MA Applied Arts and Social Practice:
interview with Dr Anthony Schrag
With growing interest in applied arts and social practice, QMU's new master’s will allow students
to graduate with a better understanding of how artists, theatre practitioners and other creatives
apply their skills in social contexts, third sector organisations, public health, social welfare,
education and criminal justice, while giving them the practical and enterprise skills to develop
a sustainable career in their chosen field.
W
E SPOKE WITH programme
leader, Dr Anthony Schrag, to
find out more about why this
course is vital in today’s society and
who would benefit from this area of
study.
We’ve also recognised that there’s a
growing need for artists who are interested
in developing their skills, and at QMU we
have a wealth of lecturers and practitioners
who we feel that we can help train these
new graduates and so that’s why we’ve
developed this new course.
Who is the MA Applied Arts and
Social Practice course aimed at?
Why has this new course been
developed at QMU?
QMU has developed this new course in
response to the industry needs which
recognises that more and more artists
are working within applied arts contexts.
It’s also responding to government policy
which encourages artists to work outside
of their regular cultural fields and in fields
such as prisons, healthcare settings and
schools.
This new MA will appeal to a wide variety
of people. There will be those who are
already working within the fields of applied
arts who wish to embed their practice, get
to the depths of more theory, but there’s
also going to be people who already work
in – for example – education and outreach
and healthcare projects, who wish to know
more about the applied arts side. So we’re
appealing to both sides - the professional
sides who wish to go more in depth with
it and get better training, but also those
freelance practitioners who wish to get a
better understanding of the entrepreneurial
and financial aspects of this practice.
How is the course structured?
The course is arranged around certain
modules that give the students particular
insight into practicalities such as financing,
fundraising, and entrepreneurship. And
these build together to allow the student to
develop a real sustainable and successful
career after they graduate.
What are the benefits of this
course?
The benefits for students are multiple.
We have a long history here at QMU of
working with social justice concerns, and
so being able to take student learning and
embed that into a real-time practice gives
benefit to students to be able to know
what these lived concerns are rather than
something that’s quite theoretical. We do
place an emphasis on theory, and that is
a benefit in itself for many people who
perhaps have practiced and not had time
to think about the theory, but we also have
many, many links with local, national and
international bodies. Students coming to
the course will be able to practice their
work in the field, on the ground, with
these many experts. Also at QMU, we
have lecturers who have a wealth of
experience in the field – with extensive
networks – and we can piggyback
upon that to give those students an
'in' into the industry to allow them to
really see what the practicalities of
doing this work are.
Graduate Diane Stewart on lessons
A
FTER
L E AV I N G
SECONDARY school,
Diane Stewart knew
that she wanted to study
drama but wasn’t sure about
what career path she would
go down after graduation.
She was attracted to the
BA (Hons) Drama and
Performance course at Queen
Margaret University (QMU)
because of the mix of practical
and theoretical modules on
offer, which she felt would
give her a good grounding
12
QMYOU / Creative Industries
no matter which direction she
chose. Since graduating from
the course in 2014, Diane -
who hails from Dunfermline -
has undertaken postgraduate
study in York and Stockholm,
and is currently working as a
playwright. Most recently, she
returned to Edinburgh where
her new play Work-Life was
performed at the capital's
Traverse Theatre. I liked the variety that the
course offered - no module
felt the same. It was flexible,
so I was also able to pick up
a couple of film and media
modules to complement the
drama and theatre ones I was
taking.
What did you enjoy most
about your course? What
were the highlights? Working on site-specific
performances was both really
interesting and challenging,
Were there any particular
course activities you found
especially interesting?