New Writing
20 Credits
(Compulsory)
More people compose and write than ever before. Alongside this, the distinction between formal written language and ordinary conversation is being significantly eroded. From the impact of the internet on the rules of grammar to the development of ‘new writing’ in diverse theatre, this module will introduce students to the widest possible definition of writing. Students will hear from a range of performance perspectives on the potential and scope of writing. They will build confidence to explore their own interests and diversify their experience. This core module provides a foundation for the entire degree program, as students engage in practice-based workshops and mentoring to develop the skills they will need to create new work through writing, improvisation, devising, and performing. It will introduce students to new forms of writing such as spoken word, verbatim and testimonial theatre, live art, and digital media. It will also encourage students to reflect on their own relationship with writing, challenging some of the assumptions about grammar and logic, embracing the changing nature of language, and to understand the importance of the writer-audience relationship.
Finding your Voice
40 Credits
(Compulsory)
Students will explore their own identities and what constitutes the self, practically exploring how we can use our own memories and experiences as raw material to write and create new work. They will be introduced to key concepts of critical theory, representation, and identity through a range of accessible and engaging popular texts. Students will consider a range of theories that may relate to gender, sexuality, race, disability, nationality, and class among others. They will develop skills in cultural analysis, establishing an introductory critical vocabulary that will be developed and refined in subsequent levels of the program. Students will acquire knowledge of cultural representations of identities and explore the extent to which these discourses are revisited and redressed in contemporary work. This will reference a range of works including fiction, film, television, music video, gaming, and other digital media. The module considers some key elements or ‘tools’ of writing and creating new work, students will be introduced to concepts such as dramaturgy, dramatic structure, action, and characterization. They will frequently reflect on the challenges of exploring and reshaping their own identity in a fraught political environment addressing issues of cultural particularism and sensitivity and how their own voice can affect and impact others.
Writing and Activism
20 Credits
(Compulsory)
This module will explore the fundamental relationship between writing and activism. Ranging across time and space students will consider the role of writing and composition in activist groups. This might include ‘texts’ as diverse as the fourteenth-century allegorical poem Piers Plowman which was sung during the peasant's revolt, Orwell’s classic critique of the folly of colonialism, ‘Shooting the Elephant’, to the impact of Oranges are not the only fruit and the protests against section 28, to the continuing work of the #letusbreath collective. It will explore the ways in which new writing, in all its forms, has provided the impetus and backdrop to activism and will of the knowledge basis and creative inspiration for student project work across all levels of the program.
Creating Social Change
40 Credits
(Compulsory)
Create and participate in a practice-based socially engaged creative project. This will often be collaborative and in partnership with third-sector or community-based organizations. At level 4, the project will be tutor-led (with some support from students at other levels of the program if appropriate). Students will be introduced to workshop facilitation skills in terms of planning, writing, delivering, and evaluation of writing and creative workshops. Students will explore good practice in terms of health and safety, risk assessment, safeguarding, access and inclusion, differentiation, ethical considerations, research, legacy, and exit strategies when working with a diversity of participants in a variety of contexts.