Film, Visual Culture and Arts Management, _{MLitt, PgCert or PgDip}

Programme Fees

Fee information

Fee category	Cost
UK
Tuition Fees for 2025/26 Academic Year	£11,100
Tuition Fees for 2026/27 Academic Year	£11,100
Tuition Fees for 2025/26 Academic Year (University of Aberdeen Graduates *)	£7,000
University of Aberdeen graduates are eligible for the Alumni Postgraduate Scholarship, reducing tuition fees to £7,000 - matching the current SAAS tuition loan - See full terms and conditions
Tuition Fees for 2026/27 Academic Year (University of Aberdeen Graduates *)	£7,000
University of Aberdeen graduates are eligible for the Alumni Postgraduate Scholarship, reducing tuition fees to £7,000 - matching the current SAAS tuition loan - See full terms and conditions
EU / International students
Tuition Fees for 2025/26 Academic Year	£23,000
Tuition Fees for 2026/27 Academic Year	£23,000
Tuition Fees for 2025/26 Academic Year (Self-funded Students *)	£15,000
The above fee includes the £8,000 Aberdeen Global Scholarship provided to self-funded international students. Full terms and conditions apply.
Tuition Fees for 2026/27 Academic Year (Self-funded Students *)	£15,000
The above fee includes the £8,000 Aberdeen Global Scholarship provided to self-funded international students. Full terms and conditions apply.

Semester 1

You will take the core course in Film and Visual Culture: FS5022 Research Methods in Film and Visual Culture along with EL5096 Public Engagement for the Arts. These courses will introduce you to the main methods to approach both research and practice in the arts, and methods for engaging the wider public in arts and cultural events. It involves projects and assessments that prepare you for real work in the industry, as well as further research.

Compulsory Courses

Students must take the following:

Getting Started at the University of Aberdeen (PD5006)

This course, which is prescribed for all taught postgraduate students, is studied entirely online, is studied entirely online, takes approximately 2-3 hours to complete and can be taken in one sitting, or spread across the first 4 weeks of term.

Topics include University orientation overview, equality & diversity, MySkills, health, safety and cyber security, and academic integrity.

Successful completion of this course will be recorded on your Transcript as ‘Achieved’.

Detailed course information

Critical Skills: Reading and Engagement (PD50C2)

This course will equip you with the essential skills required to engage with your postgraduate studies. Through a series of lectures, interactive seminars and authentic materials, you will build on your critical thinking skills with fellow PGT students from across the school. Critical Reading, essay writing and presentation skills will be offered as part of this course, providing students with skills fundamental to PGT and workplace contexts.

Detailed course information

Research Methods in Film and Visual Culture (FS5022)

30 Credit Points

This team-taught course will introduce students to key research methods in the field of film and visual culture as utilised in the research and practice of faculty members in the department. Each week students will engage with a range of written and visual materials relating to a specific approach to the study and/or production of visual culture. These may include: approaches to working with living artists and documents of ephemeral art; theories of the animal gaze; approaches to practice-as-research; documentary; memory and memorialisation; the relationship between film, art and history; close reading; bricolage; walking; intermediality; and projects in art and science among others. Throughout the course students will explore important theoretical concepts and artistic paradigms in these areas, applying them in weekly exercises and seminar preparations, and ultimately using one (or more) of them in their assessed work.

Detailed course information

Optional Courses

Plus 30 credits from available AT, EL, FS or MU coded Level 5 courses:

• EL50D2 Fundamentals of English Language (30 credit points)
• MU5016 Contemporary Issues in Aesthetics (30 credit points)

Museums and the Digital World (AT5050)

30 Credit Points

Given the expanding use of the Internet and new media forms, museums are re-evaluating their relationships with their audiences as well as their relationships with collections. This course introduces students to a wide range of digital technologies as they relate to museums e.g., online exhibitions, smart phone apps, and 3D imagery. Students will examine the impact and consequences of using digital approaches, and the implications for museums and their users of these rapidly changing technologies.

