action-guiding concepts that are at the centre of key debates about the human condition and our relationship with nature. You’ll gain the skills to think critically and deeply about the challenges that confront us across politics, the sciences and the arts, as a result of rapid contemporary social, technological and environmental changes.

Taught by a close-knit, dedicated team of internationally acknowledged experts in a range of philosophical disciplines, you will gain first-hand knowledge of the key ideas and arguments of some of the greatest ancient, modern and contemporary philosophers. You will read some of the oldest texts of Western philosophy and some of the most recent, all of which are deeply relevant to our practices and lives today.

This course will tackle some of the most challenging modern and contemporary philosophical texts across a range of areas including philosophy of science and biology, metaphysics, critical social theories, ethics, aesthetics and the philosophy of art. So, by the time you graduate, you’ll be equipped with the knowledge, skills, intellectual confidence and resources to pursue your own exciting research projects.

We have close links with other departments within the University, and you will have a distinctive opportunity to develop your philosophical work in a genuinely interdisciplinary environment. You will be able to write a long research-project on a topic of your choice with the expert guidance of one of our philosophy tutors.

A degree in English and American literature offers the opportunity to study writers and writing from cultures both united and divided by a common language.

Reflecting the varied and flexible nature of English and American literature, this course enables you to explore both in equal depth, as you look at how writers from the entwined cultures have reflected and shaped the worlds around them.

You’ll explore English literature in all its major forms – prose, poetry and drama – and from all periods since the Renaissance. At the same time, you’ll look at literature from the USA, from its inception to the present day, relating it to key social and historical contexts, while considering American writers’ enduring struggle to articulate national identity.

The course engages with a range of theoretical perspectives on literature and culture, drawn from English and American Studies, and related disciplines. But, crucially, it also recognises that American literature is integral to, rather than separate from, the study of literature in English.

You may have the opportunity to spend a year expanding your horizons, either studying abroad with one of our partner universities, in the US or elsewhere, or working on placement within industry in Britain or abroad.

In your final year you will get the chance to explore your interests in depth with a substantial piece of project work presented as a thesis, building on the knowledge and skills you've been developing over previous years.

Our lively department is home to internationally renowned writers and critics, and there's a strong research culture, creating a learning environment that is both supportive and intellectually challenging. We pride ourselves on our excellent teaching and highly positive student feedback. And with our extensive cultural links both in Manchester and further afield, you'll be in the right place to begin building a creative network for your future.

Placement options
Placement opportunities may be available both in the UK and abroad, in a variety of roles and sectors.

Our dedicated placement team have developed excellent links with various industries. You will be offered support through a preparation program of activities that includes guidance on selection procedures, working overseas, CV preparation, interview and selection techniques.

English and journalism have long been a strong partnership. Today, with the multimedia element, our Joint Honours Degree puts a modern spin on this most enduring of relationships.

This exciting course offers the chance to bring the former together with an up-to-the-minute, multimedia version of the latter, reflecting the demands of the modern media environment.

Today’s journalists are expected to operate across broadcast, print and online networks. With a broad range of units, we’ll give you all the skills you need to compete in this fast-moving world. You’ll learn from accomplished reporters and editors, drawing on extensive newsroom experience to give you industry-relevant understanding and insights.

You’ll also build a set of complementary skills through our range of English units, including critical and cultural theories, and textual analysis. Then when you get to your final year, you’ll have the chance to put those skills into practice – by tackling a substantial piece of project work, whether a portfolio of journalism or an extended piece of critical writing.

Along the way, you may have opportunities to study abroad and, if you wish, to do your third year as a placement - in Britain or abroad. You will be based in a lively department that is staffed by internationally renowned writers and critics, and there's a strong research culture, creating a learning environment that is both supportive and intellectually challenging.

Manchester has one of the biggest digital and creative sectors in the UK. With MediaCityUK, home to the BBC and ITV, it’s an ideal place for an ambitious journalist to build a network, gain experience and boost your career prospects.

Networked computers run our world. From homes to hospitals, airports to banks and all stops in between, everything is connected – but these systems are susceptible to infiltration and attack. On our MSc Cyber Security course, you’ll gain the expertise to become part of the defence.

