Start date September/October 2006
For details and to enrol, please visit Thames Valley University - MA in Performance and Media Health or contact course leader Robert Sholl: robert.sholl@tvu.ac.uk
To discuss the course, contact course leader Andy Evans on 020-7602-2707
Applications are invited for this new course, and will be considered right up to the start date of the course at the end of September 2006.
This course will give you a university qualification you can use in your career
NB - Please note that you don’t have to have a first degree; if you have worked in the arts and media you will be considered for a place. You will also be considered for a place if you work in health, management, HR or any other capacity where your clients are arts and media people.
Applications will be welcome from a wide variety of people including:
a) Performers (e.g. music, acting, singing, dance)
b) Artists, designers, craft workers and people in the visual and creative arts
c) Performers and artists changing careers into the health sector
d) Media people of many kinds, e.g. advertising, PR, broadcasting, film, IT
e) Management, HR and other relevant staff of arts, media and publishing companies
f) Staff of charities and other organisations who deal with performers, artists and media people
g) Academics in performing and creative arts colleges or in media departments
h) Teachers within performance, creative and media contexts
i) Health professionals – doctors, counsellors, psychologists and many more including complementary and alternative health practitioners
If you want to enrol, you will need one of the following:
a) A relevant first degree (BA, BSc, Bmus etc)
b) A full time performance/arts degree or diploma, PLUS you will need to submit an essay on a subject within the area of performance and media health of at least 1,500 words and attend a viva voce to discuss the essay.
c) Equivalent professional experience PLUS you will need to submit an essay on a subject within the area of performance and media health of at least 1,500 words and attend a viva voce to discuss the essay.
Note that this MA does not give you a practicing qualification – for instance, if you want to be a counsellor you will need to do the usual counselling training. What it does give you is the in-depth knowledge to deal with performers, creatives and health aspects of the media, as taught by the leading practitioners in Britain in this field, a number of whom are authors of the standard texts on their subjects.
The course may be taken Full-time (one year) or Part-time (2 years) and the second year may be done by distance learning where it consists of the Dissertation only. Sessions are scheduled for weekday evenings from 6pm to 9pm. The five modules that make up the course are:
1) Psychology and human factors
2) Health and ergonomics
3) Media and Creative factors
4) The Creative Therapies
5) Dissertation (includes training in research methods)
Format choices: from just one evening a week:
The format choices are very flexible, allowing you three different stages of
qualification, according to the time you have available – MA, Postgraduate
Certificate (PG Cert.) and Postgraduate Diploma (PG Dip).
This is the 4 modules plus dissertation. Two Semesters (FT) or four (PT). This is the highest qualification offered and would give you the option for applying for a PhD to do further research.
This is the easiest and quickest option, which will give you a recognised university qualification. You would do just 2 modules – one evening a week for a year, or two evenings a week for one semester. To suit different needs, we suggest these pathways. If you read the programme of sessions, you will see which parts of the course apply to you:
Psychology and Human factors (Sem1) Health and ergonomics (Sem 2)
The Creative Therapies (Sem1) Media and creative factors (Sem 2)
Psychology and Human factors (Sem1) Media and creative factors (Sem 2)
The Creative Therapies (Sem1) Health and ergonomics (Sem 2)
Psychology and Human factors (Sem1) The Creative Therapies (Sem1)
(Note that the above choice enables the PG Cert to be completed in 1 semester, which may interest students from outside London ~ The Dissertation can be added for a PG Dip and completed by distance learning)
This consists of 2 modules, as the PG Cert above PLUS the Dissertation. This is a higher level qualification and a good option if you are happy writing a dissertation. You can then do the extra two modules to make up a full MA. It would also be possible to do just the four taught modules without doing a dissertation, and obtain a PG Dip.
The programme of sessions is as follows, and is taught by leading figures in this field, some world renowned experts. Many – as you can see from the reading lists - have written standard texts on their subject:
1. Introduction to course Andy Evans
What range of issues do performers need help with? What is the data on clinics who see performers – what is the breakdown of medical versus psychological issues, and frequency of seeing different types of performer – musician, actor, dancer, other. What particular problems are associated with different instruments and their instrumentalists? How are performers seen, assessed and treated? What organisations are involved, here and abroad? What is being done in colleges and places of education? What is the future direction of care and good practice?
What do we know about the performer as a client in counselling and healthcare? How is the performer perceived by regular sources of help, and vica versa? Are there optimal guidelines which may differ from the norm, and practical considerations that make performers different as clients?
2. Personality and values of the artist Andy Evans
What is the basic personality of the performer? How does it differ from the norm? What similarities and differences do we find between musicians (popular and classical), actors and dancers? What alternative careers are performers interested in, including dancers after transition? What are performers strongest values and weakest values? What other factors do we know about the personality and make-up of performers?
