Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing

at Manchester Metropolitan University United Kingdom

The School of Digital Art's (SODA) Games Art course aims to empower you with the knowledge and skills to create immersive art for games and the interactive experiences of the future. It will explore games art in a range of professional contexts, through interdisciplinary investigations in imaginative concept art, dynamic character design, and immersive world-building. It will synthesise industry-standard tools, techniques and processes with emerging technologies, disruptive research and design thinking.

As a Games Art student you will be part of the School of Digital Arts and will be based within a brand new purpose-built building, equipped with the latest emerging technologies to enable you to develop industry-standard skills for creating and researching content across the latest digital platforms.

SODA is well positioned within Manchester for building a network and developing your research and practice in the media, games and digital tech industries. It is also home to staff from a wide range of disciplines who are research active and experts in their chosen areas. They enjoy well-established links to the wider creative media, arts and digital tech industries in Manchester, nationally and internationally.

The exciting interdisciplinary nature of the course may involve collaborative opportunities with students on other SODA courses at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, from faculties across the university, such as Arts and Humanities and the Department of Computing and Maths in the Faculty of Science and Engineering.

Supported by guest lectures from international artists, industry practitioners and academics, you will position your work within wider professional and global contexts to develop an innovative, creative practice and research projects.

There is politics in almost everything we do. It is the study of power: who gets it, why they seek it and by what means they obtain it. Its principal focus is on power relations among individuals, social groups and nations. Studying history will help you to understand how the past affects every aspect of our lives - from the language we speak, to the politics of race, gender, religion and identity. This Joint Honours degree will provide you with the skills to explore the social and political landscape of human consciousness throughout time and place. You will discover how people lived, and how they perceived and interacted with the world around them. Investigating past events, you will encounter war, injustice, new frontiers, political upheaval, ancient civilisations, invasions, conspiracies, catastrophes and revolutions. You will gain a firm grasp of political and current affairs, understand the news headlines, seeing beyond them to the real issues of politics, and be in a better position to comment upon and understand what the politicians are really saying.

The Joint Honours degree offers you an opportunity to study two subjects at degree level, enabling you to benefit from high quality teaching across more than one subject.

A wide variety of options means that you can pursue your own interests – with increasing flexibility as you progress through the course. With practical skills training, including advanced analytical approaches, – this degree opens up doors to a range of interesting and rewarding career possibilities and provides the skills needed to progress to higher research programs.

Placement options

You may have the chance to spend a year getting a taste of professional life. It is an opportunity to develop core skills and explore how this course can relate to the graduate world. It shows employers that you’re ready to get to work.

Students are free to choose Placement opportunities from a wide range of roles both in the UK and abroad. Students choosing this option are supported by a dedicated placement team who provide links to employers through presentations, events, and fairs, and provide a specialist program of guidance on recruitment procedures including CV and interview preparation, as well as work readiness and working overseas.

Businesses and governments rely on economists to help them examine issues, identify trends and deal with financial uncertainty. By studying our BA/BSc (Hons) Economics degree, you’ll explore how organizations and individuals invest and allocate their resources.

Throughout the course, we’ll challenge you to think about choices people make and how those decisions affect every aspect of our lives. You’ll explore everything from employment to distribution of wealth, government spending to international trade.

Please note that all students will apply directly to the BA (Hons) Economics. After studying BA (Hons) Economics in the first year, you can choose to continue on the BA (Hons) Economics, or transfer to BSc (Hons) Economics through the second and third year of study.

Placement options
Our BA/BSc (Hons) Economics degree offers the chance to spend a year getting a taste of professional life. It not only gives you the opportunity to develop your core skills and learn about how a business really operates in your industry, but also shows employers that you’re ready to get to work.

The business school Placement Team is ready to help. They offer a wide range of services, including employer presentations, advice and placement fairs. But it’s also up to you – the more proactive you are about applying for placement opportunities, the better.

Sustainability is at the forefront of a global agenda. From how it influences individuals’ decision making, to the impact it has on the strategic direction of multinational organisations.

With the growing recognition of sustainability as a core business practice, there’s no better time to study a postgraduate management degree with sustainability at its heart.

Developing your career
On this course you’ll gain a thorough introduction to management practices, studying alongside students on our long-standing MSc Management course. Here you’ll explore units on organisational strategy and supply chain, amongst others, to give you key insights into various areas of business, management and leadership.

