Master of Arts in Creative Writing and Publishing

at Anglia Ruskin University - Cambridge Campus United Kingdom

Our MA Graphic Design and Typography is unique in its focus on building your graphic design practice and exploring and developing your role as visual designer and creative.

The course addresses issues including integration and diversity, behavioural change, community cohesion, and environmental challenges.

Whatever your background, you will advance your visual practice in areas that are important for design, such as concept development, communication and typographic design and textuality. You will combine this with extending your knowledge on the complexities of socio-environmental problems; insight into institutional and government structures; creative project development and management; design methods; and collaboration processes. This means you will gain the confidence to progress your career as graphic designer and have an active creative role in social and environmental change-making processes.

As a postgraduate student at ARU, you’ll have access to a dedicated base studio, along with specialist facilities such as film, photography and printmaking studios. You will receive training in creative software such as Adobe Cloud – and can access training in all our other art and creative industries facilities, too. 

Studying in our dedicated studios at Cambridge School of Art and at project locations, much of your work will be practice-based. You will take part in live projects, working with an external partner and students from related Masters degrees, as well as proposing and undertaking your own self-directed projects.

Throughout the course, you will collaborate and discuss your graphic design work with staff, external partners, visiting professionals and fellow students, giving you an invaluable opportunity to see how others respond to it. All our teaching team are practising designers, design researchers and artists, so you will hear about the latest news and issues in the industry, as well as getting access to sound careers advice.

Learn both film theory and film-making practice by studying a full-time BA (Hons) Film degree at ARU.

As a student at ARU, you’ll discover the history of global cinema from the avant-garde to Hollywood blockbusters. As well as learning the fundamental theories of film and how it reflects and affects society, you’ll explore the language of film from the perspective of a filmmaker and start to think critically about your creative work.

This will be key in the practical side of the course: making your own explorative short films in video, animation or 16mm format. You’ll be trained in all aspects of the craft, including camera operation, sound recording and editing.

As the course progresses, our optional modules allow you to further explore your interests or specialise for a particular career, with subjects such as screenwriting and film journalism.

Throughout your BA (Hons) Film degree, you’ll be supported by our team of expert lecturers and a close-knit community of students and graduates who stay in touch through our dedicated Facebook page.

Create a diverse portfolio of work that will prepare you for the modern collaborative creative industries, whether you want to make soundtracks for films and games, manage sound for podcasts and live broadcasts, or perform as a DJ.

Our BA (Hons) Music and Sound Production degree will allow you access to industry-standard equipment for recording, mixing, editing and production, giving you valuable practice in working as a professional producer or sound engineer.

As well as advancing your understanding of digital audio theory, MIDI, and sound synthesis, you’ll move beyond move beyond the native mixers, processors and plugins in commercial DAWs towards higher-quality external processors, such as digital signal processing-based plugins and analogue outboard.

As a student at ARU in Cambridge, many of your modules will be shared with our other music courses, giving you the chance to collaborate with different students and develop all-important skills for your professional life, such as teamworking and time management. You’ll also have opportunities to work with students on our film and computer game degrees, creating soundtracks for their projects.

Our optional modules allow you to shape the course for your chosen career. For example, Music Business will develop and broaden your entrepreneurial skills for the modern music industry, with teaching by professionals who have extensive industry experience, and visiting speakers contributing specialist knowledge. Electronics for Music will introduce you to the analysis and design of electronic circuits, small-signal and power amplifiers, and the problems of noise, interference and distortion, helping you evaluate, select, design and test audio electronic equipment for use in your creative projects.

Focusing a range of periods and themes including British and global histories, race and politics, gender, sexuality and the body, and also how we recreate history, you’ll take part in hands-on historical research to make sense of how past events have shaped our world today.

Cambridge is the perfect place to study history. Thanks to our close links with local organisations, you’ll find yourself handling historical objects, leafing through archival material, and working with museum professionals, as well as engaging with digital sources and archives.

There’s also the chance to study abroad for a semester, take part in European field trips, and go on work placements as you prepare for a career in many different fields including business, management, local government, heritage, museums and more.

