Universities and Online Degrees Guide

Stellenbosch University

Master of Arts in Visual Studies

The Master of Arts in Visual Studies in Arts is offered by Stellenbosch University.

Program Length: 1 YEAR.

Master of Arts in Visual Studies offered by the Stellenbosch University at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

The Masters in Visual Arts (MAVA) programme offers an opportunity for specialised postgraduate research in studio production within the broader areas of Visual Communication Design, Illustration, Jewellery Design and Fine Art. The programme promotes the development of the student's particular interests, skills and ideas, and it is expected that students conduct independent practical and theoretical research of an advanced and in-depth (postgraduate) standard which reflects an awareness of a contemporary South African context.

Research conducted within the MAVA programme is practice-based in its methodology, thus research in which the relationship between practice and theory is dialogical and interrelated, not only in the research process but also in the final presentation of the research project.

PROGRAMME CONTENT

The content of the programme comprises the following two integrated components:

• the production of a practical body of work, and
• a written component of approximately 50-70 typed A4 pages in its entirety (excluding notes, bibliography, illustrations).

While the programme encourages independent research, a series of lectures, seminars and review sessions regarding both practice and theory are scheduled throughout the year so as to encourage interaction and intellectual exchange amongst students, as well as fostering a sense of a post-graduate community.

Programme Structure

The programme requires the production of an integrated project in which creative processes (the practical component) and a related theoretical investigation (a thesis) are combined. You must produce original art works and a thesis that contextualises them theoretically, historically and philosophically. The programme emphasises the development of critical thinking and argumentative abilities by encouraging independent practical and theoretical research that must make a considerable contribution to the visual arts.

Programme Content

Compulsory Module

11540 : Thesis (Visual Arts) 871(180)

 

Assessment and Examination

You present practical and theoretical seminars in the course of the programme and assessment is done by means of an exhibition of visual art works and a thesis that counts 100% of the final mark, assessed as a whole by the examiners.