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News: courses coming in the next 12 months - The Open College of the Arts

To find out more details about the transfer to The Open University see A New Chapter for OCA.

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News: courses coming in the next 12 months

OCA is going to be further developing its curriculum in the next 12 months, and there are some exciting new additions to the existing suite as well as a couple of exciting additions to our undergraduate degree programmes.
First, there is a new Textiles course at level 1 (HE4) coming in the next few weeks called Exploring Ideas. This new course adds layers of techniques and understanding to the introduction provided in the existing course, including looking at inspiration from all over the world and working with transparent effects. There is also a new Life Writing course at level 2 (HE5) coming (this will take the place of Imaginative Non Fiction and Lifelines.) This course brings the essence of these two courses together but includes a lot of new material. You can expect to see this course within a couple of months. There is a new level 2 Poetry course called Form and Experience in Poetry to be launched in around three months’ time. This will bring the best of the existing two poetry courses together and also include substantial new material.
A new Level 1 Music course From the Present to the Past is in progress and will be ready around the end of the year. This is a contextual course providing background into movements and key composers through history and is being written by tutor Carla Rees. A great way to increase your appreciation of music, whether you are a music specialist or not. Next, a Drawing level 2 course is in plan, for those who take delight in drawing and wish to further develop these skills, this will be ready late Spring 2011. A new Textiles level 2 course is also in plan, and we aim for a early summer 2011 launch, which will build on the first level textiles courses and will create a path for those wishing to study a specialist Textiles Degree. We hope to get a Textiles degree validated some time in early 2011, so you can get moving on that path right away.
Our Printmaking courses at levels 1 and 2 are proving popular, so we are developing a level 3 (HE6) option, so that those who have developed an enthusiasm for this varied medium can take it all the way through. This will be ready in the first half of 2011. Finally, for the Painting and Creative Arts degree programmes, we have another option to be developed. This is a Level 2 Mixed Media course, and will be ready in the first part of 2011. The course will encourage students to use a wide range of media including photography, paints, collage, digital media, wax and other materials, a true coming together for all Visual Arts students. This is an ideal course for anyone who has studied Digital Arts, Digital Photography, Drawing, Painting or Printmaking at level 1. The existing  Creative Digital Arts course at level 1 is being closed to new enrolments  on 1 July because the Digital Photographic Practice course provides a better entry route. We will of course continue to support Creative Digital Arts while we have students on the course and it will remain a valid building block in our degree programmes.
Two exciting departures that we are planning are:
A new non accredited Mentoring course for Writers at level 3. This course will give intensive support to budding writers who may have a ‘novel or book of poems in the attic’ or indeed in their heads. Our experienced already published writing tutors will provide a reading and feedback service to those wishing to improve their work. This will certainly be ready early in 2011.
And, finally, I can confirm the rumour. We are planning the development of a Fine Art MA programme, to move our talented art students on to becoming professional artists. It is in the early stages at the moment but watch this space, we hope to make an announcement in the Autumn to confirm the details.


Posted by author: Jane Parry

12 thoughts on “News: courses coming in the next 12 months

  • I’m very interested in the new textiles course as I am on the verge of enrolling on one of your other Level 1 textiles courses so it will be interesting to compare them. Would be grateful if you could send me further information as soon as it is available.

  • I am very excited at the way the courses are evolving – I have been teaching with the OCA for a long time and never thought I’d see the day when a student would be able to gain an honours degree in painting, let alone an MA in Fine Art! well done everyone at OCA and let’s keep working towards giving our students the great experience and qualifications they deserve

  • I agree it’s exciting to see the new courses, but I can’t help but feel that the creative writing courses are taking a back seat to the visual art ones. If you are combining the Lifelines and Imaginative Non-fiction course but adding the new poetry course, we really are not gaining any more courses to choose from and will have three poetry courses at level two. Although I like poetry, I think that’s a bit heavy on the poetry.

  • Hello Shani, thanks for the comment. Now that we have Jane Rogers (author of Mr Wroe’s Virgins) on board as Course Leader for Creative Writing, we are following her advice in consolidating the curriculum for Creative Writing first, before expanding it. In fact there is a reduction in the number of poetry courses, not an increase. The course Form and Freedom and the other, the Experience of Poetry, are also merging into one course, but with a lot of new material. The emphasis between narrative writing and poetry will be more balanced in the future, and you will see the portfolio grow and the priority shift towards growing this portfolio next year.

  • I enrolled for my first course today and am thrilled to see there are even more options becoming available- especially the Drawing 2 and Mixed Media 2 – wonderful!

  • Am so pleased to hear OCA is planning to offer printmaking at 2 and 3 – just what I was hoping would happen!Hurrah.
    And the mixed media course looks like a possibly ideal course for me to aim towards after I get my level 1 courses under my belt! If it is at level 2 does that mean entry can be from any level 1 course that is included in it?
    Please let me know about these courses in future, cheers.

  • Yes, The Mixed Media course at level 2 is a natural progression for anyone who has done either painting, printmaking or worked with digital media. You could even incorporate textiles into the mix!

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