Contemporary Art Theory

Awards: MA (eca)

Study modes: Full-time, Part-time

Funding opportunities

Placements/internships

Programme website: Contemporary Art Theory

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Programme description

Established in 2001, the Masters of Contemporary Art Theory (MA CAT) is a post-studio programme that supports the research and practices of artists and aspiring art professionals.

The MA CAT encourages practices that are speculative and reflective, developing artistic research on, and in, a range of media, sites and organisations.

The programme supports an applied knowledge of art now, grounding schooling in the practices of art and contemporary art theory as well as extra-disciplinary and intermedial approaches.

The taught curriculum consists of an innovative series of learning sprints designed to support the development of your artistic research and practice through:

workshops
practica
partnerships with art organisations
carefully scaffolded approaches to collaborative inquiry (‘problem-based learning’)
peer-production (‘paragogy’).

You will create art projects designed to engage and develop emerging hypereconomies of contemporary art and its variety of media, technologies, images, artefacts, tactics, texts, cultural contexts and professional practices.

Our philosophy and values

A defining aspect of our theory programme is the emphasis we place upon speculative scepticism – not starting from the position of knowing what post-studio practice is; rather, being motivated by speculation on what it might be.

We generate a paragogic atmosphere that supports mutual cooperation; a dynamic, intellectually ambitious environment in which staff and students can learn together.

You will generate and embody an assemblage of practices, combining process of production, translation and consumption. Our students make this happen;

they often work on collaborative forms of practice and inquiry. The programme staff are therefore eager to support applicants based on their ability to work as part of a creative team as much as we are interested in their artistic and academic potential.

We attract students with very different backgrounds and experiences. This difference generates dissensus, diversity and a richness that is key to learning about, and expanding, the field of contemporary art.

The focus on building a supportive creative community through innovative forms of peer-generated knowledge (such as open learning and problem-based learning), on the rigorous and experimental combination of theory and practice and the international profile of the student body makes our master’s programme unique.

The CAT faculty and our partnership organisations regularly identify and examine what are (currently) accepted notions of artistic production as a means of encouraging our students to develop a highly ambitious research-practice.

To do this, academic staff aim to provide specialist support for students wishing to pursue research on and in established fields of contemporary art practices and theory, while fully engaging with the ever-changing context of emerging media and innovative forms of critical and organisational praxis.

What and how you will study

Artists think and act. Being contemporary means engaging with multiple perspectives and different ways of learning. Students of contemporary art theory conduct research in relation to a broad range of creative, cultural and historical contexts in ways that are speculative, writerly, philosophical, organisational, social and economic.

By engaging equally with the production of people and social relations, and the production of material objects, our students shift from seeing parts to seeing wholes, from being disempowered and reactive to actively creating their artworlds. For this to happen, our students do not simply learn how to see things from an artist’s viewpoint.

The MA CAT is an integrated curriculum specifically crafted to develop an understanding of multiple perspectives in ways that open different possibilities for our graduates from those offered by cookie-cutter MFA studio and curatorial programmes. This means focusing not only on what we teach, but on how we learn, and on the many different environments we learn in.

On the CAT programme, artistic learning and research is conducted in a wealth of settings: in galleries, biennale, residencies, art fairs, and - of course - through artistic and theoretical practice.

Artistic learning and research are exploded networks; our students learn how to pool and share resources to cultivate a climate in which all communities flourish.

Programme structure

During the programme you will apply aesthetics, art theory and criticism, art historiography, anthropology, and conceptual personae to engage with contemporary art’s variety of media, technologies, images, artefacts, tactics, texts, cultural contexts and professional practices.

The programme consists of 4 taught courses and 1 research capstone. Each taught course is broken down further into 3 or 4 ‘learning sprints’ which last 2-3 weeks.

You will complete each learning sprint to build the knowledge and skills required to tackle the summative assignment at the end of each course.

Semester 1 – Taught Courses

Themes in Contemporary Art (40 Credits)

This course develops the core artistic research method of ‘thematic integration’ by focusing on three themes directly drawn from the current research of teaching staff.

Having completed the three learning sprints, you will then develop and work with your own theme in a summative project.

Contemporary Art and Open Learning (20 Credits)

This multidisciplinary course engages with areas of overlap between the ‘educational turn’ in present-day artistic research and current developments in the field of open educational research.

Semester 2 – Taught Courses

Curating (40 Credits)

This course develops the core artistic research method of ‘curating’.

Contemporary Art + Anthropology (20 Credits)

This multidisciplinary course engages with areas of overlap between artistic research methods and research methods developed within the discipline of Anthropology.

