Ceramics/Dance

BA (Hons) Creative Arts - Ceramics

Is this course right for me?

The course is creative and challenging and uses the specialism in ceramics as a route through which students can learn the combination of practical and conceptual skills needed to develop ideas into objects and explore a wide range of individual creative pathways. Students also take a course of contextual studies in parallel to the practical work, which will enable them to understand and articulate where their work fits into the broader world of art and design and the theoretical positions that exist within it.

The core is one of studio and workshop teaching in Ceramics and Drawing with options in Printmaking, Photography, Construction and CAD, which can be integrated with the work in Ceramics or taken as separate subjects, leading to individual pathways in the final year and a public exhibition.

What career options will I have when I finish my degree?

Graduates have chosen many different careers, often as freelance exhibiting artist/makers, designers, teachers in schools and universities, or a combination of these roles. Others have gone on to Postgraduate study or employment in museums, galleries and ceramics companies.

What will I get out of this course?

Throughout the course the study develops from being intensively taught through projects to being almost entirely self directed putting the skills and strategies developed earlier in the course into practice. Individual tutorial guidance ensures that you build on your strengths.

What will I study?

Each year of the course has modules in Studio, Folder, Professional Context and Contextual Study.

You will learn a range of approaches to making, finishing and firing including hand making, mould making, ceramic technology, surface and decoration. There are also options to work with non-ceramic media.

How will I be taught?

Throughout the course the study develops from being initially heavily taught through projects to being almost entirely self directed putting the skills and strategies developed earlier in the course into practice.

There will be lectures, individual tutorials, seminars, practical demonstrations, group discussions, and study visits.

How will I be assessed?

Assessment is 84% studio course work, exhibitions and presentations, 16% essays and seminars.

BA (Hons) Creative Arts - Dance

Is this course right for me?

The focus of the Dance course is on the making and performing of choreography that is underpinned by critical/ contextual studies. This means that you will be primarily concerned with creating performance whilst developing the necessary skills as a performer of exciting and challenging work. We also teach you to research into and reflect on your own learning process and to consider the work of known artists so that you become increasingly knowledgeable about Dance. The development of a range of dance related skills will prepare you for a variety of roles in the workplace.

What career options will I have when I finish my degree?

There are many career paths that ex-students have taken, some directly and others less directly associated with dance. Many continue into Post-Graduate education. For all dance students however, we offer the opportunity to leave here as alert, well organised, highly literate, creative, technically adept, informed and self-assured enterprising artists who are ready for the challenges of the workplace and capable of taking a place in it with confidence and with a great deal to offer. Examples of career paths include:

• Teaching work with a variety of dance agencies across the country
• Dance teachers in schools (Primary, Secondary)
• Lecturers in Further and Higher Education
• Choreographers
• Dance Company Performers
• Filmmaking
• Running a dance company
• Making and performing work as an independent dance artist
• Continuing funded research
• Arts administration
• Dance Therapy
• Community dance practitioners
• Digital media specialists
• A combination of the above.

What will I get out of this course?

If you are interested in interrogation and performance making in the context of Contemporary Dance, Physical Theatre, Dance on Camera, and the creative possibilities of Intermedia work - and if you enjoy being creative, experimenting and pushing your own boundaries - and if you want to explore your own potential in choreography and performance and to contribute to the Arts in the UK and beyond as an informed enterprising artist within the broad range of dance related career opportunities, then Dance studies at Bath Spa will provide you with the training, the supportive environment, and the challenges you will need to achieve this.

What will I study?

You will study Choreography, which is concerned with the design, construction and creation of movement, developing an understanding of the choreography of others, whilst acquiring choreographic skills that include an understanding of choreographic principles, and devices. You will study Technique and Performance, which is concerned with the ability to dance, and develop an understanding of performance style in relation to the performance of others, whilst developing technical, expressive and interpretive skills that re-affirm what it is to be 'alive' in Dance. You will study Appreciation, which is concerned with the ability to analyse, interpret and evaluate the Dance of oneself and others in appropriate socio-historical and cultural contexts. Appreciation also involves a reflection on your personal development as a performer and maker of work. You will study and apply Digital Technology and other creative media through which you will explore and extend your learning and experience as a designer, performer and spectator of movement.

The content of modules you will study will broadly cover the three main strands of study within the BSU Dance study programme. These strands are Choreography, Technique, and Intermedia and Collaborative Practice.

How will I be taught?

Learning is through participation in a wide variety of activities including lectures, seminars, workshops, self-directed study and work based learning. Each module has between 2 and 5 hours formal contact time per week at level four and five (years 1 and 2), At level 6 these hours are reduced for dissertation work and may vary from week to week. You should allow yourself an additional 8 hours each week per module for private study and rehearsal (student-centred learning).

Extensive use is made of the university's virtual learning environment, Minerva, and you will be expected to take full advantage of this as a repository of information and announcements. Further to this, the university has two major libraries, computer suites and study rooms.

In addition to timetabled study hours there are extra technique classes and a number of opportunities to participate in master-classes and performance projects with professionals both from within and from beyond the department. Opportunities are also offered to enable you to see a range of professional performances. These are at times situated on campus in the University Theatre and at other times at venues such as Saddlers Wells, The Roundhouse and at local theatres around Bath and Bristol.

How will I be assessed?

Your knowledge and understanding are demonstrated and assessed through practical choreographic and performance assignments, essays, seminars, portfolios and specific research projects within all modules.
All assignments are internally moderated, with a proportion externally moderated by the external examiner for the programme. You will be able to take advantage of individual tutorials to assist you in your practical and written work, and to identify your research methodologies.