Detailed course information

The Novel: Environments and Encounters (EL50C5)

30 Credit Points

This module explores how the evolution of the novel form has allowed, and required, authors to find new ways of depicting spaces, places and interactions (between characters in particular environments, but also between characters and their environment). This chronologically wide-ranging course moves from the early days of the novel form through to contemporary fiction, allowing for an opportunity to study the many literary tactics that authors have employed to create the settings for their works – from vast historical backdrops, to natural spaces, to urban environments, to smaller domestic and private places. It also us to consider how different cultural moments have prompted authors to rethink how they represent characters’ encounters with the world around them, and with the other cultures, races, species and genders that inhabit that world. As well as narrative theories, students will have the chance to study canonical and less well-known texts from angles informed by current critical approaches such as ecocriticism, animal studies, postcolonial and queer theory.

Detailed course information

Work - Based Placement in Film, Visual Culture, Music (FS5032)

30 Credit Points

Students will gain practical experience in the film industry and/or visual culture organisations, providing real work experience in preparation for the next steps following their degree.

Detailed course information

MLitt Special Study in Film and Visual Culture (FS5026)

30 Credit Points

This course is designed to allow the creation of a programme of individual study where other appropriate course options at masters level are not available. It will run at the discretion of the programme co-ordinator. In discussion with a designated supervisor students will be able to identify and design a programme of research and study, which may include the completion of an undergraduate course, with assessments appropriate to masters-level work, or which may be consist of a short programme of research conducted over one semester. This programme of study will be subject to approval by the convener of the relevant M.Litt programme. Where appropriate courses at masters level are available, this course will not run.

Detailed course information

Semester 2

You will take the core course in Film and Visual Culture: FS5527: Projects in Film and Visual Culture and one option course. Normally the optional course will be FS5525 Work-based Placement in Film and Visual Culture, offering you first-hand experience working in the field, or FS5526 Special Study in Film and Visual Culture, where you will either develop your own project or reflect on your own current practice if you are already working in the industry.

You may also choose to study one of the additional courses that is running, listed in Optional Courses section.

Compulsory Courses

Students must undertake the following:

Critical Skills: Research and Dissemination (PD55C1)

This course will equip you with core research and dissemination skills. Centred on an interdisciplinary approach to research, the course will allow you to engage with peers from various research backgrounds to contribute, discuss and share in an interactive academic community. The course will detail key research techniques and communicative modes for successful dissemination. Communication skills specific to engaging with industry stakeholders will also be covered as part of this course in order to boost employability.

Detailed course information

Projects in Film and Visual Culture (FS5527)

30 Credit Points

Projects in Film and Visual Culture gives students the opportunity to design a project or event in response to a Call for Proposals. In this way, the course simulates the management and development of project or event proposal through to a funding pitch (in the form of an assessed presentation) and will require students to address a variety of elements necessary to any successful arts project. The course is taught through weekly seminars and workshops. Students will engage with a variety of projects in film and visual culture in the form of case studies, including work produced by leading Scottish arts organisations. These content weeks are supplemented by sessions devoted to theory and workshops that will address the key aspects involved in designing a project or event in a film and visual culture context.

Detailed course information

Optional Courses

Plus 30 credits from available AT, EL or FS coded Level 5 courses:

• FS5532 Work-based placement in Film, Visual Culture, Music (30 credit points) (cannot be taken if FS5032 is chosen)
• EL55C7 Infinite Scotlands: Scotland and the Literary Imagination (30 credit points)

The Museum Idea (AT5526)

30 Credit Points

Why do human beings collect and what is the purpose of museums? ‘The Museum Idea’ examines these questions by focusing on the history and philosophy of museums and relating these to contemporary museum practice. The course will examine the role of museums in society through case studies of exhibitions and other museum projects in a variety of settings, including art, history and ethnographic museums.

Detailed course information

Public Engagement for Arts (EL5596)

30 Credit Points

Art and culture are integral to our daily lives, and the ways in which these are experienced are continually changing. Whether it is in a street performance, a public gallery, an academic festival, a webcast, a documentary or in social media, the relationship between the creative artist and those who consume it, is complex and can itself be a creative process. This course explores the many ways in which creative materials can be brought to public view, and how different forms of communication, aural, verbal and visual, can enhance public engagement with aesthetic experiences and the discourses around these.

