Creative Industries Futures MA/MSc Degree

Program Overview

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Masters in Creative Industries Futures

MA/MSc Creative Industries Futures

Overview

Be part of a creative community whilst on your journey of personal, professional and academic development towards your future in the creative industry.

Our programme is designed to equip emerging graduates with the necessary skills to craft a sustainable career in one of the most exciting, dynamic and ever-changing industries.

We are a thriving educational community where students can learn lifelong skills and harness their potential.

KNOWING-WHY

Defining your Purpose and Positioning

You’ll be able to reflect on your personal strengths and professional goals to enhance your Purpose and Positioning within your chosen professional community. This is evidenced throughout the engagement of CPD activities that follow the requirements of a particular external framework that benchmarks your current knowledge and transferable skills e.g WWise for gamers, LCM diplomas for musicians, Leadership and Management, Creative Attributes by UAL, Business and Marketing, amongst others. You will not only refine your specialism, but expand your toolkit of transferable skills to help you to become a diverse and agile professional.

KNOWING-WHO

Developing Industry Viability and Creative Community

You’ll also have an incredible opportunity to collaborate and network with like-minded individuals to build your own creative community. Within core modules, you will learn the fundamentals of pitching and stakeholder management to ensure that your future projects reach and engage your targeted industry experts and ultimately, your audience/consumers.
This will not only help you bring your creative projects to life, but you’ll be able to form long-lasting, valuable connections that support your career longevity and sustainability.

KNOWING-HOW

Exploring your Capstone Project

You’ll be able to put your innovative ideas into practice, learning key concepts from design thinking, innovation and entrepreneurship alongside the analysis and application of research to be able to develop your capstone project. You’ll be supported in tri-fold: with an individual Personal Tutor, an Academic Supervisor and a Career Mentor. Your final project can be achieved in a variety of formats, such as a new catalogue of work, a proof of concept, a minimum viable product or a provocation and disruption to ‘business as usual’ practice. This will demonstrate your leadership and specialist knowledge at the forefront of different working contexts and intersecting professional boundaries, ensuring you stay ahead in your field and make a lasting impact.

Modules

• 701 Professional Practice Frameworks
• 703 Ideas Into Action
• 702 Creative Applied Research
• 704 Making Connections and Building a Community

701 Professional Practice Frameworks

Term 1 – (60 credits)

This module enables you to undertake a Professional Practice Framework relevant to your personal and professional goals. Working individually and in small groups you will also be accompanied by a Framework Mentor who will facilitate the evaluation of your skills in ONE of the following areas:

1. Creative Practice
2. Creative Enterprise
3. Higher Education Teaching
4. Workforce Development
5. Community Arts and Health

Each of the PPF holds its own platform, methods, facilitator role and requirements.

This provides you with the opportunity to review and strategically up skill your applied skills including technical, craft and creative competencies as well as leadership, project management, interpersonal and other transferable skills.

703 Ideas Into Action

Term 2 – (30 credits)

This module encourages you to get involved in rapid prototyping, complex problem-solving and collaborative pitching based on strategies and feedback from invited guest speakers, who have already put their ideas into action.

You will be able to deconstruct the project management processes needed to develop from concept to release whilst exploring your projects’ context from the perspective of different collaborators, to effectively pitch at a high level to a variety of audiences.

702 Creative Applied Research

Term 2 & 3 – (60 credits)

This module challenges and supports you to undertake an applied research project in the creative industries running across two terms: the first term focusing on the specific area of your research and the second concerned with the delivery and impact measurement.

The applied research might be a proof of concept, minimal viable product or an adaptation/ challenge to existing/ innovative practices; enabling you to evidence academic expertise and work collaboratively with local communities, industry and/or academic networks.

You will be allocated a supervisor based on your research specialism, which will provide an opportunity for feedback and support on work progress. You will also be able to discuss your pathway with your programme leader to choose between Arts-based or Science-based practice, this will decide whether you graduate with an MA or an MSc.

704 Making Connections and Building a Community

Term 3 – (30 credits)

This module enables you to establish a network of peers and relevant industry contacts to develop opportunities in key organisations in the local community, research organisations, potential investors, charities and the creative industries.

You will be provided with strategies, tools and methods within stakeholder management, achieving a comprehensive ability and understanding on how to communicate and engage with different stakeholder groups. This will be delivered in a portfolio of evidence tracking decision-making processes, activities and responses, ethical considerations, influence and impact.

This development of opportunities requires you to build your own community of interest from networks, including potential investors, partners, customers or new audiences so that you can build a forward strategy for your applied research project in practice.

Course Details

Award

MA/MSc Creative Industries Futures

Awarding Body

Middlesex University

Modes of Study

Full time Blended

Study Level(s)

Postgraduate

Campus Delivery

Guildford Birmingham London Remote

Remote

This pathway is for students who prefer to join the programme entirely online as remote learners.

This could be for a range of reasons including to manage your projects or work schedule more effectively or because you are located too far from an ACM campus in the UK, or situated outside the UK for the duration or part of the programme.

This could include a number of students from an organisation, co-working space or a professional association who wish to provide a shared learning space for students on the programme in specific locations for their staff or members.

