Master of Arts in Social Entrepreneurship

at Goldsmiths, University of London United Kingdom

Explore the creative interplay between urban theory and the visual representation of urban cultures and places.

Why study MA Photography and Urban Cultures at Goldsmiths?

• Developed by the Centre for Urban and Community Research, the degree encourages creative interplay between practice and theory – you’ll develop your practical photography skills and examine key ideas and debates in the representation and evocation of contemporary city life.
• You'll have the chance to consider cutting-edge debates in cultural and social theory in a research setting that actively encourages the development of photographic practice.
• If you are already a working photographer, visual artist or media practitioner, this programme gives you space to reflect critically on your practice.
• For those with a background in sociology, urban and cultural geography, cultural studies or anthropology, the degree provides an opportunity to combine visual forms of representation with standard forms of research techniques in investigating urban life and the physical environments of the city.
• The programme aims to link directly to professional research outcomes, and many graduates have secured employment within urban research, ethnography, teaching, curatorial and arts practice, human rights, and architectural research.

Why study for an MA in Creative Writing and Education at Goldsmiths?

• This is an MA in Creative Writing like no other. If you want to thrive as a creative writer and are passionate about learning, then this unique programme is for you. You will not only progress exponentially as a writer, but also learn how to research and teach writing in a wide range of contexts. You will study how writing can be used in dynamic, real-world settings such as charities, prisons, schools, creative and mental health organisations, and the cultural/corporate sector.
• The programme will provide you with an invaluable toolbox of writing, teaching, and research strategies that will help you personally and professionally. You will grow as a writer, and gain skills and experience which could open doors to creative professions such as publishing and arts management, as well as roles in educational institutions. Alumni include some of the most significant writers to emerge in recent years such as Raymond Antrobus, Dean Atta, S.K. Perry and Sara Hirsch – read what our students and graduates had to say below.
• You will be taught by some of the best known prize-winning authors and innovative teachers in the country, including Ros Barber, Maura Dooley, Blake Morrison, Francis Spufford, Ardu Vakil, and Erica Wagner. The Head of Programme, Francis Gilbert, has taught creative writing to all ages, and is the author of best-selling memoirs, novels, and educational guides.

This unique international laboratory programme brings diverse individuals into collaborative research, acknowledging the challenges of creating original, performer-driven theatre in today's complex, globalised culture.

Why study MA Performance Making at Goldsmiths?

• Studying at Goldsmiths gives you access to all the cultural stimulus that London offers, allowing you to enhance your practice and develop compositional, critical, technical and management skills and strategies for forging independent and self-motivated careers. Our graduates work as practitioners, teachers and cultural leaders worldwide.
• The Masters will help you conceive, research, construct and deliver your ideas, and articulate what motivates them. You will study with distinguished international artists and scholars. The emphasis throughout will be on encouraging collaboration across disciplines and cultures, and on contextualising practice within its social, political and architectural environment.
• You’ll undertake physical training, scenographic/environmental exploration, and hands-on introduction to technologies (lighting, video and sound), to support your composition and artistic experimentation. You will identify your own practice within the historical and contemporary field, and write critically and creatively.

This MA is designed for students interested in new ways of exploring and understanding the social world through the use of visual, sensory, and other experimental approaches. You’ll study sociological issues alongside innovative methods and gain the tools needed to examine, represent and intervene in the social world.

Why study MA Sociology (Visual Sociology) at Goldsmiths?

• You’ll join students from a wide variety of backgrounds, including art, design, anthropology, media and communications, cultural studies, geography, and sociology.
• You’ll develop the ability to carry out empirical research and present it publicly in a variety of media and materials. You’ll engage with sociology as an inventive research practice, using creative research methods to address classic and changing sociological problems.
• You’ll be introduced to the range of debates in visual research and encouraged to build on these by using visual, sensory and inventive methodological practices to carry out critical social research in your areas of interest, whether this is science and technology, contemporary capitalism, gender and sexual cultures, race, human rights, globalisation, or other aspects of social life.
• Combining lectures and seminars with practical sessions and workshop-based projects, this MA will help you develop a hands-on approach to sociological research. You’ll gain a skills base in methods which could be used in public sector contexts, art or media research, design or commercial application.
• As well as presenting your ideas through writing, you’ll have the opportunity to produce different outputs, including film/video, photography, sound and multimedia pieces. You’ll also have the opportunity to organise and curate some of this work in an exhibition.

Design isn’t just a way of making and doing; it’s a way of understanding and engaging with the world.

Why study BA Design at Goldsmiths?

• The BA Design degree enables you to think imaginatively about the possibilities of design. Not just what design is; but what it might be. You’ll discover how design affects the environment as a whole, as you investigate its role within society and culture. You’ll learn to see design as a complex combination of systems and actions, and not just as a set of distinct practical skills.
• We give you access to studio space and industry-standard workshops, with the latest in laser cutting and 3D modelling technology.
• You’ll work on live briefs set by real life companies. These projects allow you to develop your ideas and present to design professionals, gaining valuable experience and insight.
• In your second year, you’ll have the chance to do a placement. Past placement hosts have included Selfridges and Alexander McQueen.
• Our graduates have gone on to work for top London design consultancies and major international brands including Dyson, LEGO, Google and Burberry. Many have also gone on to set up their own design studios.
• Students and graduates have also been successful in national and international competitions, winning awards including the New Designer of the Year Award, RSA Design Directions Award, the Design Museum’s ‘Design Mart’ and NESTA’s Creative Pioneer Programme.

The MMus Popular Music builds upon our international reputation in the popular music field established by our ground-breaking undergraduate degree.

