Postgraduate Certificate in Professional and Research Skills: Art & Design programme (CPRS)

 

• What is research in art and design?

• What constitutes professional art or design practice?

• Which professional or research methods are applicable?

• How can something apparently subjective contribute to knowledge?

 

The Postgraduate Certificate in Professional and Research Skills: Art & Design programme (CPRS) offers a thorough and comprehensive introduction to the range of methods, strategies and debates which can apply to art and design professional practice and research. It is built around the four key areas of professional practice, research method, research design, and the criticality that is essential to the generation of knowledge. The programme is ideal for artists and designers who want to develop a research proposal or a professional intervention project based on their practice.

 

CPRS is included as part of Cardiff School of Art and Design’s MFA, MPhil and PhD programmes, but can also be taken as a stand-alone programme in preparation for writing a research application or a professional intervention project. Students select three out of five modules on the programme. The modules are:

 

Professional Methods in Art and Design (option). A wide range of methods are available within art and design professional practice. Certain methods are appropriate to certain kinds of professional context. This module familiarizes students with key art and design professional methods, and indicates how they address particular kinds of professional art and design practice.

 

Research Methods in Art and Design (option). A wide range of methods are available within art and design research. Certain methods are appropriate to certain kinds of research question. This module familiarizes students with key art and design research methods, and indicates how they address particular kinds of research question.

 

Project Design (core). Project design determines the structure, shape and focus of the contribution(s) you aim to make in your professional or research situation. This module familiarizes students with key questions and strategies for organizing a professional or research project in art and design.

 

Critical Positions in Art (option). Holding a position on a subject is crucially for having a sense of where one stands within a subject, and a sense of what one’s contribution to the subject might be, in both a professional and a research context. This module sets out key debates in recent art theory and practice, identifies some of the positions at stake, and demonstrates how students can take up a position in one of these or in a debate related to their professional practice on research question.

 

Critical Positions in Design (option). Holding a position on a subject is crucially for having a sense of where one stands within a subject, and a sense of what one’s contribution to the subject might be, in both a professional and a research context. This module sets out key debates in recent design theory and practice, identifies some of the positions at stake, and demonstrates how students can take up a position in one of these or in a debate related to their professional practice on research question.

 

For entry to CPRS a student must have a good honours degree, and/or equivalent professional standing or experience in an art and design discipline, or a discipline associated with their programme of study.

 

The programme runs from October to January and is normally taught on a Tuesday. The fee for the programme is approximately a third of the fee for one year on a full-time research degree programme. See Fees for more information.

 

To apply for a place on CPRS, follow the procedure for research degree applications. In the section where it asks for your research proposal, please describe your reasons for wanting to take the CPRS programme and give an outline of the professional or research project you wish to develop.

 

If you have a proposal idea and would like to discuss it informally, please contact Dr. Clive Cazeaux, Graduate Studies Coordinator, on +44 (0)29 2041 6680 or csadresdegrees@uwic.ac.uk

Research Degrees