As the focus of your studies, you’ll also have the opportunity to learn about sustainability and sustainable development, studying specialist units looking at topics such as the circular economy and social, ethical and environmental challenges. You’ll then work towards completing a sustainability research project on a topic of your choice.

BA (Hons) Filmmaking is a practice-based course giving you the creative freedom to develop your voice through the dynamic language of film.

Our learning environment incorporates a unique mix of digital art and film school philosophies, empowering you to express your ideas and stories through narrative fiction, documentary, artists’ moving image and new media. You will specialise in original ideas from unique perspectives, with the potential for your work to be screened in international venues.

Studying at the School of Digital Arts means learning beyond the usual limits. You’ll be part of a vibrant creative community that spans a range of disciplines, from photography and animation, to music and sound design. It’s an environment designed for collaboration – a place where you can push the boundaries of filmmaking, explore the directions that interest you most and develop a broad skill set made for today’s digital arts and media sector. Here, you’ll have access to a vast range of specialist resources and purpose-built facilities, as well as a wealth of opportunities for developing your professional skills, from work experience placements and industry competitions to guest lectures and collaborations with organisations.

The UK film and television industry is a global success story and Manchester is the perfect place to write your own chapter. It’s a major media city, second only to London. The likes of the BBC and ITV are on our doorstep at MediaCityUK, while the city is also home to a thriving, bustling digital production sector, from innovative start-ups to established production companies. For today, that means you’ll have the chance to work on live industry projects – developing practical skills and valuable experience. For tomorrow, that means you’ll graduate in one of the most exciting cities in Europe for starting a career in the creative and digital industries.

Placement options

SODA Placement Year
As part of your studies with SODA, you will have the chance to take a year working on placement within the industry. During your year, you will spend at least 36 weeks working within an organisation in the industry, developing workplace skills, practical understanding and genuine industry experience.

Sport is part of Manchester’s DNA. It’s a big feature of the city’s history, character and economy. And it’s a big part of Manchester Met too. We created one of the first sports marketing degree in the country and we’ve worked with experts in the industry to make it as useful as possible for your career.

Throughout the course you’ll learn what makes sports marketing so special. You’ll develop key skills in areas like brand management, digital marketing and commercial sponsorship.

The course prepares you for real life in the industry. So, you’ll complete practical projects like developing a sponsorship proposal, creating a digital marketing campaign or putting together a business plan for a new sports enterprise. To add even more to your CV, you can spend a year on placement with an employer, or go abroad to study at one of our partner universities.

We provide plenty of opportunities for you to learn from experts in the industry. We organise guest lectures and help you volunteer at sports organisations and events. We have links with the likes of Manchester City Football Group, GB Taekwondo and British Cycling.

Placement options

We’ve developed a wide network of industry partners – from major clubs and governing bodies to multinational sports clothing brands – not just to help us shape our sports management and marketing degrees, but also to provide potential destinations for our industry placements. By spending your third year gaining skills and experience with an organisation like Puma, Nike or JD Sports, you’ll get a taste of the professional challenges ahead, while showing employers that you’re ready for work.

To survive, thrive and succeed in business, it’s not only about managing people, developing strategies and driving performance within the organisation. It’s also about understanding and engaging the market – identifying your position in the competitive landscape, developing an offering that meets demand and communicating with your target audience effectively.

With this business and marketing degree, you’ll delve into business operations, looking at how some of the world’s most successful organisations manage finances, lead staff and harness technology, as well as learning about the key issues in business today – from sustainable development to ethics in a global environment.

It’s a course that’s designed to help you prepare for the workplace, so we don’t limit your learning to the classroom or lecture theatre. Once you’ve discovered and discussed the theories in lectures and seminars, you’ll have the chance to turn ideas into action. We run various business and enterprise competitions that provide skill-building, CV-boosting experience. You will also have the option of spending a year on a placement, building on your skills in a professional environment.

As such, you’ll leave us with a blend of business understanding and marketing intellect. It’s a powerful mix. Whether you see yourself running a start-up, getting onto the fast-track to senior management or making waves in an agency environment, our BA (Hons) Business and Marketing can help you pave the way.

Study Abroad
Instead of a placement, you’ll have the opportunity to spend up to a year overseas, studying with one of our partner institutions across Europe, or beyond. Go abroad in the third year of your degree, and you’ll not only learn about other cultures, improve your language skills and discover more about yourself – you’ll also boost your career prospects.