The Popular Music pathway is designed for music artists who are seeking to deepen their creative practice. We are songwriters and composers, producers and performers, engaged in making work that has relevance to real music scenes.

The programme centres the creative artist in a stimulating and supportive environment where critical enquiry, testing of songs/compositions/performance and experimentation in practice lead to a portfolio of new work.

The development of industry-relevant skills and key cultural-theoretical understandings is led by the needs of our own projects and foundational knowledge. Typically, students make records, explore performance and production methodologies, present shows, write and release new sets of songs/works. The programme offers the opportunity to extend the boundaries of artistry and critically reflect upon our own creativity in music.

You’ll also be able to extend your own practice through options in sonic and studio art, advanced music technology, exploration in audiovisual media, and ethnomusicology.

You’ll acquire graduate-level training in creative practice and subject-specific skills that could set you up for a career as a composer-performer or studio practitioner/producer, as well as other jobs in the popular music sector.

History is a relevant, dynamic, fascinating, and important field of study which, at Goldsmiths, is approached in creative, innovative, and exciting ways.

History - the study, analysis and understanding of the past - is as important today as it has ever been and it continues to make vital contributions to how we comprehend and interact with the world around us.

Understanding past societies fosters emotional intelligence and allows us to appreciate the diversity and adaptability of human life. Understanding our pasts can help us to shape our futures and, crucially, help us shape those futures intelligently, insightfully, fairly, and with compassion. History is here and now as well as being there and then.

Students studying History at Goldsmiths have a great deal of choice over what to study, beginning with options in Year One. Our geographic scope covers Europe (including significant British expertise), the Americas, Asia and Africa. Chronologically, we have a strong focus on early modern and modern history, while also covering earlier periods.

Why study BA History at Goldsmiths?

• We are exciting and challenging: our innovative interdisciplinary approaches to the subject encourage our students to approach and explore the past thematically rather than chronologically and we venture into issues, areas and topics that are often overlooked.
• We are global: our international body of staff research and deliver modules covering a wide geographical range including Asia, Africa, the Americas, the British Isles, Eastern and Western Europe, and the Middle East.
• We excel in what we do: our academic staff are nationally and internationally recognised award-winning experts in their fields, they are at the forefront of research excellence and research-led teaching.
• We put you first: our students are always our top priority and our staff are excellent educators who foster independent and progressive thinking in challenging but supportive environments.
• We broaden minds: history stimulates critical and analytical thinking and, at Goldsmiths, we also encourage creative and imaginative thinking that takes our students beyond the traditional boundaries of the subject.
• We think about your future: alongside intellectual and personal development we equip our students with the skills and experience they need to progress into a rewarding career. This might be through our History in Practice work-placement module or through other career-orientated opportunities and forms of assessment.

The programme will introduce you to a range of psychological theories, methods and processes within the context of the legal, criminal and civil justice systems.

Based at a research-led London university with strong links to forensic services, you’ll be taught by world-class researchers, and experienced practitioners from the NHS, and the prison and probation service.

Led by chartered forensic clinical psychologist Dr Caoimhe McAnena, the MSc also includes contributions from world-class researchers and practitioners who will teach on the programme and supervise research projects.

We have been awarded full British Psychological Society (BPS) accreditation, which will give you the opportunity to gain Graduate and/or Chartered Membership of the Society.

The best journalism is based on a sound understanding of the history that has shaped the world we inhabit today.

There is a strong and growing tradition of deeper journalistic investigation into issues and events in the recent and more distant past (however that might be defined). This might be to unearth new knowledge, to investigate and reinterpret existing thinking, or to revise and update past ideas and understandings.

This innovative, collaborative, and interdisciplinary programme, jointly delivered by the Department of History and the Department of Media, Communications and Cultural Studies, emphasises that the causes and results of events in the past are fiercely contested by historians.

Why study BA History and Journalism at Goldsmiths?

• History - the study, analysis and understanding of the past - is as important today as it has ever been, and it continues to make vital contributions to how we comprehend and interact with the world around us. It is a relevant, dynamic, fascinating and important field of study which, at Goldsmiths, is approached in creative, innovative and exciting ways.
• Understanding past societies fosters emotional intelligence and allows us to appreciate the diversity and adaptability of human life. Understanding our pasts can help us to shape our futures and, crucially, help us shape those futures intelligently, insightfully, fairly, and with compassion.
• The essential skills of researching, interviewing, and writing in a number of different long-form and short-form styles and formats are delivered alongside tuition for a range of digital tools including video reporting, the use of social media for research and dissemination, and how to work in the world of online, multimedia journalism.
• An international body of staff research and deliver modules covering a wide geographical range including Asia, Africa, the Americas, the British Isles, Eastern and Western Europe, and the Middle East. Academic staff in both departments are nationally and internationally recognized award-winning experts in their fields who are at the forefront of research excellence and research-led teaching.

The MA Luxury Brand Management equips you with the management, entrepreneurial, marketing and professional skills to work in the luxury goods and experiential luxury industry.

The luxury brands sector encompasses the fashion and retail industry, as well as sectors such as tourism, hospitality, food and beverage, film, digital media, dance, music and theatre. This MA debates the concept of luxury in a historical and cross-cultural context, and offers a strong academic underpinning on theories of luxury and consumption.

You will explore the role of luxury in conserving traditional arts, especially with regard to Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas.

The programme combines formal teaching with dissertation research, underpinned with visits to key luxury brand enterprises in London and elsewhere, and draws on Goldsmiths’ alumni for inspirational talks. This programme offers practice-based assignments and voluntary intern opportunities in various cultural organisations and luxury corporations that have established links with Goldsmiths.