By learning to design, implement and manage computer-based systems security on this master's, you’ll develop the skills and confidence to succeed in a wide range of cyber security roles. This could include security designer, ethical hacker, and digital forensics officer.

Starting with the fundamentals, you’ll gain a broad understanding of the different levels of computer and network security. You’ll then explore both the technical aspects and the logistics of planning and implementing network security management. And how to investigate systems after a breach.

You will also complete a master's project. While you’ll have plenty of support along the way, it’s a solo research project designed to develop confidence, autonomy and self-sufficiency – qualities that can take you far in the workplace.

We aim to train you to become a specialist in a field with opportunities in virtually every sector – with everything that means for your future career prospects.

Placement options

Strengthen your skillset by spending time in industry on a placement year, applying the skills you’ve learned throughout your academic studies in a practical, real-world environment. It’s an excellent opportunity to develop a professional career development plan and gain transferable workplace skills that can boost your employability.

Following completion of the taught elements of your MSc course, you can gain additional practice credits by working for a minimum of 36 weeks and a maximum of 42 weeks in an industrial setting, relevant to your course.

It’s your responsibility to search and apply for advertised placement opportunities, but you’ll be supported by academic staff and the University’s Careers and Employability Service to find a placement that is suited to you and your career ambitions. However, not all students can be guaranteed a placement.

All placements are approved and monitored in accordance with the University’s Institutional Code of Practice for Placement and Work?Based Learning. For international students, this includes additional checks on study visas to ensure the appropriate visa status.

MA Design Innovation considers how design acts as a catalyst for innovation, leading to new products, services and user experiences. It focusses on design thinking approaches, to address contemporary societal and business challenges to develop a rich understanding of where design can add value. It will provide you with the skills to strategically apply design to solve complex problems in the global market.

The application of design thinking is explored with the latest research and practice in design innovation, design management and design strategy, that supports you to develop a holistic view of design and creatively apply the theory in your specialist area. Design research, empathy and user-centered development are at the core of the program that reveals unmet user needs and, in turn, generate insights that lead to desirable products and services in a commercial and societal context.

The course provides a balance of theory and practices through a series of lectures, seminars, workshops, cross-disciplinary collaborations, research visits and live projects to provide you with comprehensive knowledge of design innovation while giving practical skills to excel professionally.

If you are interested in the way in which we communicate and how it can influence people, studying linguistics will help you unravel how language is inextricably linked to who we are.

Linguistics is devoted to the scientific study of natural language and concerned with how languages evolve, are structured and what they have in common. It also studies how languages are acquired and used.

Our program enables you to develop a sound knowledge of both theoretical and applied perspectives and places emphasis on English, with examples from other languages where appropriate. The core elements of the course teach you about sentence structure (syntax), meaning (semantics and pragmatics), forensic linguistics, and phonetics and phonology. You will also learn about language use and variation in different social contexts, the media, and intercultural settings.

Communicating effectively, critical thinking and developing rigorous analytical skills are valuable skills in the job market and are transferable to various professions.

The School of Digital Art's (SODA) MA Photography course provides a dynamic opportunity for you to test, push and extend the current boundaries of the photographic medium. You will explore photography through the medium’s rich critical and technological contexts, and develop your creative practice in line with your individual interests and professional ambitions.  

As an MA Photography student you will be part of SODA, where you will study in an environment that is purpose-built for today’s fast-moving creative and digital sectors. It will offer boundary-breaking and cross-disciplinary learning opportunities that reflects modern project-based working practices. It offers the opportunity to collaborate with a dynamic creative community of sound designers, filmmakers, games developers and more. SODA is also home to staff from a wide range of disciplines, who are research active and experts in their chosen area and who enjoy well-established links to the wider creative media, arts and digital tech industries.

In addition to established photographic technologies, you will also have access to a wide range of new digital equipment and facilities, including photographic studios, sound studios, green screen spaces, moving image studios and immersive spaces and technologies.

During the program, you will develop professional links with the creative community and industries both locally, nationally and internationally. For students and creative media professionals alike, SODA is well-positioned within Manchester as a great place for building a network and developing your research and practice in the media, games and digital tech industries.