Detailed course information

Places and Environments: Critical Dialogues (EL55D3)

30 Credit Points

This course introduces students to a range of critical, theoretical, and philosophical approaches to environment and place, as well as aligned research methods. Students will read key works of ecocriticism, ecofeminism, environmental philosophy, cultural geography, and related areas. Close reading and discussion of central texts will provide a foundation for further research, including the dissertation. Students will have the opportunity to discuss these ideas in relation to both literary and social contexts. This course is restricted to students on the MLitt Literatures, Environments, and Places, or by permission of the School.

Detailed course information

Documentary Theory and Practice (FS5533)

30 Credit Points

The module offers a comprehensive look at how documentary has interrogated, and in some rare cases even influenced, politics, social values, and even popular culture. Students will be expected to look at how documentary filmmakers have built upon the famous Griersonian quote – ‘the creative treatment of actuality’ – to evolve the form’s style and scope as well as to challenge the very notion of filmic truth and reality. Attendees to the module will also learn how to identify the key documentary modes and be expected to analyse and understand how the movement’s use of transgressive visual images, no matter how apparently ‘genuine’, is frequently presented through a cinematic perspective that is not always objective. Furthermore, the module will require students to produce a short documentary or individual video essay (in documentary form) and, in doing so, explore the challenges of objective presentations.

Detailed course information

MLitt Special Study in Film and Visual Culture (FS5526)

30 Credit Points

This course is designed to allow the creation of a programme of individual study where other appropriate course options at masters level are not available. It will run at the discretion of the programme co-ordinator. In discussion with a designated supervisor students will be able to identify and design a programme of research and study, which may include the completion of an undergraduate course, with assessments appropriate to masters-level work, or which may be consist of a short programme of research conducted over one semester. This programme of study will be subject to approval by the convener of the relevant M.Litt programme. Where appropriate courses at masters level are available, this course will not run.

Detailed course information

Work - Based Placement in Film, Visual Culture, Music (FS5532)

30 Credit Points

Students will gain practical experience in the film industry and/or visual culture organisations, providing real work experience in preparation for the next steps following their degree.

Detailed course information

Semester 3

Over the summer you will undertake a dissertation in Film and Visual Culture. This can be a research paper, a reflective research paper combined with a work-based placement, or a research-led practice-based project, such as a film, exhibition, or other arts project.

Compulsory Courses

Dissertation in Film and Visual Culture (FS5902)

60 Credit Points

Candidates will be required to research and write a 12,000-word dissertation on a subject and in an area approved by the Programme Co-ordinator.

Detailed course information

Programme Fees

Fee information

Fee category	Cost
UK
Tuition Fees for 2025/26 Academic Year	£11,100
Tuition Fees for 2026/27 Academic Year	£11,100
Tuition Fees for 2025/26 Academic Year (University of Aberdeen Graduates *)	£7,000
University of Aberdeen graduates are eligible for the Alumni Postgraduate Scholarship, reducing tuition fees to £7,000 - matching the current SAAS tuition loan - See full terms and conditions
Tuition Fees for 2026/27 Academic Year (University of Aberdeen Graduates *)	£7,000
University of Aberdeen graduates are eligible for the Alumni Postgraduate Scholarship, reducing tuition fees to £7,000 - matching the current SAAS tuition loan - See full terms and conditions
EU / International students
Tuition Fees for 2025/26 Academic Year	£23,000
Tuition Fees for 2026/27 Academic Year	£23,000
Tuition Fees for 2025/26 Academic Year (Self-funded Students *)	£15,000
The above fee includes the £8,000 Aberdeen Global Scholarship provided to self-funded international students. Full terms and conditions apply.
Tuition Fees for 2026/27 Academic Year (Self-funded Students *)	£15,000
The above fee includes the £8,000 Aberdeen Global Scholarship provided to self-funded international students. Full terms and conditions apply.

Semester 1

Those starting the degree in January should be advised that they will complete the dissertation over the summer and finish the programme with the Semester 3 selection of courses. Taught courses do not run in the summer. Students wishing to do their dissertation at the end of the programme should consider starting their study from September.

You will take the core course in Film and Visual Culture: FS5527: Projects in Film and Visual Culture and one option course. Normally the optional course will be FS5525 Work-based Placement in Film and Visual Culture, offering you first-hand experience working in the field, or FS5526 Special Study in Film and Visual Culture, where you will either develop your own project or reflect on your own current practice if you are already working in the industry.

You may also choose to study one of the additional courses that is running, listed in Optional Courses section.

