Meet our academics:
A virtual showcase of new AUB courses
March 2024
AUB Online is proud to present four brand-new programmes: MA Creative Writing, MA Graphic Design, MA Photography, and MA Illustration.
Gain unparalleled insight into each of these online master's courses at our Creative Showcase. Meet a virtual panel of subject specialists and learn about online postgraduate study at AUB Online from four Course Leaders.
The panel will be joined by two members of the Course Adviser team, who will be able to answer your application questions in detail.
Watch event highlights below
Click here to register for the full recording.
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Q: What is exciting about studying these courses and why AUB?
- AUB is an exciting place to be a student, whether you're online or on campus. It's a specialist art, design, and media university, and as such, you've kind of got an in-built community of like-minded creatives to teach you and also your peers.
We've got brilliant library. We've got an amazing gallery. And other facilities specialists to an arts university, such as like specialist museum of plastics. And for those who are able to visit on campus, there's innovation centers, print rooms, workshops, but the online courses have the same benefits as the campus students. So they might not be able to actually physically go in, but they've got access to the online facilities and a lot of Adobe suite software and LinkedIn Learning to help with practical work and a whole community of academics to help with online learning.
So, yeah, it's quite a special place to be a student. It's well known outside of London as a specialist arts university. So, yeah.
Q: How will I be supported whilst studying remotely, and how does the course translate from online learning into practical application?
- Yeah. I guess emphasizing what Miriam said, you both have pastoral care from the course advisors- or sorry, the student advisors. And then you have academic support from both ourselves as course leaders. Each of the modules that you'll be studying on has what's called a module leader. They're the people who will be creating and delivering that content and they'll be the people that you will have sort of most interaction with on each of those modules.
And then on top of that, you will have a module tutor. So these are all people that you would be interacting with throughout the time on each of those modules, whether that is online, in discussion forums, whether that is- which are asynchronous kind of throughout the week for you to dive into when you have the time or whether that is interacting with them, asking them questions presenting work for critique in the optional live online seminars that we have towards the end of the week.
Q: Will I be able to balance my studies with my career?
- I think that balance is obviously a challenge, and we wouldn't in any way tend to these courses aren't going to-there's a lot of work. And I did my MA part time course 15 years ago now, which is terrible. That's so long ago. Whilst doing a full time really time consuming job.
But actually, it gave me the space to do my practice, which was always pushed to the side because the work was so demanding, and there was always deadlines that I was constantly trying to meet. And, actually, doing the course, gave me a reason to say no, no, I'm going to make the time of my own work because it is a value and it's really important. So it isn't easy, but it was incredibly valuable and absolutely possible. Yeah, very much so.
Q: How would an MA in any of these courses enhance my career pathway and what skills will I gain?
- So in terms of the MA creative writing anyway, I sum it up by using this idea of the three Vs. Now, that's Voice, Vision, and Vocation. In the MA creative writing, we will be nurturing, cultivating your original authentic voice. It's there inside you may just need teasing out a little bit, but that's so important that you cultivate that voice inside you. The one that you want to bring out into the world at least. And that is the thing that will make you stand out as a writer get you published, get you noticed. Make you stand out from the crowd.
Secondly, it's about encouraging your vision which will mainly manifest as the final major project. But there'll be many opportunities throughout the whole two years for you to create creative artifacts that represent an aspect of your vision. And obviously, may change, develop, evolve over the two years as well and that's healthy and as it should be, but really it's important for any kind of artist to have a creative vision. Some kind of personal manifesto or artistic manifesto about their positionality in the world, what they want to say, how they want to say the ethicalities of that, responsibilities of that. So it's very much more than just the creative product.
And then finally, all of this, of course, leads to transferable skills, greater attributes to vocational aspects, and that is where all of this land is grounded in a way.
So you need to have that voice, you need to be able to have that vision that is channeled through that voice. But then ultimately, it needs to manifest as that vocation. That vocation may not be actually traditionally vocational. It could be being a writer on your own terms. It doesn't have to be monetized. It doesn't have to be commercialized. Certainly, there are many pathways that you could take as a professional writer. But, yeah, with those transferable skills, you can end up in all kinds of work pathways, career pathways.
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Meet your speakers
Dr Kevan Manwaring
MA Creative Writing Course Leader
Dr Kevan Manwaring is an author and Senior Lecturer. His research focuses on the ecological imaginary in fantasy and other creative forms.
View profileStephanie Horan
MA Graphic Design Course Leader
Stephanie is a seasoned Senior Designer, with 30 years of experience in Graphic Design and Management. She is the founder of a successful branding agency.
View profileMark Pavey
MA Illustration Course Leader
Mark is a process-obsessed visual communicator; a maker of images, prints and digital tools, who loves to tinker and explore new ways of communicating.
View profileJames Elliot
MA Photography Course Leader
James' practice originated in drawing, sculpture and more traditional photography, and is currently focused upon ideas and opportunities presented by digital image making.
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