Having first-hand knowledge of another country’s cultures and traditions can take you far in a range of careers. And, by going abroad you’ll also demonstrate the kind of independent spirit and adaptability that many employers want.

BA (Hons) Fashion Design and Technology has an excellent reputation for producing menswear, womenswear and sportswear graduates who combine design innovation with an in-depth knowledge of the technical aspects of fashion design and manufacturing.

The course reflects contemporary industry standards and encourages students to design and develop innovative fashion products and ranges using both manual and digital technologies. Students work on live projects with industry partners and also have opportunity to undertake a placement and/or overseas study combined with a year in industry.

Students have the option to graduate with a Menswear, Womenswear or Sportswear award, by selecting specialist units in year two and three, or they can work across multiple specialisms. However, all students are encouraged to direct their learning towards specialized target markets such as luxury, outerwear, denim, tailoring, performance or lifestyle sportswear. The practical aspects of the course are underpinned by the study of the business and cultural contexts of fashion and consideration of sustainable industry practices.

Students work towards an exit portfolio that showcases their creative and technical skills appropriate to their chosen careers. While many graduates enter design roles, the technical aspects of the program also prepare students for other careers such as pattern cutting, fashion innovation and product development.

Placement options

Employability is at the heart of our teaching. All of our undergraduate courses offer an optional sandwich year route that gives you the opportunity to apply for an industry placement between your second and final year. Or to combine study abroad with one of our partner institutions and a placement. If you choose this route, you will commit to working full-time in the fashion industry during your third year, before returning to complete your degree in your fourth year.

A placement year is an incredibly valuable element of your course as it allows you to apply your university-based knowledge, skills and understanding to your job role. During your placement, you will make your own industry contacts and enhance your CV by gaining real-world industry experience. Around 40-50% of our student cohort take part in a one-year full-time industry placement/study abroad with placement annually.

We have a dedicated placements team with over three decades of experience sourcing and securing outstanding placement opportunities. They will provide you with extensive support and advice prior to and during your industry placement.

Placement or Placement with Study Abroad combined opportunities are available both in the UK and internationally, with students previously studying/working in countries such as Austria, Germany, Norway, Hong Kong SAR, China, Sri Lanka, India, Australia and the USA.

Our integrated masters will set you on the path to an exciting career in the rapidly evolving world of electrical and electronic engineering.

Study at Manchester Met and you’ll start off by getting a solid introduction to key engineering principles, before specialising with subjects like electrical energy systems, control and automation and electronic systems design. You’ll also learn to use advanced engineering software as you develop your analytical skills and work on more cutting-edge topics.

Much of your learning will take place through projects, reflecting the multidisciplinary world of work. In these projects, set by academic colleagues and industry contacts, you’ll learn what it takes to come up with creative solutions to current engineering problems. You’ll get feedback and advice directly from industry insiders, giving you the chance to find out exactly what it takes to impress a potential future employer.

This degree is accredited by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) on behalf of the Engineering Council for the purposes of fully meeting the academic requirement for registration as a Chartered Engineer.

Our computer games development degree is designed to turn you into a games programmer and designer – from the word go you’ll be hands-on, designing and programming games as you prepare for an exciting career at the cutting-edge of interactive digital content.

In our state-of-the-art facilities, you’ll develop traditional computer science skills, such as programming and maths for computing, as well as specialist games development and design techniques. You’ll also study all types of games software, from the programming of game components, to high-level development tools such as Unity and Unreal Engine. At the same time you’ll be learning about game logic and architecture, the production of game objects and environments, and the processes used to design and develop games in industry.

We’ve designed the course to ensure direct relevance to the computer games industry and to provide you with opportunities to showcase your work to potential employers. Throughout the course you’ll build up a portfolio of work that you can showcase when you come to apply for games development roles in industry.

With hackathons, gaming events and lots of opportunities for work experience to hone your skills, by the time you leave us you’ll be well on your way to becoming a player in the action-packed world of computer games.

Placement options
The full-time four-year placement route provides the opportunity to go on a placement for at least 36 weeks, where you’ll get a taste of professional life. Completing a placement not only develops your core skills and experience, but also shows employers that you’re ready to get to work. Graduate employers report that students who have been on placements tend to be more mature, well organized and better able to apply their skills in a structured way.