Compulsory Courses

Projects in Film and Visual Culture (FS5527)

30 Credit Points

Projects in Film and Visual Culture gives students the opportunity to design a project or event in response to a Call for Proposals. In this way, the course simulates the management and development of project or event proposal through to a funding pitch (in the form of an assessed presentation) and will require students to address a variety of elements necessary to any successful arts project. The course is taught through weekly seminars and workshops. Students will engage with a variety of projects in film and visual culture in the form of case studies, including work produced by leading Scottish arts organisations. These content weeks are supplemented by sessions devoted to theory and workshops that will address the key aspects involved in designing a project or event in a film and visual culture context.

Detailed course information

Critical Skills: Research and Dissemination (PD55C1)

This course will equip you with core research and dissemination skills. Centred on an interdisciplinary approach to research, the course will allow you to engage with peers from various research backgrounds to contribute, discuss and share in an interactive academic community. The course will detail key research techniques and communicative modes for successful dissemination. Communication skills specific to engaging with industry stakeholders will also be covered as part of this course in order to boost employability.

Detailed course information

Getting Started at the University of Aberdeen (PD5506)

This course, which is prescribed for all taught postgraduate students, is studied entirely online, is studied entirely online, takes approximately 2-3 hours to complete and can be taken in one sitting, or spread across the first 4 weeks of term.

Topics include University orientation overview, equality & diversity, MySkills, health, safety and cyber security, and academic integrity.

Successful completion of this course will be recorded on your Transcript as ‘Achieved’.

Detailed course information

Optional Courses

Select ONE from the following:

• EL55C7 Infinite Scotlands: Scotland and the Literary Imagination (30 credit points)

The Museum Idea (AT5526)

30 Credit Points

Why do human beings collect and what is the purpose of museums? ‘The Museum Idea’ examines these questions by focusing on the history and philosophy of museums and relating these to contemporary museum practice. The course will examine the role of museums in society through case studies of exhibitions and other museum projects in a variety of settings, including art, history and ethnographic museums.

Detailed course information

Public Engagement for Arts (EL5596)

30 Credit Points

Art and culture are integral to our daily lives, and the ways in which these are experienced are continually changing. Whether it is in a street performance, a public gallery, an academic festival, a webcast, a documentary or in social media, the relationship between the creative artist and those who consume it, is complex and can itself be a creative process. This course explores the many ways in which creative materials can be brought to public view, and how different forms of communication, aural, verbal and visual, can enhance public engagement with aesthetic experiences and the discourses around these.

Detailed course information

Places and Environments: Critical Dialogues (EL55D3)

30 Credit Points

This course introduces students to a range of critical, theoretical, and philosophical approaches to environment and place, as well as aligned research methods. Students will read key works of ecocriticism, ecofeminism, environmental philosophy, cultural geography, and related areas. Close reading and discussion of central texts will provide a foundation for further research, including the dissertation. Students will have the opportunity to discuss these ideas in relation to both literary and social contexts. This course is restricted to students on the MLitt Literatures, Environments, and Places, or by permission of the School.

Detailed course information

Documentary Theory and Practice (FS5533)

30 Credit Points

The module offers a comprehensive look at how documentary has interrogated, and in some rare cases even influenced, politics, social values, and even popular culture. Students will be expected to look at how documentary filmmakers have built upon the famous Griersonian quote – ‘the creative treatment of actuality’ – to evolve the form’s style and scope as well as to challenge the very notion of filmic truth and reality. Attendees to the module will also learn how to identify the key documentary modes and be expected to analyse and understand how the movement’s use of transgressive visual images, no matter how apparently ‘genuine’, is frequently presented through a cinematic perspective that is not always objective. Furthermore, the module will require students to produce a short documentary or individual video essay (in documentary form) and, in doing so, explore the challenges of objective presentations.

Detailed course information

Work - Based Placement in Film, Visual Culture, Music (FS5532)

30 Credit Points

Students will gain practical experience in the film industry and/or visual culture organisations, providing real work experience in preparation for the next steps following their degree.