As a history student at ARU, you'll form an understanding of why people and societies think and behave as they do – and how these actions can echo down the centuries. This historical insight will sharpen your ability to analyse and tackle complex problems, such as how social divisions arise and dictators come to power. You’ll also form an awareness of the limitations of our knowledge and the dangers of simplistic explanations.

These are important skills, with the World Economic Forum listing complex problem solving and critical thinking as two of the top 10 skills we need to thrive in today’s workforce.

In Years 2 and 3, our optional modules allow you to explore the areas of history that interest you most, with topics including the First World War, modern British politics, sport, the Russian Revolution and histories of everyday life. There is even a class on the history of James Bond! Meanwhile, your Undergraduate Major Project lets you complete a substantial piece of research work so that you become a historian in your own right.

You’ll be supported by staff, recognised as leaders in their field, whose expertise ranges from British imperialism and Victorian studies, to modern politics, gender history and the history of sense and emotions. It’s no surprise that our BA (Hons) History degree came 4th in the UK for ‘Satisfied with Teaching’ in The Guardian University Guide 2019 – and received an overall satisfaction score of more than 94% in the National Student Survey 2020.

Become a resourceful producer of electronic music. Study in Cambridge, explore the latest techniques, and gain experience in a range of electronic music production equipment.

As student at ARU, you'll create a diverse portfolio of work that will prepare you for the modern collaborative creative industries, whether you want to produce and release your own or others’ music, perform as a DJ, or create soundtracks for films and games.

Our BA (Hons) Electronic Music Production degree will help you produce your music projects to a professional standard, no matter your current level of experience. You might be a ‘bedroom producer’ needing to broaden your understanding of production technologies or how to market your work, or an established producer hoping to brush up on particular techniques, such as finalising projects.

You’ll develop your skills in DAW-based production and studio recording to an advanced level, exploring a diverse range of materials such as field recordings, music apps, synthesisers, and vocal recordings that you can use to enhance your creative projects.

You’ve always liked the idea of helping people. Of supporting them to make positive changes in their lives. Our British Psychological Society (BPS) accredited Psychology with Clinical Psychology degree course can help you do just that.

Together, we’ll explore the main principles of psychology, with a strong focus on clinical and developmental psychology, mental health, and therapies and interventions. You’ll also develop the scientific, analytical and research skills you need to become a psychologist.

By studying psychology at ARU, you’ll immerse yourself in the science of mind and behaviour – and take the first step towards a career as a chartered psychologist.

Our BSc (Hons) Psychology with Clinical Psychology degree will help you understand people: their behaviour, emotions and thoughts.

It will also broaden your understanding of illness and healthcare, as you consider the links between psychological disorders and people’s overall health and wellbeing. We’ll look at how you can assess the whole person through observation, interviews, tests and research. We’ll also learn about treatments in areas such as clinical psychology and cognitive neuropsychology.

You’ll learn from expert tutors who are actively engaged in research work. And you can take advantage of our specialist facilities too, including laboratories for measuring electrical activity in the brain, eye movement, psychoneuroimmunology, emotions and communication, psychometrics, and much more.

Outside of the lab, there’s the chance to join weekly seminars from guest speakers and take an optional placement year.

After graduation, you’ll be ready to continue your professional training and prepare for a career in clinical psychology.

Our BA (Hons) Illustration and Animation course explores the connections between animation and illustration, helping you to create sequential narratives using a variety of methods – from traditional handmade image-making, to the latest specialist 2D digital animation, 3D CGI used in industry and cutting-edge interactive techniques.

As well as gaining strong software skills and a good understanding of animation, timings and motion, you will become an innovative and creative thinker. You will develop creative abilities, technical skills and a personal language within animation, with the focus being on illustration and design.

Within our supportive and vibrant studio culture, you will work on a range of projects from narrative animation, animated idents, motion graphics, character design, storyboarding, CGI and concept art to develop a body of work for your professional portfolio and showreel, preparing you for industry.

Perhaps most importantly, you’ll get time, guidance and support from a team of industry professionals, animators and illustrators and visiting industry experts who are dedicated to your creative development. In your final year you will also receive guidance from an assigned industry advisor dedicated to the year.

