MA Creative and Cultural Industries
London, United Kingdom
DURATION
1 Years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
Request application deadline
EARLIEST START DATE
Sep 2025
TUITION FEES
GBP 25,320 / per year *
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* for overseas student fees | home student fees: GBP 12,220 per year
Introduction
Offered by the Centre for Creative Industries, Media and Screen Studies (CCIMSS), this programme is aimed at students who are interested in learning about the history, theory and practices of the cultural economy through a global lens.
Combining theoretical engagement with questions like the value of culture, the commodification of art and sustainability, diversity and precariarity in the cultural economy, with a focus on learning through making, that will enable students to undertake successful careers within the cultural economy.
Core and compulsory modules explore the history of debates over cultural value and the cultural market, with focused modules on the global film industry and the global music business. Students are encouraged to apply the theoretical perspectives they have learned to practice, to learn through making in skills-based courses in podcasting, sound recording, and curating.
The Directed Study in Industry module enables students to undertake work placements in relevant creative industries and/or to develop their own entrepreneurial projects. Access to the range of guided options in SOAS’s unique music, history of art and media modules means that students tailor their own course of study to suit their particular interests, skills and ambitions.
Why study MA in Creative and Cultural Industries at SOAS?
- SOAS is ranked 15th in the UK for Arts and Humanities (QS World University Rankings 2023)
- We are ranked 6th in the UK for employability (QS World University Rankings 2023)
- We partner with the British Council to offer a School of Arts student an internship at the Venice Biennale
- We partner with the Chu Te-Chun Foundation to offer a paid internship at the Venice Biennale
- We offer exclusive School of Arts-led internships at the Rietberg Museum, Zurich (2 places available)
- You can apply for a SOAS Co-Creator internship in the Special Collections of the SOAS Library
- Make use of our range of audio production studios including a music recording studio, podcasting studio and voice-over studio.
- Alongside critical analysis and regional expertise, choose from a number of practical hands-on modules, in sound recording, podcasting and broadcasting, that will enable you to enhance your skill-set.
Admissions
Curriculum
Students must complete 120 credits of MA-taught modules in addition to the compulsory dissertation ( 60 credits ).
Occasionally the availability of optional modules changes as a result of staffing and other circumstances. Students who have signed up for such modules will be notified as soon as possible and given the opportunity to choose from available alternatives.
Core Modules
- Issues in Creative and Cultural Industries
- Contemporary Art and the Global
- Global Film Industries
- Dissertation in Global Creative and Cultural Industries
- The Music Business (Masters)
Guided Options List A
- Asia and Africa On Display
- Curating Cultures
- Podcasting
- Sound Recording and Production
Guided Options List B
- Asia and Africa On Display
- Art and Visual Culture of Modern and Contemporary China
- The Making of Contemporary Korean Art
- Theory and Method in Art History
- Global Film Industries
- Heritage in Asia: Intangible Cultural Heritage in Theory and Practice
- New Taiwan Cinema and Beyond (PG)
- Chinese Cinema (PG)
- Japanese Cinema (PG)
- Transnational Communities and Diasporic Media: Networking, Connectivity, Identity
- Sound Recording and Production
- Global Music Histories
- Genders and Sexualities in South East Asian Film
Program Outcome
Learning Outcomes
Knowledge
- Broad knowledge of the creative and cultural industries in the global context
- Detailed knowledge of the creative and cultural industries of Asia, Africa or the Middle East
- Through the choice of a ‘pathway’, specialist knowledge of creative and cultural industries as they pertain to music, media, film or art/archaeology
- Through the independent research and writing of a dissertation, profound knowledge of one pertinent aspect of the creative and cultural industries.
Intellectual (thinking) skills
- To analyse and assess the creative and cultural industries
- To write critically about the creative and cultural industries, and about the music, media, film, or arts of Asia, Africa or the Middle East
- To read critically a wide range of sources, to critically appraise music, media, film and art sources, and to synthesise different perspectives
- To discuss and debate in seminar and tutorial contexts, and to present materials to peer groups.
Subject-based Practical Skills
- Practical skills in one or more of film/video production and editing, radio and digital media skills, music recording skills
- To appraise and discuss the development and operation of the creative and cultural industries, with a focus on one or more of the music, media, film, art/archaeology components
- To read and critique the writing of prior researchers and commentators
Transferable Skills
- To understand and critique the development and operation of the creative and cultural industries
- The ability to address and understand non-Western creative and cultural industries, and thereby to have an openness towards non-Western cultures
- As an option, work experience through the ‘Directed Study in Industry’ course
- As options, practical skills in one or more of film/video production and editing, radio and digital media skills, and music recording skills
- To function effectively as a researcher of and contributor to the creative and cultural industries.
Program Tuition Fee
Career Opportunities
Students in the School of Arts develop a critical and theoretically informed approach to global arts and culture. In addition to an intercultural awareness and practical expertise, graduates gain a wide portfolio of transferable skills which are especially sought after in the creative and cultural industries.
Recent School of Arts graduates have been hired by:
- Christie’s
- Christine Park Gallery
- Crisis
- Design Museum
- Hong Kong Museum Of Art
- India Foundation For The Arts
- Japanese Gallery
- Museum of East Asian Art
- Music in Detention
- National Gallery
- Pan Arts
- People Projects Culture & Change
- Roundhouse Trust
- Somerset House Trust
- Songlines Magazine
- Sotheby's
- South Asian Art UK
- Stratford Circus Arts Centre
- Taiwan Embassy
- The Alliance for Global Education
- The British Embassy
- The National Museum Of Korea
- The Royal Collection
- Victoria and Albert Museum
Program Admission Requirements
Show your commitment and readiness for Grad school by taking the GRE - the most broadly accepted exam for graduate programs internationally.