Detailed course information

MLitt Special Study in Film and Visual Culture (FS5526)

30 Credit Points

This course is designed to allow the creation of a programme of individual study where other appropriate course options at masters level are not available. It will run at the discretion of the programme co-ordinator. In discussion with a designated supervisor students will be able to identify and design a programme of research and study, which may include the completion of an undergraduate course, with assessments appropriate to masters-level work, or which may be consist of a short programme of research conducted over one semester. This programme of study will be subject to approval by the convener of the relevant M.Litt programme. Where appropriate courses at masters level are available, this course will not run.

Detailed course information

Semester 2

Over the summer you will undertake a dissertation in Film and Visual Culture. This can be a research paper, a reflective research paper combined with a work-based placement, or a research-led practice-based project, such as a film, exhibition, or other arts project.

Compulsory Courses

Dissertation in Film and Visual Culture (FS5902)

60 Credit Points

Candidates will be required to research and write a 12,000-word dissertation on a subject and in an area approved by the Programme Co-ordinator.

Detailed course information

Semester 3

Compulsory Courses

Research Methods in Film and Visual Culture (FS5022)

30 Credit Points

This team-taught course will introduce students to key research methods in the field of film and visual culture as utilised in the research and practice of faculty members in the department. Each week students will engage with a range of written and visual materials relating to a specific approach to the study and/or production of visual culture. These may include: approaches to working with living artists and documents of ephemeral art; theories of the animal gaze; approaches to practice-as-research; documentary; memory and memorialisation; the relationship between film, art and history; close reading; bricolage; walking; intermediality; and projects in art and science among others. Throughout the course students will explore important theoretical concepts and artistic paradigms in these areas, applying them in weekly exercises and seminar preparations, and ultimately using one (or more) of them in their assessed work.

Detailed course information

Critical Skills: Reading and Engagement (PD50C2)

This course will equip you with the essential skills required to engage with your postgraduate studies. Through a series of lectures, interactive seminars and authentic materials, you will build on your critical thinking skills with fellow PGT students from across the school. Critical Reading, essay writing and presentation skills will be offered as part of this course, providing students with skills fundamental to PGT and workplace contexts.

Detailed course information

Optional Courses

Select ONE of the following:

• MU5016 Contemporary Issues in Aesthetics (30 credit points)
• EL50D2 Fundamentals of English Language (30 credit points)

Museums and the Digital World (AT5050)

30 Credit Points

Given the expanding use of the Internet and new media forms, museums are re-evaluating their relationships with their audiences as well as their relationships with collections. This course introduces students to a wide range of digital technologies as they relate to museums e.g., online exhibitions, smart phone apps, and 3D imagery. Students will examine the impact and consequences of using digital approaches, and the implications for museums and their users of these rapidly changing technologies.

Detailed course information

The Novel: Environments and Encounters (EL50C5)

30 Credit Points

This module explores how the evolution of the novel form has allowed, and required, authors to find new ways of depicting spaces, places and interactions (between characters in particular environments, but also between characters and their environment). This chronologically wide-ranging course moves from the early days of the novel form through to contemporary fiction, allowing for an opportunity to study the many literary tactics that authors have employed to create the settings for their works – from vast historical backdrops, to natural spaces, to urban environments, to smaller domestic and private places. It also us to consider how different cultural moments have prompted authors to rethink how they represent characters’ encounters with the world around them, and with the other cultures, races, species and genders that inhabit that world. As well as narrative theories, students will have the chance to study canonical and less well-known texts from angles informed by current critical approaches such as ecocriticism, animal studies, postcolonial and queer theory.

Detailed course information

MLitt Special Study in Film and Visual Culture (FS5026)

30 Credit Points

This course is designed to allow the creation of a programme of individual study where other appropriate course options at masters level are not available. It will run at the discretion of the programme co-ordinator. In discussion with a designated supervisor students will be able to identify and design a programme of research and study, which may include the completion of an undergraduate course, with assessments appropriate to masters-level work, or which may be consist of a short programme of research conducted over one semester. This programme of study will be subject to approval by the convener of the relevant M.Litt programme. Where appropriate courses at masters level are available, this course will not run.

Detailed course information

Work - Based Placement in Film, Visual Culture, Music (FS5032)

30 Credit Points

Students will gain practical experience in the film industry and/or visual culture organisations, providing real work experience in preparation for the next steps following their degree.

