Creative Practice Research in the Humanities module (HU32002)

You will explore what we mean when we use words like ‘culture’ and ‘creativity’. You will look into what industries, institutions and infrastructures support creative work today. You will also explore the histories underlying them.

The module will also look at what is the social value of culture and who does it benefit. You will explore how does anyone make a living – or a life – as an artist.

What you will learn

In this module you will:

• learn about the role of arts and culture in the wider world. This will cover economic development to national identity to community-building
• learn about how governments and institutions develop cultural strategies and cultural policy. Learn how these affect how artists make their work
• learn about different creative and cultural industries such as publishers, design agencies, museums and galleries, games companies. You will at these both locally in Dundee and more widely through hands-on workshops and invited guest speakers
• develop your own independent creative work such as prose, poetry, dramatic writing, screenplays, comics scripts or hybrid/multi-media forms. This will be done in response to the themes and concepts on the course

By the end of this module you will be able to:

• produce a fully developed creative writing project to a specific brief
• write a persuasive project proposal
• situate your creative writing in the context of real-world institutions and industries
• write critically about the role of arts and culture today

Assignments / assessment

• Project proposal (20%)
• Project portfolio (50%)
• Framing essay (30%)

This module has no final exam

Teaching methods / timetable

• Workshops
• Seminars
• Invited speakers

A key part of the module is learning from professional artists and creative practitioners. Previous guests have included a senior editor from Penguin Random House, award-winning and best-selling novelists, and leaders from cultural institutions like V&A Dundee.