Royal College of Art
Kensington Gore
London SW7 2EU
www.rca.ac.uk
humanities.research.rca.ac.uk
Based in the world’s most influential university of art and design, the School of Humanities Research Programme offers a unique opportunity to undertake scholarly research of the highest quality in a wholly postgraduate environment. Applications are welcomed from students with an art or design history background, from practitioners who wish to pursue a critical engagement with their specific discipline, and from students from outside the art-school environment who wish to specialise in art or design research.
We offer a broad range of supervisory expertise that extends across the whole spectrum of architecture and urbanism, fine and applied art, communications, design, fashion and textiles. This allows us considerable versatility in the kinds of research that we support. We welcome applications for MPhil and PhD either by thesis or practice in areas of Humanities research. Students are based in a specific programme and also participate in a school-wide research programme. To gain an insight into some of the approaches undertaken by current research students, visit humanities.research.rca.ac.uk.
Critical Writing in Art & Design develops critical perspectives on contemporary art and design. Students undertake an individual programme of studies which results in the production of a thesis. Other kinds of written works will be considered if they fit within the College’s definitions of ‘research by project’. We are particularly interested in encouraging new thinking into aspects of the history and contemporary practice of criticism, critical theory in art and design, the changing face and content of the media, and word and image relations. We are also keen to support interdisciplinary work (in, for instance, the borderlands between art and anthropology or between graphic design and journalism).
Critical & Historical Studies supports a research programme that is intimately linked to our role as the college-wide provider of critical and historical discourse for all studio-based MA students at the RCA. CHS supervisors are authorities in the disciplines of architecture and interiors, design, fine and applied arts, fashion and communications, and we welcome applications to explore and develop these disciplines, and any combination of them, from an historical, theoretical, or critical perspective. In particular we encourage proposals that deal with contemporary aesthetics; the history & theory of photographic practice, of performance, of craft and of design; and the historical study of cities, transport, technology, and infrastructure.
Curating Contemporary Art facilitates research on all aspects of curating from exhibition history to transnational issues of curating to a critical engagement with curating as a profession, a discipline or even a way of looking at the world. Our programme is unique in its ability to provide support in respect to both practice and theory. Through ‘research by project,’ practical curating can be integrated into research projects and developed towards academic standards of excellence. Students are encouraged to take advantage of the interdisciplinary framework of the School and to participate in research activities throughout the College. The CCA programme prides itself in its long-established curatorial tradition, in its international network and its translocal outlook.
V&A/RCA History of Design welcomes research topics in design history and material culture, ranging from the 15th century to the present day, across global geographies. The programme is run in conjunction with the V&A Museum and offers unique access to curators and collections and is supported by team of course tutors based at both institutions. Our subject expertise ranges across fashion and textiles, architecture and interiors, design and craft, materials, manufacture and making, trade and exchange. We are particularly interested in research in the areas of Renaissance and Early Modern design history; Asian design history, and modern and contemporary subjects.
For further information on application, fees and available funding, please visit rca.ac.uk/applications. UK, EU and overseas applicants may be eligible to apply for one of 10 new scholarships set up to mark the 175th anniversary of the RCA. For further details of the 175 Anniversary Scholarships, visit www.rca.ac.uk/175scholarship.
