Art and Emerging Technologies MA
London, United Kingdom
DURATION
2 Years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time, Part time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
01 Jul 2025
EARLIEST START DATE
Sep 2025
TUITION FEES
GBP 1,700 / per year *
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* international | UK: £1,300
Open Days at University of Westminster
Undergraduate Open Day 23 November 2024/ Postgraduate Online Open Day 26 February 2025
Introduction
The Art and Emerging Technologies MA explores experimental applications of creative technologies in art practice, the development of advanced digital skills, and their impact on society, culture, and the environment.
You’ll be encouraged to consider technology as an integral part of the creative process, embarking on a journey of exploration and seeking out innovative directions to expand and enrich your practice. This might include collaborating with technology, harnessing the potential of human-computer interactions, crafting narratives through transmedia techniques, fostering audience engagement and participatory cultures, creating interactive objects, and constructing and transforming physical and digital spaces.
Studio practice and labs allow for the inventive use of advanced technologies, such as virtual and augmented reality, geolocation technologies, virtual production, photogrammetry, physical computing, creative coding, sensor technologies, wearable innovations, interactive environments, and the creative application of artificial intelligence.
The course responds to the demands of the creative industry for versatile, imaginative, and technologically adept arts graduates and places a strong emphasis on professional skills. Through core modules and a year-long Professional Practice module, you will engage in real-world projects that challenge the practices and conventions of digital arts and creative media. You’ll create work for various audiences, platforms, and contexts, collaborate with communities and networks, and tackle real-world briefs and industry challenges.
Top Reasons to Study with Us
- Fantastic location – You'll enjoy all the benefits of studying at our Harrow Campus – just a 20-minute tube ride from Central London, a global hub for the creative and technology industries
- Facilities – You’ll have access to industry-level facilities including the Emerging Media Space, computer labs, photographic green screen, film studios, editing suites, 3D workshops, 2D print, and photographic printing, and darkroom facilities
- Informed by CREAM the course has been developed by the research of the University’s CREAM Research Centre (Centre for Research in Arts and Media). Our global network gives you access to professional production and public engagement opportunities, from exhibition and performance to online platforms and film screenings
- Choose your path – this course supports rigorous experimentation and ‘creative play’ as a means of communicating, discovering, and developing insights. You’ll be supported to develop flexible approaches to your chosen area of specialism
Why Study This Course?
Build Industry Connections
Our dedicated professional practice modules will help you to develop strong links within the art and technology sector in London and beyond.
Learn in an Open, Supportive Environment
Explore your practice while being supported by our academic and technical staff.
State-of-the-art Facilities
Enjoy industry-level facilities including the Emerging Media Space, computer labs, photographic green screen and film studios, editing suites, 3D workshops, 2D print and photographic printing, and darkroom facilities.
Admissions
Scholarships and Funding
The University is dedicated to supporting ambitious and outstanding students and we offer a variety of scholarships to eligible postgraduate students.
There is a range of funding available that may help you fund your studies, including Student Finance England (SFE).
Curriculum
This course is part of a suite of MA art courses which include the Expanded Photography MA and the Global Contemporary Art MA. You’ll tailor your learning through a set of shared optional modules that address contemporary challenges, advanced digital approaches, and specialized professional contexts. You’ll also undertake the year-long Professional Practice module, which aims to support your progression beyond graduation, and the Master's Project module with students from the other MA art courses, thus benefiting from collaborative opportunities and cross-disciplinary learning.
Core modules investigate the mediation, augmentation, and transformation of our environments through emerging technologies. You will consider ecologies of consumption, the environment, contexts, technologies, and sustainability, and the role of the artist as innovator, provocateur, and agent.
The following subjects are indicative of what you will study in this course.
Core Modules
- Ecologies and Technologies
- Emerging Media Realties
- MA Arts – Master's Project
- MA Arts – Professional Practice in The Creative Industries
Option Modules
- Curatorial and Social Practices
- Future Archives
- Global Arts and Sustainable Futures
- Image Futures
- Interactive Art and Storytelling
- Virtual Photography
Program Tuition Fee
Career Opportunities
This course will equip you with a wide range of skills suited to employment in the Digital and Creative Industries or Cultural sectors. Through the pool of options, you’ll be able to tailor your expertise to prepare you for a diverse range of related careers in the arts and creative industries. These might include careers as independent creative artists, creative technologists, and entrepreneurs. You’ll also be equipped for roles that involve curation in museums and galleries, arts management, policy-making, and advocacy within the culture. Graduates will be well-prepared to work across creative, scientific, and technological industries, pursue further academic study, or teach at secondary, further, and higher education levels.
Industry Knowledge
You’ll be taught by a teaching team with a wide range of experience both in industry and academia, as well as working closely with an international body of artists, researchers, and students.
Professional Development
A year-long Professional Practice module puts professional development at the core of your journey. You will be supported by mentors, industry experts, and your tutors to develop a personal career plan according to your own interests and professional goals.
3,000 Employers around the World
The University’s Careers and Employability Service has built up a network of over 3,000 employers around the world, helping all our students explore and connect with exciting opportunities and careers.
Industry Links
We aim to meet the demands of the creative industries by equipping artists with the essential digital skills and expertise working with emerging technologies, required for professional practices that bridge the realms of art, architecture, and design.
Our engagement with industry supports the evolution of our curriculum to ensure the ongoing relevance of the course and employable graduates for future creative industries. Industry specialists may attend critique sessions, offer mentoring or placements, and help to advise students on their personal and professional development.
Job Roles
The range of potential careers is very broad depending upon your area of practice, but this course will prepare you for potential roles in a range of present and future industries within the creative industries, policy, public and third sectors and education, including:
- Arts administration and advocacy
- Audio and video production
- Collection management and archives
- Creative computing
- Digital art and installation
- Digital arts practice
- Digital curation
- Education, academia and research
- Exhibition curation and production
- Experimental film
- Immersive filmmaking
- Independent arts practice
- Interactive and immersive storytelling
- Interactive cinema and documentary
- Motion graphics
- Museums and galleries
- Projection mapping and interaction design for live events
- Public policy
Westminster Employability Award
Employers value graduates who have invested in their personal and professional development – and our Westminster Employability Award gives you the chance to formally document and demonstrate these activities and achievements.
The award is flexible and can be completed in your own time, allowing you to choose from a set of extracurricular activities.
Activities might include gaining experience through a part-time job or placement, signing up to a University-run scheme – such as mentoring or teaching in a school – or completing online exercises.
Program delivery
Course Location
Harrow is our creative and cultural hub, home to most of our arts, media and digital courses. It houses state-of-the-art facilities for every discipline, including project and gallery spaces, film studios, creative labs, collaborative learning spaces, and the Westminster Enterprise Network.
Harrow Campus is based in north-west London, just 20 minutes from the city centre by train.