While developing a unique visual style, you’ll also focus on the core foundations: studying the world around you, refining your drawing skills, learning the fundamentals of animation skills using industry standard 2D and 3D animation software, such as TV paint and Maya and learning to create engaging stories through moving images.

You’ll go on group reportage drawing trips, with opportunities to visit museums, galleries and animation festivals in the UK and overseas. You’ll find lots of visual inspiration in Cambridge – from the Botanic Gardens to the art collection in the Fitzwilliam Museum, to the city’s architectural beauty and vibrant cultural and student life.

Combine film theory and media theory with practical skills including film-making, multimedia content creation and digital publishing.

Our BA (Hons) Film and Media degree will introduce you to the key issues debates in film and media from feminism and postmodernism to the impact of film, TV, music and the media on society, including politics, youth culture and technology..

You’ll also create your own short films in video, animation or 16mm format. Working in our professional TV and film studios, you’ll be trained in all aspects of the craft, including camera operation, sound recording and editing. You’ll also be able to focus on particular areas of interest, including digital publishing (building apps), radio production, screenwriting and computer coding.

As a Film and Media student at ARU, you’ll learn the language of film from the perspective of a film-maker, and use this to inform your own short films. You’ll also explore current issues around our data-driven society through modules in digital media theory and law, culture and technology and use this knowledge in the production of apps, podcasts or online platforms.

You’ll also have the opportunity to carry out a work placement, or produce a commissioned product, in the area of your choice as you prepare for a career in film- and media-related roles, including production, post-production, digital content creation and journalism. You can also take an optional placement year.

In your final year, your moving image work is screened at the Cambridge Arts Picturehouse. The best films will also be selected for showing at the annual Cambridge Film Festival.

Throughout your BA (Hons) Film and Media degree, you’ll be supported by our team of expert lecturers and a close-knit community of students and graduates.

What’s more, you can choose to study abroad as part of your course, and get funding to cover the cost.

Our planet needs protecting. Gain a deep understanding of the concerns surrounding marine and terrestrial environments and the specialist skills to tackle them on our Ecology and Conservation degree in Cambridge.

Individuals, organisations and governments around the world are increasingly concerned about the welfare of our planet and everything on it. This includes both our marine and terrestrial environments where many factors, including human behaviour, have left a large number of species at risk.

Our course allows you to develop a deep understanding of concerns relating to marine and terrestrial environments, and to look at ways of resolving those concerns.

You’ll learn about marine biodiversity locally and around the world, and explore conservation ecology, which aims to support, recover and maintain populations and their habitats.

There are opportunities to attend residential field trips. Field trips that are a compulsory part of your course are covered by your fees. There are also optional field trips (either extra-curricular or an integral part of an optional module you select to take) that you would have to pay for.

Cambridge is becoming a world centre for wildlife conservation, with Fauna and Flora International, Birdlife International and the World Conservation Monitoring Centre based here. Throughout our BSc (Hons) Ecology and Conservation degree, you’ll have opportunities to attend lectures in the city and visit specialist museums and libraries.

On this degree you will explore the most recent ideas, issues and debates in Criminology and Sociology such as the media, its moral panics and promotion of fear; sex, violence and the profiling of such offenders; deviant behaviour; youth offending; war and terror and genocide, giving you a specialist perspective on crime and society.

You can tailor your BA (Hons) Criminology and Sociology degree to your interests and career goals through a wide choice of optional modules. You might choose to focus on issues from corporate crime to human rights, and sexual violence to burglary. Or you might want to explore the link between intoxicants and crime, or religion and crime.

We have a supportive community of staff and students at ARU. Throughout your BA (Hons) Criminology and Sociology degree, you’ll benefit from one-to-one personal tutoring and dedicated Criminology social media groups.

Through real-life case studies, academic research, and interactive learning sessions, you’ll develop your research and critical thinking skills. You could learn outside of the lecture theatre too, with visits to courts and prisons, where you’ll examine the trial process and methods of rehabilitation, punishment and retribution (historical and modern), deviance, race and gender. You’ll have the chance to travel abroad on one of our international field trips and examine crime and crime control in different geographical and cultural contexts. Or you might choose to study abroad for a semester to gain a more in-depth perspective on alternative criminal justice systems and societies - with funding on offer to cover the cost.