At the start of this new academic year, Dartington Trust welcomed 75 master’s students to three of its postgraduate programmes: MA Poetics of Imagination in the new Dartington Arts School, as well as MA Ecological Design Thinking and MA Regenerative Economics in Schumacher College.
Welcome Week took place online and included a virtual cream tea and a virtual bar as well as academic introductions and sessions on Dartington’s distinctive learning community. Dr Tracey Warr, who worked on the development of the new arts school and the new portfolio of master’s programmes said after a busy week of welcoming the new cohort of students: ‘It feels so good to have this creative, challenging energy back in full swing here at Dartington at last’.
Along with the new students, Dartington Arts School is also welcoming new academic staff including Dr Jo Joelson and Dr Tine Bech who will be the core team delivering MA Arts and Place, which starts in January 2021; Dr Martin Shaw and Dr Tracey Warr who are the core teaching team for MA Poetics of Imagination, together with Associate Lecturers, Emma Bush and Dr Bram Arnold. Tim Bolton is leading on Learning Programmes and Short Courses. New additions to the Schumacher College academic staff have also just been appointed, including Dr Troy Vine, Lecturer on our Holistic Science programme, and Dr Sarah Elisa Kelly who joins the faculty for the MA Engaged Ecology.
Dr Jo Joelson
Find out more about Jo on the London Fieldworks website.
Dr Tine Bech
Find out more about Tine on her website.
The Dartington Trust has reinvented its learning programme with the launch of Dartington Arts School, which joins Dartington’s well-established Schumacher College. Six new and revised master’s programmes are running this academic year and a further six master’s and undergraduate programmes are in development for September 2021. Dartington Trust has worked to widen the reach and accessibility of its learning programmes by significantly reducing tuition fees and introducing varying modes of teaching delivery including part-time and low-residency courses.
Managing Director Alan Boldon said of the developments: ‘There is abundant and clear evidence about how to support transformational creative learning, however, educational models throughout the world continue to be largely defined by disciplinary siloes that engender a fragmented, disembodied understanding of the world we are part of. Dartington is committed to reimagining these damaging models and behaviours of compartmentalisation that are at the root of inequality, environmental degradation and climate crisis This has been a few years in the making but I am thrilled to see the start of a new arts school at Dartington alongside the internationally renowned Schumacher College’.
Dartington Arts School builds on the substantial legacy of radical arts education at Dartington including the former Dartington College of Arts. The return of arts degrees to Dartington has been greeted with enthusiasm from many Dartington College of Arts alumni including Marcus Davey, currently chief executive and artistic director at the Roundhouse; Sally Tallant, Director of Queen’s Museum in New York who previously led the Liverpool Biennial and exhibition programmes at the Serpentine Gallery; Adrian Lambert, chief of staff at Hay Festival; and Professor Sally J. Morgan – Director of Doctoral Research at Massey University College of Creative Arts in New Zealand.
At the new Dartington Arts School, MA Poetics of Imagination explores orality, story and culture, examining how we have conjured stories from the earliest times to the present day. The course examines the work of ancient to contemporary storytellers, writers and artists. MA Arts and Place is open to practitioners and curators working in any art form including performance, writing, soundart, moving image, photography, digital art and fine art. The Arts and Place course puts particular emphasis on collaborative practice, making art in response to place, and encouraging cross-disciplinary approaches. The curriculum involves a number of short residencies at other arts organisations across the UK.
Dr Troy Vine
Find out more about Troy on his staff profile at Schumacher College.
Dr Sarah Elisa Kelly
Read our interview with Sarah to find out more about her interests and research.
Dartington Trust is an independent higher education provider with two faculties: Dartington Arts School and Schumacher College, focussing respectively on contemporary arts and on ecology and social change. Our accredited learning programmes are validated by University of Plymouth, and we have recently received registration with the Office for Students, meaning, among other things, that prospective students can now apply for government loans to study with us.
We are currently accepting applications for our MA Arts and Place, with Dr Jo Joelson and Dr Tine Bech, which starts January 2021. Find out more about the programme and apply via this webpage. You can also apply to study on either of the Schumacher College postgraduate courses starting in January: MSc Holistic Science, MA Engaged Ecology. Space is limited on all courses, so applicants are encouraged to apply as early as possible to secure their place.
