Faculty of Arts and Education
Deakin University
Students are able to undertake Honours research in any combination of photography, film, television and video practices. From pre-production to post-production, students may work individually or collaboratively on a project, a series of projects, or may specialise in specific areas of interest, such as scriptwriting, cinematography, directing, or editing. The research-by-practice model encourages students not only to engage in creative production, but also to contextualize and evaluate their working methods in relation to contemporary research practices. Other possibilities, such as theoretical or non production-based research may be negotiated with an Honours supervisor.
Students who do Honours in Media sometimes have postgraduate study in their sights and ultimately perhaps a job as an academic. Many, though, have their sights set on professional work in the media industries. An Honours degree can enhance students' career prospects not only in various practical fields of media production, but also in the wider arenas of the cultural and communication 'industries', media policy analysis, professional and community arts practice. Demand for advanced communication and collaborative skills, and research and report-writing skills, which our Honours graduates possess, are increasing in the twenty-first century.
Some find Honours to be a useful way of increasing the depth of their teaching methods in Media Studies, and in recent years, honours graduates Media Studies who have gone on to complete a teaching qualification have jumped three increments (yearly advances in salary) because of having an Honours Degree.
Successful completion of an Honours degree also positions students for postgraduate study, whether immediately following or after settling into a career and wishing to develop further their expertise and prospects for professional advancement. Honours students have gone on to further study through Masters Degrees by Coursework, Masters Degrees by research, and PhD.
The normal pattern is to complete two core units comprising AAR410 (Research Methods in the Arts) and AAR411 (Art and Text), and 2 studio units which serve as pre-production units for the 4 credit points of thesis units, which are completed in second semester.
In Media Studies, students will produce creative work (e.g., film, video, photographic exhibition, multi-media installation) which will constitute the major component (up to 70%) of the research. However, this creative component must be accompanied by a scholarly written component (an exegesis) which should be in the range of 4000 - 6,000 words.
The exegesis should demonstrate the student's analytical understanding of the discipline and sets the creative work within a disciplinary and developmental framework. Creative works can not have been submitted for credit in other units, courses or awards.
Course summary details including units of study.
Honours Course Adviser
Tel (03) 925 17645
stephen.goddard@deakin.edu.au
