Design: Ceramics

The course is distinctive in offering you the opportunity to specialise in ceramics as a medium allied to a breadth of possibilities, and establishing negotiated individual modes of practice.

Course Structure and Content

Theoretical elements will be delivered as a concurrent contextualisation of your practical work along with study of the relevant research methodologies. In this way your practical work is firmly based in the theoretical and critical awareness of its context and potential market.

Teaching Methods and Resources

In the first trimester you will undertake a module in research methodologies in conjunction with students from other design disciplines. You will also be establishing and initiating your studio based creative practice through individual and group tutorials and critiques. This teaching will cover issues of technique together with aesthetic and design ideas and their interpretation and context within contemporary practice. This approach to studio work will be further developed in the second trimester, alongside an individual analysis of the relevant theoretical, cultural and social context for your work.

The four modules taken in the first two trimesters lead to the postgraduate diploma (PGDip).

The final trimester, leading to the MA, comprises an individually negotiated and self-initiated body of work building on the knowledge and skills already acquired. You will be supervised by tutorial through to completion. The project will be selected from options giving an emphasis either to individual expression or a more design-based approach.

Distance Learning Route

Students may opt to take some or all of the modules on this course by distance learning. Teaching and tutorial support will be delivered via a combination of computer-based learning and campus visits, with assessment matched to the particular interests and needs of individual students. This route is open to all students on the course. You may pursue both practice based and/or historical approaches to the study of ceramics by this means.

The route will be of particular interest to those geographically distant from Bath, or who would find attending campus regularly difficult. The technology used is simple and accessible. You will need access to a computer linked to the internet as materials are delivered through a standard web browser. We welcome enquiries from anyone interested in this option, and will be delighted to answer any questions you may have.

Assessment Methods

The four taught modules in trimesters 1 and 2 are assessed through studio exhibition of work with a supporting statement, or the presentation of a document, accompanied in both cases by evidence of appropriate research. The final module for the MA is assessed through exhibition or exposition, according to the nature of the work, of all work for the module or a record of it, addressing the issues agreed in the initial proposal. There are no written examinations.

Course Length

MA full-time: three trimesters (one calendar year).

MA part-time: six trimesters.