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Art and Ecology (PDip, MA, MFA, Master of Fine Arts)
Course Overview
The two-year Master of Fine Arts (MFA) provides an immersive education in the development of professional practice as an ecologically oriented artist while the one-year MA provides a masters-level education in art appropriate for a diverse range of applications.
Students on both programmes produce a final exhibition of both personal and collaborative work, which will demonstrate the skills necessary to survive and thrive as practising artists. Students will also demonstrate capabilities for critical enquiry through fine art, with the ability to evaluate their work through an informed grasp of the social, cultural and theoretical concerns shaping the discourse on contemporary art and ecological issues.
MFA students will also propose and implement an achievable, interdisciplinary collaborative project that engages with ecological/environmental concerns in the Burren or on a global scale.
Studio research provides for the development of artistic practice alongside students in the MFA/MA Studio Art. These modules provide for studio-based investigation and experimentation leading to the production of a substantial body of work. Theory and Art and Ecology engages with historical and contemporary discourses informing arts practice and ecological issues. In the first year an Introduction to Ecosystem Science provides an understanding of the operation of ecosystems through lectures and first-hand experience of the Burren. This is extended in Ecology and Sustainability in the Burren, which examines the stewardship of the area as a microcosm of environmental and ecological issues. Professional Studies modules are taken with the MFA/MA Studio Art students and focus on the development of professional skills necessary to survive and thrive as an artist.
Applications and Selections
Apply at www.burrencollege.ie.
Who Teaches this Course
Requirements and Assessment
Key Facts
Entry Requirements
Applicants should normally have a Bachelor’s degree with First or upper Second Class Honours in Fine Art; or a Bachelor’s degree with a major in Fine Art, with a GPA of 3.50 or above, or evidence of equivalent achievement. In the case of an outstanding portfolio, a Bachelor’s Degree with a lower Second Class/2.2 hons/GPA 3.0 may be accepted. All eligible applicants are interviewed either in person or by phone.
Additional Requirements
Duration
1 year, 3 semesters, full-time (MA); 2 years, 4 semesters, full-time (MFA); 1 year, 2 semesters, full-time (Post Baccalaureate)
Next start date
September 2022
A Level Grades ()
Average intake
8
QQI/FET FETAC Entry Routes
Closing Date
Apply by 1 February 2022: applications will continue to be considered on a rolling review.
NFQ level
Mode of study
ECTS weighting
Award
CAO
Course code
Not applicable. Apply online via the Burren College of Art: www.burrencollege.ie
Course Outline
Studio Research provides for the development of artistic practice alongside students of the MFA/MA in Studio Art. These modules provide for studio-based experimentation and innovation, leading to the production of a substantial body of work.
Studio Methodologies are a series of taught studio courses examining the methodology of Art & Ecology with reference to historical examples.
Theory and Art & Ecology consists of seminars contextualising the theoretical framework of Art & Ecology.
In addition, Environmental Studies draws on expertise from within the College of Science at NUI Galway in engaging with scientific approaches to ecology, with the first module led by an environmental scientist.
Lectures and field trips provide first-hand experience of the Burren as a microcosm of environmental and ecological issues, while a distance-learning module examines the social and political context of global environmental issues.
Curriculum Information
Curriculum information relates to the current academic year (in most cases).Course and module offerings and details may be subject to change.
Glossary of Terms
- Credits
- You must earn a defined number of credits (aka ECTS) to complete each year of your course. You do this by taking all of its required modules as well as the correct number of optional modules to obtain that year's total number of credits.
- Module
- An examinable portion of a subject or course, for which you attend lectures and/or tutorials and carry out assignments. E.g. Algebra and Calculus could be modules within the subject Mathematics. Each module has a unique module code eg. MA140.
- Subject
- Some courses allow you to choose subjects, where related modules are grouped together. Subjects have their own required number of credits, so you must take all that subject's required modules and may also need to obtain the remainder of the subject's total credits by choosing from its available optional modules.
- Optional
- A module you may choose to study.
- Required
- A module that you must study if you choose this course (or subject).
- Required Core Subject
- A subject you must study because it's integral to that course.
- Semester
- Most courses have 2 semesters (aka terms) per year, so a three-year course will have six semesters in total. For clarity, this page will refer to the first semester of year 2 as 'Semester 3'.
Year 1 (90 Credits)
Optional EN541: Colonialism In Twentieth Century Cultural Theory - 10 Credits - Semester 1Optional IS105: Young Ireland to the Free State: Writing in English, 1849-1922 - 10 Credits - Semester 1
Optional DT6102: Irish Drama and Theatre from Wilde to O'Casey - 10 Credits - Semester 1
Optional IS106: Decline & Revival: Language, Literature & Society 1800-1939 - 10 Credits - Semester 1
Optional FM521: Critical Theory I - 10 Credits - Semester 1
Optional EN601: Writing Workshop: Poetry - 10 Credits - Semester 1
Optional EN529: Dissertation - 30 Credits - Semester 1
Optional EN547: Literature And Colonialism - 10 Credits - Semester 1
Optional GR6100: Language & Intercultural Communication - 10 Credits - Semester 1
Optional EN6105: Introduction to Digital Humanities - 10 Credits - Semester 1
Optional EN6136: Thinking about Books/Thinking about Theatre - 10 Credits - Semester 1
Required EN6116: Writing and Research - 10 Credits - Semester 1
Optional IS108: The Politics of Modernity: Writing in English, 1922 to the present - 10 Credits - Semester 2
Optional IS109: Gaelic & Free: Cultural Politics & Writing in Irish since 1939 - 10 Credits - Semester 2
Optional MV504: Old & Middle English - 10 Credits - Semester 1
Optional EN597: Approaches to the Study of Culture and Colonialism - 10 Credits - Semester 2
Optional DT6101: Irish Drama and Theatre from Beckett to the Present - 10 Credits - Semester 1
Optional FM522: Critical Theory II - 10 Credits - Semester 2
Optional FM6105: Digital Film and Culture - 10 Credits - Semester 2
Optional EN527: Literature Of North America - 10 Credits - Semester 2
Optional EN6113: Writing Workshop: Poetry 2 - 10 Credits - Semester 2
Optional EN6125: WB Yeats and the Cultural Revolution - 10 Credits - Semester 2
Optional FM6119: Film, Politics, and Colonialism - 10 Credits - Semester 2
Optional EN6131: The Odes of John Keats - 10 Credits - Semester 2
Optional EN570: Book History - 10 Credits - Semester 2
Optional EN6134: Studies in Literary History and Aesthetics - 10 Credits - Semester 2
Why Choose This Course?
Career Opportunities
Graduate artists find work in related fields, such as art curating, gallery administration and art education. The knowledge, skills and understanding developed in this programme are transferable to a wide variety of applications, depending on the individual graduate.
Who’s Suited to This Course
Learning Outcomes
Transferable Skills Employers Value
Work Placement
Study Abroad
Related Student Organisations
Course Fees
Fees: EU
Fees: Tuition
Fees: Student levy
Fees: Non EU
For all fee information contact Burren College of Art.
Find out More
Lisa Newman
Director of Admissions,
Burren College of Art,
Newtown Castle,
Ballyvaughan,
Co. Clare.
T: +353 65 7077 200
E: lisa@burrencollege.ie
www.burrencollege.ie/programmes/mfa-ma-in-art-ecology/