Research Project IAP

1344 Hours

Applicants are normally required to have completed at least a four-year honours degree at H2A standard from an Australian university, or a qualification or combination of qualifications considered by the Research and Research Training Committee to be equivalent. Professional experience in the area of the intended MFA may be deemed equivalent.

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Student Support and Engagement Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Overview, Learning Outcomes, Assessment and Generic Skills sections of this entry.

It is University policy to take all reasonable steps to minimise the impact of disability upon academic study, and reasonable adjustments will be made to enhance a student's participation in the University's programs. Students who feel their disability may impact on meeting the requirements of this subject are encouraged to discuss this matter with a Faculty Student Adviser and Student Equity and Disability Support: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/disability

Through a course of independent research students will complete a thesis equivalent to 40,000 words.

The subject will enable students to complete an independently-devised research project.

A thesis comprising a written dissertation or a combination of creative work and written dissertation to the equivalent of 40,000 words. A written component must be of at least 25% (10,000 words).

The creative work may take the form of performance, exhibition, writing (poetry, fiction, script or other written literary forms), design, film, video, multimedia, CD, DVD or other new media technologies and modes of presentation. The creative work must be comprehensively documented and either the documentation or the creative work itself submitted with the dissertation.

Candidates who have submitted a thesis consisting of creative work, where the creative work is not bound together with the dissertation (eg exhibition, performance, poetry, screenplay, novel), shall state: "Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Fine Ats (by creative work and dissertation)".

Candidates who have submitted a thesis consisting of creative work, where the creative work is bound together with the dissertation (eg poetry, screenplay, novel), shall state: "Submitted in total fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Fine Ats (by creative work and dissertation)".

For a fully written dissertation, the statement must read, “Submitted in total fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Fine Arts (by Thesis Only)”.

The thesis will be assessed at the end of the candidature.

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

On completion of this subject students will have acquired key research skills, including:
· the ability to engage in independent and contextually-informed artistic practice;
· an ability to initiate research projects and to formulate viable research questions;
· a demonstrated capacity to design, conduct and report independent and original research on a closely-defined project;
· an ability to manage time to maximise the quality of research;
· an understanding of the major contours of international research in the research area;
· a capacity for critical evaluation of relevant scholarly literature and artistic practice;
· well-developed and flexible problem-solving abilities appropriate to the discipline;
· the capacity to communicate effectively the results of research and scholarship by oral and written communication;
· an understanding of and facility with scholarly conventions in the discipline area;
· a profound respect for truth and intellectual integrity, and for the ethics of research and scholarship;
· a capacity to collaborate with other researchers.