Research Master in Art and Design (MURAD)

Higher Graduates or Graduates in Fine Arts, Design, Architecture, History of Art, Philosophy, Communication Sciences, Humanities and related subjects. It is an official qualification adapted to the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) with two orientations:

• an initiation to useful research for people planning on studying for a doctorate
• professional development in different fields of work in art and design

• Management and curatorship in museums, foundations and art galleries.
• Freelance curatorship.
• Art collections consultant and manager.
• Art and design criticism.
• Cultural journalism.
• Teaching in art and contemporary aesthetics.
• PhD studies in the different master fields of knowledge. 

Compulsory modules:

• M1. Contemporary Thought I (6 ECTS, Obligatory)
• M2. Contemporary Art (6 ECTS, Obligatory)
• M3. Contemporary Design (6 ECTS, Obligatory)
• M4. Artistic Research I (6 ECTS, Obligatory)
• M5. Design Research I (6 ECTS, Obligatory)
• M6. Critique Workshop (6 ECTS, Obligatory)
• M11. Final Master's Degree Project (12 ECTS, Obligatory)

Optional modules:

Speciality in Project Culture

• M7. Design Culture (6 ECTS, Optional)
• M8. Design Research II (6 ECTS, Optional)

Speciality in Visual Creation

• M9. Contemporary Thought II (6 ECTS, Optional)
• M10. Artistic Research II (6 ECTS, Optional)

Module description

Module 1: Contemporary Thought I

Review of some of the theories and discussions on philosophy and the theory of art and design, of contemporary sociology and cultural anthropology, particularly the more relevant ones for a correct understanding and updating of the crossroads at which contemporary art and design find themselves.

Module 2: Contemporary Art

Critical examination of the most significant recent artistic phenomena and their relationship with the artistic practices and other cultural practices of the last century, especially those of design, and focusing all those that exemplify the passage of the experimentation of the avant-garde to contemporary artistic research.

Module 3: Contemporary Design

Research seminar on creation and innovation processes in relation to techno-cultural and socio-economic transformations that comprise current design. Particular attention will be given to the appearance of new fields within design practice, their presence in emerging economic sectors related to services and knowledge, and the hybridisation of design with cultural practices and the creative industries as a whole.

Module 4: Artistic Research I

Seminars and workshops with artists and about artists and contemporary art movements given by well-known creators and specialists. The main theme is art as a form of thought and research into all types of anthropological, political and social questions which provides students with an overall cartography of these kinds of cognitive practices and how they function.

Module 5: Design Research I

Critical analysis of new trends in design processes and their expansion into emerging fields and practices based on classification and valuation criteria constructed from institutions (museums, collections, publications).

Module 6: Critique Workshop

Art and design critique workshop run by professional critics, the curator's department and other professionals in the art of writing. During the workshop, art and design critique analysis exercises will be conducted by well-known professionals and, most especially, weekly critique writing and review practices by the students.

Module 7: Design Culture

Review of certain theories and authors, who, from the theory of design, philosophy, sociology, anthropology, psychology and other social sciences have helped enrich the theoretical frameworks of current design.

Module 8: Design Research II

Conferences, workshops and seminars which take a critical look at the new trends in design processes and their expansion into emerging fields and practices. Specific fields will be studied which favour the confluence of thought, scientific knowledge, artistic proposals and everyday practices. We will look at how these make us review aesthetic concepts and how they are creating new professional categories.

Module 9: Contemporary Thought II

A select and critical study of some of the discussions about the philosophy and theory of art and design that highlight the more distinctive traits of contemporary artistic practices, such as creativity, performativity, postmediality, intellectualisation and participation.

Module 10: Artistic Research II

Seminar on contemporary artists and artistic movements given by specialist creators and leading figures. The main topic is case analysis through which students learn how to distinguish when a project contributes to knowledge and to what extent.

Module 11: Final Master's Degree Project (FMP)

This consists of research work into art and/or design of a theoretical and/or practical nature with an original focus that may be considered to contribute to the knowledge about its subject.

The Final Master’s Degree Project is supervised by one of the master’s degree lecturers. The Final Master’s Degree Project will consist of the writing and viva voce of the result of an original research project. The Final Master’s Degree Project can be in two formats: ‘paper’ or project

‘Paper’ format
If it is a ‘paper’ project, it must focus on a specific research question and discuss the importance of this question in academic debates. This involves demonstrating:

• knowledge and critical understanding of the academic debates about a subject
• the capacity to focus the project on one specific question
• the ability to establish connections between the theory and the examples or specific cases

The Final Master’s Degree Project must be submitted in the appropriate format to be presented as a ‘paper’ to an academic publication. Attached to this document will be a report detailing the research process followed, highlighting the contribution made by procedure and content that enable the quality of the research presented to be assessed. Overall, it will be a minimum of 30,000 words.

Project format

Given its nature, the Master's Degree in Research in Art and Design promotes artistic research and/or creative design research projects as Final Master’s Degree Projects with a level of completion and resolution that allow them to be displayed publicly. This work must be accompanied by a reasoned report on the project (including the proposal, the references cited and the detailed description of the production process) of a minimum of 17,000 words. Possibly, with the agreement of the Master’s Degree Coordinator, the project supervisor will decide the suitability and characteristics of the work chosen by the student.

Guia TFM 2020-2021

Teaching staff in previous editions

Pere Castells, Oriol Castro, Fèlix Fanés, Christopher Green, Fréderic Lagarrigue, Antoni Marí, Yves Michaud, Antoni Miralda, Martí Perán, Josep Perelló, Francisca Pérez, Sevérine Rouillan, Ismael Vallvé

Additional documents

Download MURAD report (in Spanish).
More info in the Quality section of this website.

To gain admission to a Master's Course, it is essential, at the time of enrolment, to hold a university Degree or equivalent. Please read all the details regarding requirements for foreign students, application deadlines, languages or documents to be submitted for application at information page about Official Master.

Place reservation

• 1500€: 10 days after acceptance (this advance is offset against the final tuition fee).  

Enrolment:

• Remaining part of the enrolment fee, once the enrolment has been formalised (September). 

For further details check on academic info.

• Atmósfera activa : hacia una poética y política del espacio contemporáneo - Sílvia Bernard
• L’aparença de les coses (les paraules i les coses) - Marta Boix Anfosso
• Relat, recerca, reconstrucció : arxiu per a una història del disseny - Guillem Celada
• Impacte de les tecnologies de fabricació additiva en els processos creatius - Ariadna Fabregas Domingo
• Visualitzacions infogràfiques: dispositius crítics amb capacitat funcional - Enric Garrido Gabarrón
• A (IoT) Chairy Tale - Marc Ligos