Detailed course information

Programme Fees

Fee information

Fee category	Cost
UK
Tuition Fees for 2023/24 Academic Year	£7,385
EU / International students
Tuition Fees for 2025/26 Academic Year	£15,335
Tuition Fees for 2026/27 Academic Year	£15,335

Stage 1

Compulsory Courses

Projects in Film and Visual Culture (FS5527)

30 Credit Points

Projects in Film and Visual Culture gives students the opportunity to design a project or event in response to a Call for Proposals. In this way, the course simulates the management and development of project or event proposal through to a funding pitch (in the form of an assessed presentation) and will require students to address a variety of elements necessary to any successful arts project. The course is taught through weekly seminars and workshops. Students will engage with a variety of projects in film and visual culture in the form of case studies, including work produced by leading Scottish arts organisations. These content weeks are supplemented by sessions devoted to theory and workshops that will address the key aspects involved in designing a project or event in a film and visual culture context.

Detailed course information

Getting Started at the University of Aberdeen (PD5506)

This course, which is prescribed for all taught postgraduate students, is studied entirely online, is studied entirely online, takes approximately 2-3 hours to complete and can be taken in one sitting, or spread across the first 4 weeks of term.

Topics include University orientation overview, equality & diversity, MySkills, health, safety and cyber security, and academic integrity.

Successful completion of this course will be recorded on your Transcript as ‘Achieved’.

Detailed course information

Critical Skills: Research and Dissemination (PD55C1)

This course will equip you with core research and dissemination skills. Centred on an interdisciplinary approach to research, the course will allow you to engage with peers from various research backgrounds to contribute, discuss and share in an interactive academic community. The course will detail key research techniques and communicative modes for successful dissemination. Communication skills specific to engaging with industry stakeholders will also be covered as part of this course in order to boost employability.

Detailed course information

Optional Courses

Select ONE from the following options:

• EL55C7 Infinite Scotlands: Scotland and the Literary Imagination (30 credit points)

The Museum Idea (AT5526)

30 Credit Points

Why do human beings collect and what is the purpose of museums? ‘The Museum Idea’ examines these questions by focusing on the history and philosophy of museums and relating these to contemporary museum practice. The course will examine the role of museums in society through case studies of exhibitions and other museum projects in a variety of settings, including art, history and ethnographic museums.

Detailed course information

Public Engagement for Arts (EL5596)

30 Credit Points

Art and culture are integral to our daily lives, and the ways in which these are experienced are continually changing. Whether it is in a street performance, a public gallery, an academic festival, a webcast, a documentary or in social media, the relationship between the creative artist and those who consume it, is complex and can itself be a creative process. This course explores the many ways in which creative materials can be brought to public view, and how different forms of communication, aural, verbal and visual, can enhance public engagement with aesthetic experiences and the discourses around these.

Detailed course information

Places and Environments: Critical Dialogues (EL55D3)

30 Credit Points

This course introduces students to a range of critical, theoretical, and philosophical approaches to environment and place, as well as aligned research methods. Students will read key works of ecocriticism, ecofeminism, environmental philosophy, cultural geography, and related areas. Close reading and discussion of central texts will provide a foundation for further research, including the dissertation. Students will have the opportunity to discuss these ideas in relation to both literary and social contexts. This course is restricted to students on the MLitt Literatures, Environments, and Places, or by permission of the School.

Detailed course information

Documentary Theory and Practice (FS5533)

30 Credit Points

The module offers a comprehensive look at how documentary has interrogated, and in some rare cases even influenced, politics, social values, and even popular culture. Students will be expected to look at how documentary filmmakers have built upon the famous Griersonian quote – ‘the creative treatment of actuality’ – to evolve the form’s style and scope as well as to challenge the very notion of filmic truth and reality. Attendees to the module will also learn how to identify the key documentary modes and be expected to analyse and understand how the movement’s use of transgressive visual images, no matter how apparently ‘genuine’, is frequently presented through a cinematic perspective that is not always objective. Furthermore, the module will require students to produce a short documentary or individual video essay (in documentary form) and, in doing so, explore the challenges of objective presentations.

Detailed course information

Work - Based Placement in Film, Visual Culture, Music (FS5532)

30 Credit Points

Students will gain practical experience in the film industry and/or visual culture organisations, providing real work experience in preparation for the next steps following their degree.

