Program Overview

Introduction to MA/MSc Textiles

The MA/MSc Textiles program at Manchester Metropolitan University is designed to reimagine the use, practice, and industry of textiles for the 21st century. This course responds to a global landscape that demands sustainable, respectful, imaginative, inclusive, and innovative approaches to anticipate and forecast our textile futures.

Course Overview

This program is built on the rich heritage of Manchester and the School of Art, which have been at the forefront of textiles innovation since the late 19th Century. Students will develop innovative study hubs of interdisciplinary expertise, which will both rethink and regenerate textiles within its expanded field, including Textile Craft, Innovation, and Digital specialisms.

Key Features

• The program addresses the future paradigms of environmental and social change, new materiality, and the development of 4.0 Textile Industry.
• Hybrid creative learning environments, such as the Manchester Met Digital Lab and specialist textile facilities, support advanced digital learning and making, electronics, 3D printing, and multi-media material making practices.
• Students will develop individual specialized projects that will become beacons within the expanded field of design.
• Learning is creative, innovative, and interdisciplinary, featuring design workshops, guest lectures, design events, reading groups, live industry projects, and study trips.

Year 1

The MA/MSc in Textiles is composed of five units, totaling 180 credits.

Core Modules

• Design Thinking: Introduces an applied understanding of how design can be used as an iterative process for creative problem-solving.
• Researching, Mapping & Locating: Enables students to gain an understanding of design practices, perspectives, and contexts, establishing a substantive individual position for personal practice within the expanded field of design.
• Colour, Material & Finish: Explores the language of material making, process, and enquiry, stimulating students to generate a range of practice-based responses to questions of context, concept, making, manufacturing, materiality, visual language, and sustainability.
• Synthesis Project: Textiles (MA): Supports students in developing, resolving, and presenting a significant body of work located within a defined area of Textile practice.
• Synthesis Project Textiles (MSc): Supports students in developing and resolving a significant body of specialist Textile practice aligned to technical, market-led, or digital contexts.

Study and Assessment

• Study: Full-time: 35% lectures, seminars, or similar; 0% placement; 65% independent study. Part-time: 35% lectures, seminars, or similar; 0% placement; 65% independent study.
• Assessment: Full-time and Part-time: 100% coursework; 0% practical; 0% examination.

Entry Requirements

• Normally, a minimum 2:2 UK undergraduate honors degree (or equivalent) in a related subject.
• A portfolio submission is required.
• Overseas applicants require IELTS with an overall score of 6.5 and no less than 5.5 in any category, or an equivalent accepted English qualification.

Fees and Funding

• UK and Channel Island students: Full-time fee £12,000 per year, part-time fee £2000 per 30 credits.
• EU and non-EU international students: Full-time fee £22,000 per year, part-time fee £3667 per 30 credits.
• Additional costs may include books, printing, and a laptop, estimated at £400.

Careers Support and Prospects

• The program cultivates highly motivated, independent, and creative thinkers who can transfer their skills into the creative marketplace.
• Past graduates have achieved graduate-level positions or practiced as sole traders, design studio artists, exhibiting artists, museum curators, archivists, researchers, academics, community practitioners, specialist technicians, and filmmakers at national and international levels.

Conclusion

The MA/MSc Textiles program at Manchester Metropolitan University offers a unique opportunity for students to develop innovative and sustainable design practices in the field of textiles. With its rich heritage, interdisciplinary approach, and focus on future paradigms, this program prepares students for successful careers in the creative industry.