MA Comics and Graphic Novels (with Advanced Practice)

Course overview

Our MA Comics and Graphic Novels covers specialist areas relevant to comics, graphic novels and manga. You focus on core drawing skills including regular life drawing classes and develop the cognitive and technical skills to equip you for enterprise, employment and further academic research. As a graduate, practising creator or mid-career professional, you can engage in reflective creative practice at an advanced level.

This course is distinctive in its focus on both the visual and textual elements of the comic medium, combining the development of an authorial voice with establishing a unique visual style.

You have access to industry standard technologies and excellent facilities including specialist drawing equipment such as Cintiq Wacom Tablets, software such as Adobe Creative Suite and ClipStudio as well as more traditional facilities such as wet-spaces, scanners, drawing tables and light boxes.

How you learn:

You learn about concepts and methods primarily through keynote lectures and tutorials using case studies and examples. Lectures include presentations from guest speakers from industry. Critical reflection is key to successful problem solving and essential to the creative process. You develop your own reflective practice at an advanced level, then test and assess your solutions against criteria that you develop in the light of your research.

How you are assessed:

Various assessment methods are used throughout all of the modules and are specified in the module handbooks. These are primarily what we call in-course assessments, where you submit work during the delivery of the module, rather than sit timed examinations at the end. Arts modules are generally project-based and primarily assessed through appraisal of a portfolio of work, often accompanied by a verbal presentation. Creative work is largely developmental and you are assessed on the process by which you achieve your solutions as well as the result, so it is essential that you provide clear evidence of your development work.

The one-year programme is a great option if you want to gain a traditional MSc qualification. The two-year master’s degree with advanced practice enhances your qualification by adding a vocational or research based internship to the one-year master’s programme. A vocational internship is a great way to gain work experience and give your CV a competitive edge. A research internship provides you with the opportunity to develop your analytical, team-working, research and academic skills by working alongside a research team in an academic setting. We guarantee a research internship, but cannot guarantee a vocational internship. We will, however, provide you with practical support and advice on how to find and secure your own vocational internship position should you prefer this type of internship.