Summer – Supervised Research Capstone

Contemporary Artistic Research Project (60 Credits)

After passing all four taught courses, you will continue to work on your own artistic research project over the summer with the support of your supervisor.

Your research capstone can take the form of a written text (‘thesis)’, or it can be practical (‘project’).

Part-time study

As a post-studio programme, the MA CAT is specifically designed to support part-time study. The CAT has a large community of alumni who have successfully completed their studies part-time.

Part-time students take one taught course each semester. You do not take any taught courses in the summer of Year 1. You complete the final capstone in a single semester in the summer of your second year after passing the four taught courses.

Part-time students must set aside 20 hours per week during each semester in total for their studies.

A single course will normally require a half-day attendance on-campus in Edinburgh each week for classes, with some additional time for 1:1 tutorials. These tutorials can be conducted online if this is beneficial for part-time students.

The MA CAT programme defaults to blended learning and is very well supported by the latest learning technology. Our substantial Virtual Learning Environment (Blackboard Learn) contains a wide range of structured learning resources, including recordings of lectures and live classes. This makes it particularly conducive to part-time study.

The CAT also enables the Contemporary Artistic Research Project capstone to be completed entirely off-campus which, again, is of great benefit to flexible learning.

Find out more about compulsory and optional courses

We link to the latest information available. Please note that this may be for a previous academic year and should be considered indicative.

Award	Title	Duration	Study mode
MA (eca)	Contemporary Art Theory	1 Year	Full-time	Programme structure 2024/25
MA (eca)	Contemporary Art Theory	2 Years	Part-time	Programme structure 2024/25

Work placements/internships

Several summative projects in the MA CAT are ‘live’ and take place at, or in collaboration with, our partner institutions. For example, the ‘Open Toolkit’ project in Semester 1 is conducted in partnership with the Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop. The summative projects of the Curating course in Semester 2 have also been produced in collaboration with an array of Edinburgh and Glasgow-based arts organisations since the CAT programme was inaugurated in 2001.

You are free to establish and pursue placements as part of your work for your capstone Contemporary Artistic Research Project, should it be deemed suitable to your aspirations.

There are many successful examples of such fieldwork in the CAT Archive.We strongly advise students to fairly contract such placements in alignment with the Scottish Artists Union Recommended Rates of Pay. The MA CAT does not support (or require) unremunerated artworking (e.g. unpaid internships).

Learning outcomes

The programme aims to provide you with both an overall level of expertise in recent developments in art practices and related cultural theories and research methods, and a high degree of specialisation within this field, culminating in an original Artistic Research Project. This programme has the following specific aims:

To undertake a systematic examination of major international art practices now.
To analyse the major themes within art theory and curatorial studies that are currently informing art practices, institutions and related cultural ecologies.
To explore some of the principal critical, methodological and theoretical positions from other disciplines informing the current production and interpretation of contemporary art and its organisational contexts.
To provide you with a set of research methods and critical tools necessary for the advanced analysis and creative organisation of your own artistic research.
To provide you with a set of competencies, skills and understanding that will enable you either to undertake further academic research or to pursue a range of creative careers.
To explore some of the principal critical and theoretical positions informing the interpretation of your artistic research and its organisational contexts.
To provide you with a set of competencies, skills and understanding that will enable you to pursue a rewarding life as an artist, writer, curator or arts professional.

Career opportunities

The programme nurtures the creative, organisational and economic knowledge required for a career in today’s contemporary art world(s), enabling you to integrate a range of perspectives traversing the roles of artist, academic, art critic, producer and curator.

The Theory programme bridges the gap between undergraduate and doctoral research, preparing you to make an application to a PhD programme. The MA CAT will also support your creative and professional development as an art educator.

The programme is aimed both at aspiring arts professionals and professional artists who want to develop a research-practice by extending their practical, theoretical, organisational and economic engagement with contemporary art. It develops from a broad to a specialist understanding of the technical resources and validating contexts in which artists work today.

Professional Development

Our programme will help you develop a creative and organisational professional-practice, one that allows you to take control of the production and distribution of your work by effectively combining the roles of professional artist, theorist and programmer.

Our unique focus on artistic learning also means that you will graduate with a heightened awareness of the educational possibilities of contemporary art as a catalyst for social and political transformation.

Multidisciplinary development

Current professionals

If you are a professional artist/theorist/curator, the CAT programme will greatly expand and develop both your existing knowledge of contemporary art and your own practice, situating both in relation to emerging tendencies in cognate disciplines in the arts, humanities and social sciences such as materialist and cultural studies, educational research, geography, and social anthropology.