Duration

1 Year full-time

Entry Requirements

• Honours degree, with a 2:2 classification or above;
• Possession of equivalent qualifications;
• Have worked in the creative industries as a professional for at least 3 years in the country in which you are a resident or any other country and have evidence of the work that you carried out;
• Or a combination of formal qualifications and experiential learning which, taken together, can be demonstrated to be equivalent to formal qualifications otherwise required.

Fees

View course fees

Testimonials

• Lewis Peace, Masters Alumni
• Tobias Briggs, Masters Student
• Luke Jeer, Masters Student
• Courtney Farrant, Masters Student
• Javina Greene, Masters Student
• Georgios Lazakis, Masters Alumni

Postgraduate Showcase

The Postgraduate Team held the Annual Postgraduate Showcase at the SSL Studio, ACM Guildford and promises to leave you feeling curious and inspired by the eclectic mix of research, innovation and incredible creativity we’ve shared

This event was a real testament to the talent, passion, and hard work of our students, and we are excited to see where their journeys will take them next. We look forward to seeing you at future ACM events and continuing to celebrate the achievements of our talented community.

Watch an exciting series of original presentations, interview discussions and armchair discussions between BA and MA students to gain promising insights into the ground breaking work being produced at ACM, our postgraduate school and the individual processes of ideating and creating!

For full view of the Postgraduate End of Year Showcase Livestream, click here.

Program Outline

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Degree Overview:

The MA/MSc Creative Industries Futures program aims to equip graduates with the skills for a sustainable career in the creative industries. It focuses on personal, professional, and academic development within a creative community. The program emphasizes three key areas:

• Knowing-Why: Students reflect on personal strengths and professional goals to define their purpose and positioning within their chosen field.
This involves engaging in Continuing Professional Development (CPD) activities aligned with external frameworks like WWise (for gamers), LCM diplomas (for musicians), Leadership and Management, Creative Attributes by UAL, and Business and Marketing. The goal is to refine specialism and expand transferable skills for diverse and agile professional development.
• Knowing-Who: Students collaborate and network to build their creative community.
This fosters long-lasting connections for career longevity and sustainability.
• Knowing-How: Students put innovative ideas into practice using design thinking, innovation, entrepreneurship, and research to develop a capstone project.
Support is provided by a personal tutor, academic supervisor, and career mentor. The final project can take various forms, including a new catalogue of work, proof of concept, minimum viable product, or a disruption of existing practices. This demonstrates leadership and specialist knowledge across different working contexts.

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Outline:

The full-time program structure is one year and consists of four modules:

• 701 Professional Practice Frameworks (Term 1 – 60 credits): This module involves undertaking a Professional Practice Framework relevant to personal and professional goals.
Students work individually and in small groups with a Framework Mentor to evaluate skills in one of five areas: Creative Practice, Creative Enterprise, Higher Education Teaching, Workforce Development, or Community Arts and Health. Each framework has its own platform, methods, facilitator role, and requirements. The goal is to review and upskill applied skills, including technical, craft, creative competencies, leadership, project management, and interpersonal skills. Strategies and feedback are provided by guest speakers who have successfully implemented their ideas. Students deconstruct project management processes from concept to release, exploring project contexts from different collaborators' perspectives to effectively pitch to various audiences.
• 702 Creative Applied Research (Term 2 & 3 – 60 credits): This module involves an applied research project across two terms.
The first term focuses on the research area, and the second on delivery and impact measurement. Research might be a proof of concept, minimum viable product, or an adaptation/challenge to existing practices. Students work collaboratively with local communities, industry, and/or academic networks. A supervisor is allocated based on research specialism, providing feedback and support. Students can choose between Arts-based or Science-based practice, leading to an MA or MSc degree, respectively.
• 704 Making Connections and Building a Community (Term 3 – 30 credits): This module focuses on networking with peers and industry contacts to develop opportunities within local communities, research organizations, potential investors, charities, and the creative industries.
Students learn stakeholder management strategies, tools, and methods to communicate and engage with different stakeholder groups. A portfolio of evidence tracks decision-making processes, activities, responses, ethical considerations, influence, and impact. The goal is to build a community of interest (investors, partners, customers, audiences) to develop a forward strategy for the applied research project.

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Teaching:

The program utilizes a blended learning approach, offering both on-campus and remote learning options. Students receive support from a personal tutor, an academic supervisor, and a career mentor. The program incorporates guest speakers who provide feedback and guidance on project development and pitching. The program also emphasizes collaborative learning through group work and networking opportunities.

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Careers:

The program aims to prepare students for sustainable careers in the creative industries. Student testimonials highlight successful outcomes, including employment in software engineering (one student secured a position at Roke after graduating), and the development of entrepreneurial ventures (one student toured schools with a project developed during the program). The program's focus on networking and stakeholder management is intended to facilitate career opportunities and long-term career sustainability.

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Other:

The program offers flexibility in educational engagement, accepting a combination of formal qualifications and experiential learning. The program is offered at ACM campuses in Guildford, Birmingham, and London, as well as remotely. A two-year accelerated undergraduate program and a three-year Masters program are also mentioned as options available at ACM.