Detailed course information

MLitt Special Study in Film and Visual Culture (FS5526)

30 Credit Points

This course is designed to allow the creation of a programme of individual study where other appropriate course options at masters level are not available. It will run at the discretion of the programme co-ordinator. In discussion with a designated supervisor students will be able to identify and design a programme of research and study, which may include the completion of an undergraduate course, with assessments appropriate to masters-level work, or which may be consist of a short programme of research conducted over one semester. This programme of study will be subject to approval by the convener of the relevant M.Litt programme. Where appropriate courses at masters level are available, this course will not run.

Detailed course information

Stage 2

Compulsory Courses

Research Methods in Film and Visual Culture (FS5022)

30 Credit Points

This team-taught course will introduce students to key research methods in the field of film and visual culture as utilised in the research and practice of faculty members in the department. Each week students will engage with a range of written and visual materials relating to a specific approach to the study and/or production of visual culture. These may include: approaches to working with living artists and documents of ephemeral art; theories of the animal gaze; approaches to practice-as-research; documentary; memory and memorialisation; the relationship between film, art and history; close reading; bricolage; walking; intermediality; and projects in art and science among others. Throughout the course students will explore important theoretical concepts and artistic paradigms in these areas, applying them in weekly exercises and seminar preparations, and ultimately using one (or more) of them in their assessed work.

Detailed course information

Critical Skills: Reading and Engagement (PD50C2)

This course will equip you with the essential skills required to engage with your postgraduate studies. Through a series of lectures, interactive seminars and authentic materials, you will build on your critical thinking skills with fellow PGT students from across the school. Critical Reading, essay writing and presentation skills will be offered as part of this course, providing students with skills fundamental to PGT and workplace contexts.

Detailed course information

Optional Courses

Select ONE from the following:

• MU5016 Contemporary Issues in Aesthetics (30 credit points)
• EL50D2 Fundamentals of English Language (30 credit points)

Museums and the Digital World (AT5050)

30 Credit Points

Given the expanding use of the Internet and new media forms, museums are re-evaluating their relationships with their audiences as well as their relationships with collections. This course introduces students to a wide range of digital technologies as they relate to museums e.g., online exhibitions, smart phone apps, and 3D imagery. Students will examine the impact and consequences of using digital approaches, and the implications for museums and their users of these rapidly changing technologies.

Detailed course information

The Novel: Environments and Encounters (EL50C5)

30 Credit Points

This module explores how the evolution of the novel form has allowed, and required, authors to find new ways of depicting spaces, places and interactions (between characters in particular environments, but also between characters and their environment). This chronologically wide-ranging course moves from the early days of the novel form through to contemporary fiction, allowing for an opportunity to study the many literary tactics that authors have employed to create the settings for their works – from vast historical backdrops, to natural spaces, to urban environments, to smaller domestic and private places. It also us to consider how different cultural moments have prompted authors to rethink how they represent characters’ encounters with the world around them, and with the other cultures, races, species and genders that inhabit that world. As well as narrative theories, students will have the chance to study canonical and less well-known texts from angles informed by current critical approaches such as ecocriticism, animal studies, postcolonial and queer theory.

Detailed course information

MLitt Special Study in Film and Visual Culture (FS5026)

30 Credit Points

This course is designed to allow the creation of a programme of individual study where other appropriate course options at masters level are not available. It will run at the discretion of the programme co-ordinator. In discussion with a designated supervisor students will be able to identify and design a programme of research and study, which may include the completion of an undergraduate course, with assessments appropriate to masters-level work, or which may be consist of a short programme of research conducted over one semester. This programme of study will be subject to approval by the convener of the relevant M.Litt programme. Where appropriate courses at masters level are available, this course will not run.

Detailed course information

Work - Based Placement in Film, Visual Culture, Music (FS5032)

30 Credit Points

Students will gain practical experience in the film industry and/or visual culture organisations, providing real work experience in preparation for the next steps following their degree.

Detailed course information

Programme Fees

Fee information

Fee category	Cost
UK
Tuition Fees for 2023/24 Academic Year	£3,695
EU / International students
Tuition Fees for 2025/26 Academic Year	£7,670
Tuition Fees for 2026/27 Academic Year	£7,670

Semester 1

Compulsory Courses

Projects in Film and Visual Culture (FS5527)

30 Credit Points

Projects in Film and Visual Culture gives students the opportunity to design a project or event in response to a Call for Proposals. In this way, the course simulates the management and development of project or event proposal through to a funding pitch (in the form of an assessed presentation) and will require students to address a variety of elements necessary to any successful arts project. The course is taught through weekly seminars and workshops. Students will engage with a variety of projects in film and visual culture in the form of case studies, including work produced by leading Scottish arts organisations. These content weeks are supplemented by sessions devoted to theory and workshops that will address the key aspects involved in designing a project or event in a film and visual culture context.

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Getting Started at the University of Aberdeen (PD5506)

This course, which is prescribed for all taught postgraduate students, is studied entirely online, is studied entirely online, takes approximately 2-3 hours to complete and can be taken in one sitting, or spread across the first 4 weeks of term.

Topics include University orientation overview, equality & diversity, MySkills, health, safety and cyber security, and academic integrity.

Successful completion of this course will be recorded on your Transcript as ‘Achieved’.

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Critical Skills: Research and Dissemination (PD55C1)

This course will equip you with core research and dissemination skills. Centred on an interdisciplinary approach to research, the course will allow you to engage with peers from various research backgrounds to contribute, discuss and share in an interactive academic community. The course will detail key research techniques and communicative modes for successful dissemination. Communication skills specific to engaging with industry stakeholders will also be covered as part of this course in order to boost employability.

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Optional Courses

Select ONE from the following options:

• EL55C7 Infinite Scotlands: Scotland and the Literary Imagination (30 credit points)

The Museum Idea (AT5526)

30 Credit Points

Why do human beings collect and what is the purpose of museums? ‘The Museum Idea’ examines these questions by focusing on the history and philosophy of museums and relating these to contemporary museum practice. The course will examine the role of museums in society through case studies of exhibitions and other museum projects in a variety of settings, including art, history and ethnographic museums.

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Public Engagement for Arts (EL5596)

30 Credit Points

Art and culture are integral to our daily lives, and the ways in which these are experienced are continually changing. Whether it is in a street performance, a public gallery, an academic festival, a webcast, a documentary or in social media, the relationship between the creative artist and those who consume it, is complex and can itself be a creative process. This course explores the many ways in which creative materials can be brought to public view, and how different forms of communication, aural, verbal and visual, can enhance public engagement with aesthetic experiences and the discourses around these.

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Places and Environments: Critical Dialogues (EL55D3)

30 Credit Points

This course introduces students to a range of critical, theoretical, and philosophical approaches to environment and place, as well as aligned research methods. Students will read key works of ecocriticism, ecofeminism, environmental philosophy, cultural geography, and related areas. Close reading and discussion of central texts will provide a foundation for further research, including the dissertation. Students will have the opportunity to discuss these ideas in relation to both literary and social contexts. This course is restricted to students on the MLitt Literatures, Environments, and Places, or by permission of the School.

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Documentary Theory and Practice (FS5533)

30 Credit Points

The module offers a comprehensive look at how documentary has interrogated, and in some rare cases even influenced, politics, social values, and even popular culture. Students will be expected to look at how documentary filmmakers have built upon the famous Griersonian quote – ‘the creative treatment of actuality’ – to evolve the form’s style and scope as well as to challenge the very notion of filmic truth and reality. Attendees to the module will also learn how to identify the key documentary modes and be expected to analyse and understand how the movement’s use of transgressive visual images, no matter how apparently ‘genuine’, is frequently presented through a cinematic perspective that is not always objective. Furthermore, the module will require students to produce a short documentary or individual video essay (in documentary form) and, in doing so, explore the challenges of objective presentations.

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Work - Based Placement in Film, Visual Culture, Music (FS5532)

30 Credit Points

Students will gain practical experience in the film industry and/or visual culture organisations, providing real work experience in preparation for the next steps following their degree.

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MLitt Special Study in Film and Visual Culture (FS5526)

30 Credit Points

This course is designed to allow the creation of a programme of individual study where other appropriate course options at masters level are not available. It will run at the discretion of the programme co-ordinator. In discussion with a designated supervisor students will be able to identify and design a programme of research and study, which may include the completion of an undergraduate course, with assessments appropriate to masters-level work, or which may be consist of a short programme of research conducted over one semester. This programme of study will be subject to approval by the convener of the relevant M.Litt programme. Where appropriate courses at masters level are available, this course will not run.

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