Art & Design Pathway

Here are the courses that you will take if you are studying on the Art and Design Pathway.

Foundation Humanities & Social Sciences for Art & Design

The course has four subjects: history, sociology, psychology, and cultural studies. You’ll learn about the distinct approaches each subject offers to the study of individual groups and society and how each subject uses sources, such as historical documents, social experiments, or art, to better understand a particular context or topic. Together the four subjects will give you a first introduction into the range of approaches and perspectives available to you in the humanities and social sciences. The course will provide you with opportunities to use these approaches in practice, including by linking them to your own experiences and by teaching you subject-specific academic writing skills.

AND

Foundations in Art & Design Practices

This course will help you to develop the beginnings of a broad set of research, reflective and practical skills. Through workshops, group critiques, directed and personal projects you’ll build an understanding of the value of drawing and the use of the sketchbook as a foundation in exploring ideas, allowing you to develop your ideas through various approaches and techniques whilst reflecting on your ideas through an online learning journal.

AND

Foundation English and Academic Language & Literacies (FEALL) 1

This course will introduce you to academic English through different types of academic texts, referencing skills, writing structure and organisation, and critical and analytical thinking. You’ll practise and develop listening and speaking skills, and learn effective strategies for reading and engaging with academic literature, including understanding and evaluating arguments.

This course has two levels.

Entry: You’ll take this course, which includes extra in-class hours each week, if you haven’t met the English language requirements [link to web page] for your chosen degree programme

OR

Plus: You’ll take this course if you have met the English language requirements for your chosen degree programme. As a Plus student, you’ll also take:

An additional language 

You’ll be able to choose from Beginners French, German, Italian or Spanish.


Foundation English and Academic Language & Literacies (FEALL) 2

This course will build on the skills you’ve been developing in Teaching Block 1; you’ll be able to use these to complete an independent research project. 

You’ll continue at the same level as in Teaching Block 1.

AND

Ideas and Concepts in Art & Design Practices

This course builds on Foundations in Art & Design Practices. You’ll learn how to explore lines of enquiry, and how to develop research skills, ideas and concepts through your own projects. You’ll develop your art and design literacy and language, carry out research into a range of suggested artists, and continue to develop your own practical skills. As in Teaching Block 1, you’ll do this through group critiques, workshops, directed study projects and keeping a reflective learning journal.

 

You’ll also choose ONE of the following courses. 

Critical Thinking

This course introduces the analysis of different kinds of arguments, encouraging you to reflect on beliefs and practices, and developing your own skills in constructing good arguments. You’ll look at how arguments are presented in a range of subjects from social anthropology to philosophy, and will learn how to use formal logic, evidence, and experiential knowledge in academic discussions and writing. You’ll do this by studying a range of classic and contemporary texts.

Studying Society

This course will examine how to study research topics in the social sciences using appropriate theories and methods. You’ll learn how social scientists describe, define, measure and explain social phenomena and behaviour, such as social inequality. You’ll engage with research from different parts of world on social, economic and global issues, and explore how processes of colonisation and decolonisation shape this research.

Analysing Text and Material Culture

This course will introduce you to the analysis of cultural artefacts such as films, artworks, stories and poems. We will look at what we mean by culture and theories associated with it, and analyse those in connection with examples from literature, film and art. This course will include thought-provoking discussion and visits to some of the cultural artefacts we will work on, and will develop your skills of close reading and analysis.

Exploring the Statistics & Mathematics of Data Science

This is an introduction to data science and statistics, building on mathematical skills you already have. You’ll learn to collect, visualise, analyse and communicate data, and to understand underlying statistical concepts in data science. You will also develop your data literacy and software skills. You’ll cover graphic representations of data, descriptive statistics, basic probability theory and distributions, financial modelling and hypothesis testing, correlation and linear regression. 

You are required to have an appropriate level of mathematical knowledge prior to starting this course.

A pass in this course is required for progression to some degrees – please check our degree requirements 

Please note that as some courses are a requirement for progression to some degree programmes, students who need to take the course to progress will be given priority, and this may limit places available.