Aspiring professionals

If you are an aspiring art professional with a non-art background, the CAT programme scaffolds and supports your conversion to contemporary art from related undergraduate disciplines in the arts, humanities or social sciences. Dedicated to widening participation in the arts and demystifying artistic learning, the CAT programme is unique in offering this bridge to anyone seeking a way in to our discipline.

Researcher development

This programme will specifically prepare you to establish a scholarly and artistic research-practice, enabling you to embark on a professional career as a researcher within the broad field of contemporary art in both academic (PhD) and artworld settings.

Field trips and campus facilities

Field trips

We make extensive use of fieldwork as a core component of teaching and artistic research. There are two broad forms of ‘fieldwork’:

Field-workshops

The MA CAT is dedicated to the development of authentic learning in real-life professional settings. As such, several of our classes take place off-campus at our partner institutions (galleries, art workshops, museums, artists’ organisations, and so on).

These classes are called ‘workshops’. In most cases, workshops are devised and run by staff employed at partner institutions.

From form to field:

The shift from form towards field is core both to understanding contemporary art and pivotal to post-studio practices. As such, the MA CAT specifically teaches multidisciplinary methods that relate to the multiple perspectives of ‘field’. Key here are environmental art, relationalism, social practice, ethnography, fieldnotes, a/r/tography, augmented reality(games), worlding, and artistic learning.

Facilities

Classroom and tutorial teaching mainly takes place in the School of Art - Main Building of Edinburgh College of Art, Lauriston Campus.

We also makes extensive use of blended learning (lecture recordings, Blackboard LEARN, MS Teams are key learning technologies).

The programme also uses ‘fieldwork’ - site-related and experiential learning off campus.

The programme has its own ‘Project Space’, used as a teaching resource for the Curating course.

Lauriston campus redevelopment

ECA are excited to be undertaking a capital redevelopment of ECA’s Lauriston campus over the next 3 years, from April 2024 to April 2027.

The project aims to maximise the use of existing space, improve accessibility, and create a vibrant campus that fosters collaboration and innovation.

The project involves refurbishing and repurposing various spaces across the Lauriston campus, including technical facilities, student and teaching spaces, and the relocation of the Reid School of Music from Alison House to the Lauriston campus. New social spaces, seminar rooms, and studios are being created to accommodate our growing community.

You can find more about the project at the below link:

Building work starts at ECA’s Lauriston campus | Edinburgh College of Art

Entry requirements

These entry requirements are for the 2025/26 academic year and requirements for future academic years may differ. Entry requirements for the 2026/27 academic year will be published on 1 Oct 2025.

Normally a UK 2:1 honours degree or its international equivalent.

If you do not meet the academic entry requirements, we may still consider your application on the basis of relevant professional experience.

Students from China

This degree is Band C.

Postgraduate entry requirements for students from China

International qualifications

Check whether your international qualifications meet our general entry requirements:

Entry requirements by country

English language requirements

Regardless of your nationality or country of residence, you must demonstrate a level of English language competency which will enable you to succeed in your studies.

English language tests

We accept the following English language qualifications at the grades specified:

IELTS Academic: total 6.5 with at least 6.0 in each component. We do not accept IELTS One Skill Retake to meet our English language requirements.
TOEFL-iBT (including Home Edition): total 92 with at least 20 in each component. We do not accept TOEFL MyBest Score to meet our English language requirements.
C1 Advanced (CAE) / C2 Proficiency (CPE): total 176 with at least 169 in each component.
Trinity ISE: ISE II with distinctions in all four components.
PTE Academic: total 65 with at least 59 in each component. We do not accept PTE Academic Online.
Oxford ELLT: 7 overall with at least 6 in each component.

Your English language qualification must be no more than three and a half years old from the start date of the programme you are applying to study, unless you are using IELTS, TOEFL, Trinity ISE or PTE, in which case it must be no more than two years old.

Degrees taught and assessed in English

We also accept an undergraduate or postgraduate degree that has been taught and assessed in English in a majority English speaking country, as defined by UK Visas and Immigration:

UKVI list of majority English speaking countries

We also accept a degree that has been taught and assessed in English from a university on our list of approved universities in non-majority English speaking countries (non-MESC).

Approved universities in non-MESC

If you are not a national of a majority English speaking country, then your degree must be no more than five years old at the beginning of your programme of study.

Find out more about our language requirements: