(MA) Master of Arts
Scriptwriting (Theatre and Digital Media)
Current
University of Essex
University of Essex
Literature, Film, and Theatre Studies
Colchester Campus
Masters
Part-time
None
MA W81124
10/05/2023
Details
Professional accreditation
None
Admission criteria
A 2.2 degree in Creative Writing, Theatre/Drama Studies, Literature, Film and Media Studies, Modern Languages , Art History, Music, Philosophy, History, American Studies, Performance studies, Journalism, Law, Politics and Sociology.
You may be asked to provide a piece of creative writing if you do not hold a degree in a relevant field.
IELTS (International English Language Testing System) code
IELTS 7.0 overall with a minimum component score of 5.5 except for 6.5 in writing
If you do not meet our IELTS requirements then you may be able to complete a pre-sessional English pathway that enables you to start your course without retaking IELTS.
Additional Notes
The University uses academic selection criteria to determine an applicant’s ability to successfully complete a course at the University of Essex. Where appropriate, we may ask for specific information relating to previous modules studied or work experience.
Course qualifiers
A course qualifier is a bracketed addition to your course title to denote a specialisation or pathway that you have achieved via the completion of specific modules during your course. The
specific module requirements for each qualifier title are noted below. Eligibility for any selected qualifier will be determined by the department and confirmed by the final year Board of
Examiners. If the required modules are not successfully completed, your course title will remain as described above without any bracketed addition. Selection of a course qualifier is
optional and student can register preferences or opt-out via Online Module Enrolment (eNROL).
None
Rules of assessment
Rules of assessment are the rules, principles and frameworks which the University uses to calculate your course progression and final results.
Additional notes
Please refer to the full time version of this course for information on Core and Compulsory modules.
External examiners
Dr Christina Papagiannouli
Research Fellow
University of South Wales
External Examiners provide an independent overview of our courses, offering their expertise and help towards our continual improvement of course content, teaching, learning, and assessment.
External Examiners are normally academics from other higher education institutions, but may be from the industry, business or the profession as appropriate for the course.
They comment on how well courses align with national standards, and on how well the teaching, learning and assessment methods allow students to develop and demonstrate the relevant knowledge and skills needed to achieve their awards.
External Examiners who are responsible for awards are key members of Boards of Examiners. These boards make decisions about student progression within their course and about whether students can receive their final award.
Programme aims
- To provide the opportunity for students to develop their own writing practice, and their own writerly voice, under the tuition and supervision of four practising professional dramatists.
- To equip students with tools for analysing, evaluating and understanding a wide range of dramatic texts from different periods, and in different genres, media and styles.
- To equip students with the tools and skills to develop their own writing over a wide range of dramatic writing, across different forms, modes and genres; in different media (theatre, film and radio); and in different contexts (professional theatre, radio, community contexts).
- To provide students with a structured introduction to advanced critical and theoretical material in their field of specialization.
- To encourage students to work independently as scholars, as well as emerging artists, in specific fields of dramatic writing, and to formulate and present a reflective view of their findings.
- To promote good research practise and impart sound research approaches and methodologies.
- To equip students with a range of transferable and employability skills (advanced and adaptable writing skills; creative and lateral thinking; problem-solving; team and group-work; evaluative and analytical skills; research methods; discipline and self-management).
Learning outcomes and learning, teaching and assessment methods
On successful completion of the programme a graduate should demonstrate knowledge and skills as follows:
A: Knowledge and understanding
A1: Have an understanding of the tools and techniques of professional dramatists
A2: A wide range of dramatic texts from different periods, in different genres, styles and media
A3: Advanced critical and theoretical material relating to the processes of creative writing in dramatic form
A4: Vocabulary appropriate to the evaluation and development of dramatic writing
A5: Textual and formal conventions and traditions of dramatic writing
A6: Different writing strategies and approaches appropriate to different contexts and media, for example in radio drama, community settings, and professional theatre
Learning methods
A1-A6 will be delivered through two-hourly seminars and practical workshops, across all four modules, in sessions that will cover the course (as the module tutor deems appropriate) embrace a range of learning and teaching strategies: reading and responding critically to a range of texts, in class and at home independently; practical drama games and exercises; practical writing exercises in class and at home as preparation; workshopping and group discussion/evaluation of students' own work.
Assessment methods
All modules will be assessed by:
1. the production of an original piece of dramatic writing that engage with the specific intended learning outcomes of the module; and
2. by a critical commentary in which the student will examine the work in its relevant artistic, critical, theoretical and practical contexts; reflect on and articulate their findings about their own creative processes; analyse and evaluate their own work.
B: Intellectual and cognitive skills
B1: Generate and shape dramatic texts suitable to a range of styles, contexts and media
B2: Critically analyse and evaluate different kinds of dramatic writing across a range of periods, genres, styles, and media
B3: Employ a critical vocabulary suitable to the analysis of dramatic texts and new writing
B4: Use practical drama and creative writing exercises to generate written scripts
B5: Integrate and evaluate information from a variety of sources including scholarly texts, theatre performances, broadcasts and screenings of radio and film drama, the internet
B6: Evaluate, edit, and re-write appropriately to improve and develop own writing
B7: Reflect upon own writing processes, and evaluate own work as well as that of others
B8: Employ appropriate research techniques and methodologies
Learning methods
B1-B7 will be developed through seminars and practical workshops.
B2, B5 and B8 will be further developed through assessment tasks and guided individual student research as well as through attendance at relevant research methods seminars.
B1, B3 and B6 will be further strengthened and developed through individual tutorials and oral and written one-to-one feedback on the student's work for module assessment and for the dissertation
Assessment methods
B1 to B8 are assessed through the submission of practical writing projects, accompanied by reflective and critical commentaries; by a dissertation whose design and execution will be supervised on a one-to-one basis by a professional dramatist.
C: Practical skills
C1: Write original pieces of drama, across a range of forms, style, media and contexts
C2: Respond critically both verbally and in writing to dramatic texts
C3: Demonstrate the ability to proof-read, edit, re-draft scripts
C4: Carry out independent research using libraries, the internet, IT skills to locate and analyse data
C5: Participate in group workshop processes, providing informed and sensitive feedback to fellow group members
Learning methods
C1, C2 and C5 are learned through participation in seminars and workshops.
C3 and C4 are learned through individual student assessment tasks.
Assessment methods
C1 to C4 are all assessed through practical writing projects, critical commentaries and the dissertation.
C5 is assessed by a 5% participation mark for the student’s contribution to the module.
D: Key skills
D1: Clear, focused, relevant and effective written expression and oral communication
D2: Typing and word-processing skills; use of electronic library catalogues and email
D3: Finding creative solutions for the expression of imaginative ideas, in the face of problems posed by the constraints of language, dramatic form, audience, media and context
D4: Developing sensitivity to others and a strong, collaborative group dynamic
D5: Self-reflection and a self-critical practice
Learning methods
D1, D4 and D5 include in-class work and assessed submissions, both creative and critical.
D5 also includes a writing workshop.
D6 is central to the course, in all its learning and teaching and assessment activities
Assessment methods
Creative and written, including critical, submissions.