HUMA320 - Major Creative Project

Year

Credit points

Campus offering

Prerequisites

Nil

Unit rationale, description and aim

This is a capstone unit in the Bachelor of Creative Arts program. The purpose of this unit is to prepare students for professional practice in the creative arts sector. Students must be competent in their theoretical and practical knowledges of their creative disciplines to be successful in their chosen career. This capstone unit is distinctive from other disciplinary capstone units in that it requires the development of an interdisciplinary work of art.  This unit provides students with the opportunity to plan, develop and realise a major creative project with an interdisciplinary focus. Working in response to clearly-articulated and student-led project briefs, students will draw on the skills and knowledge of two or more creative disciplines to complete the project.

 The aim of this unit is to provide students with the opportunity to showcase their advanced creative arts skills in the development of a unique creative project. This project will provide them with evidence that can be used in a portfolio for future employment. Students have the opportunity to engage with community organisations to foster networking opportunities and develop work ready skills. The major creative project then, is designed represent those projects that may be completed in professional contexts making students work ready in a challenging industry.

Learning outcomes

To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.

Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.

Explore the graduate capabilities.

On successful completion of this unit, students should be able to:

LO1 - Demonstrate advanced theoretical and practical knowledge of specific creative disciplines (GA4, GA5, GA8, GA9, GA10)

LO2 - Ability to contextualise and communicate their work as creative practitioners (GA4, GA5, GA8, GA9, GA10)

LO3 - The creative application of advanced interdisciplinary skills learnt within the Bachelor of Creative Arts degree to realise a major creative arts project (GA4, GA5, GA8, GA9, GA10)

Graduate attributes

GA4 - think critically and reflectively 

GA5 - demonstrate values, knowledge, skills and attitudes appropriate to the discipline and/or profession 

GA8 - locate, organise, analyse, synthesise and evaluate information 

GA9 - demonstrate effective communication in oral and written English language and visual media 

GA10 - utilise information and communication and other relevant technologies effectively.

Content

Topics may include:

• A consideration and application of advanced practices, theories, languages, forms, materials, technologies and techniques of contemporary creative disciplines.
• Issues arising from interdisciplinary creative practices, including roles and industry hierarchies.
• An awareness of the professional practices that surround the creative arts including project management, project briefs and timelines, stakeholder management and the legal framework that informs creative arts practice.
• The Australian and international creative arts sector understood from perspectives including cultural, economic and social perspectives.

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

Students undertake this unit in workshop classes that consist of a) an explication of the requirements and practices associated with inter-disciplinary creative projects, b) discussion and reflection on the norms of projects in the Australian creative industries and c) work designed to further the needs of students’ own projects. As a capstone unit within the Bachelor of Creative Arts, this unit allows students to demonstrate their expertise in at least two creative arts disciplines. It provides opportunities to demonstrate skills and knowledge of the practices, languages, forms, materials, technologies and techniques in creative arts practice. Students will be expected to work independently and will have the opportunity to show leadership and creativity throughout the process of developing a project. This unit embraces active learning strategies which will help students to engage with the creative arts.

This unit requires high-level application of skills learned by students throughout their Bachelor of Creative Arts degree. This unit anticipates that students have previously acquired knowledge and techniques in their majors and/or minors and the major creative project provides the opportunity to apply these skills in a highly self-motivated context which allows them to demonstrate their expertise and job-readiness.

This unit will be taught through synchronous classes and/or through some multi-mode or online teaching. Students may attend lectures face-to-face and/or by accessing online recordings in order to ensure broad and ongoing access for all students to the key concepts and principles relevant to the production of a major creative project. Formal lectures will present key theories and model research and analysis skills appropriate for an emerging creative artist. Online learning materials will include guided readings and synchronous and/or asynchronous discussions of key materials.

This unit comprises150 hours in total with a normal expectation of 36 hours of directed study and the total contact hours should not exceed 36 hours. The directed study might include lectures, tutorials, webinars, podcasts etc. The balance of the hours then become private study.

Assessment strategy and rationale

The practical assessments have been designed to contribute to high-quality student learning by both helping students learn (assessment for learning), and by measuring explicit evidence of their learning (assessment of learning). Assessments have been developed to meet the unit learning outcomes and develop graduate attributes consistent with University assessment requirements. There are three separate assessments in this unit each of which has been designed with a separate purpose so that students can demonstrate an advanced knowledge of all three learning outcomes and establish a professional routine for their future creative careers.

The schedule provides scaffolded learning with opportunities for students to monitor their own progress, practice their skills and receive feedback. The Major Creative Project Proposal provides students with the opportunity to develop rigorous knowledge of the processes and practices involved in conceptualising a creative arts project. The Professional Portfolio (in progress) allows students to develop a professional portfolio that could be used to showcase the skills and abilities of the student for employment in the creative industries. The Major Creative Project allows for the application of high-level skills and knowledge developed through the creative arts degree to a sustained collaborative creative project. All of the assessments in this unit have been designed to ensure that students are developing skills that will assist them in seeking employment in the creative arts industries.

Overview of assessments

Representative texts and references

Alexander, William. Is William Martinez Not Our Brother?: Twenty Years of the Prison Creative Arts Project. University of Michigan Press, 2013.

Boyd, Candice P., and Christian. Edwardes. Non-Representational Theory and the Creative Arts. 1st ed. 2019. ed., Springer Singapore: Imprint: Palgrave Macmillan, 2019.

Hughes, P. Exhibition Design. London: Laurence King Publishing, 2015.

Metropolitan Museum of Art, author. The Artist Project: What Artists See When They Look at Art. Phaidon Press Limited ; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2017.

Lindsey, Sophie. “Artist's Project: Play to Fail.” Public Art Dialogue, vol. 10, no. 2, 2020, pp. 243–244.

Loveland, E. Creative careers: Paths for aspiring actors, artists, dancers, musicians and writers. Belmont: SuperCollege, 2009.

Phillips, A. A creator's guide to transmedia storytelling: How to captivate and engage audiences across multiple platforms. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012.

Thomas, K. and Chan, J. Handbook of research on creativity. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 2015.

Thompson, J. Performance affects: Applied theatre and end of effect. [S.I.]: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014.

Vitali, J. The fine artist’s guide to marketing and self-promotion. Allworth Press, 2012.