Data on performing artists (musicians, classical and popular, actors, dancers) from various sources:
* MBTI Myers Briggs type Indicator
* Cattell 16PF
* Belbin Team Roles
* Occupational Preferences
* Job Values
3. The Psychology of Talent and Ability Dr Glenn D. Wilson
What do we know about the musical mind and musical ability? How does it develop, and how can it be fostered. Examples of musical excellence. Talent, charisma and ability in actors and other performers.
4. Strategies and techniques to enhance performance Dr.Aaron Williamon
Peak Performance – what is it, how does it happen, and how frequent is it. Can it be induced? How do you prepare students for performance, and enable them to give of their best and maintain their health – research at the Royal College of Music.
5. Assessment, auditions, competitions Catherine Butler
Preparing in advance for auditions. Pre-performance containment. Optimising the event. Perception of what actually happens in an audition. Strategy factors for singing and music auditions. Choice of programme and work order. What happens to competition winners and losers? Are competitions fair?
6. Working with actors John Cunningham
Acting – an overview of the profession. Equity statistics on actors. Specific problems of actors. Role play. The mask. Improvising. What is star-quality? Can one actually develop charisma? What's the most important quality or talent an actor needs in order to be a success? The position of actresses in the profession. Can they return after having children?
Workshops – do they work, and which ones to do. Quality of letters to casting directors, photos and CVs. Do you need to be in London to work? What to do when out of work? Can one help getting depressed in this profession? What happens to the untalented who still want to act? Advice on finding and dealing with an agent? Do agents only work for top stars? Is it a good idea to understudy? Managing auditions – choice of pieces, when to arrive, how to mentally prepare. Dealing with nerves. Getting on with directors and fellow actors.
7. Working with singers Mary Hammond
Preparing singers for performance. Musical Theatre. Pop singers – their career structure. Importance of TV and the media and competition winners and losers. Coaching and teaching singers. Problems, professional and psychological, of singers.
8. Dancers – their careers and transition Linda Yates
Injury in dancers. International organisations who deal with the care and career transition of dancers. How the Dancers Career Development helps UK dancers. Difference between the major companies and independent dancers. Age at resettlement. Personality data for dancers. What careers do ex-dancers go into – statistics. Successful and unsuccessful resettlement. Future directions.
9. Gender, family and relating factors in artists Catherine Butler
Perception of the artist inside society. Differences between male and females, straight and gay in the arts in current and historical perspectives. The performing child – a) relations to family and parental love b) relations with teachers, talent schools and places of education. The effect of talent and fame within families and between siblings. The effect of performing on a performer’s relationships and children.
10. Motivation in performers Andy Evans
Early motivation – spells and curses, permissions and injunctions (Transactional Analysis, or TA), personal contracts. Choice of performing type, style and instrument. Primary and Secondary Motivation. Similarities and differences between motivation in performing artists and sportspeople. The 3 ego states – superior, inferior and realistic, and fantasies of being an undiscovered genius or a fraud. Life Scripts (TA) typical of performers.
11. Stress, depression and burnout in performers Andy Evans
Stressors affecting performing artists – research by Dr Geoff Wills and others. Steps to deal with stress. Stress prevention. Data on careers of actors – work, unemployment. Breaks in performers careers. Combining careers. Choices of money or artistic quality. Retirement.
Depression in performing artists. Burnout – what causes it, and at what age? What is its nature? How is it treated, and is it reversible? Can careers continue after burnout?
12. Performance Anxiety Andy Evans
What data do we have on performance anxiety? What are the myths about performance anxiety? What is it – overview of different forms it takes? What is adrenalin, and its effects? Beta blockers and their uses. How to manage your adrenalin reaction. Classic Stage Fright – learned responses and their nature. Single fears – being sick, passing out, memory loss – and how they relate to adrenalin effects. How to stop catastrophising. Extinguishing the fear of events going wrong. Social phobia – fear of fellow professionals, bullying in orchestras.
Psychosomatic fears, burnout and loss of function.
Essential texts:
Evans, A, Secrets of Performing Confidence (A&C Black, London, 2004)
Sloboda J. Exploring the Musical Mind: Cognition, Emotion, Ability, Function (OUP, 2004)
Williamon A, Musical Excellence: Strategies and Techniques to Enhance Performance (OUP 2004)
Wilson, Dr Glenn D., Psychology for Performing Artists (Whurr 2001)
Additional texts:
Wills, G. and Cooper, C., Pressure Sensitive (Sage Books, UK, 1988)
Green B, Gallwey W. T. The Inner Game of Music (Pan, 2003)
Green B, The Mastery of Music: Ten Keys to Musical Excellence (Pan, 2003)
Bates, B The Way of the Actor: A Path to Knowledge & Power (Shambhala 2001)
1. Performers clinics: history and data Dr Wynn Parry
Medical institutions and services for performers and their funding, international bodies. Medical issues affecting performers: data from clinics and surveys, frequency and distribution of problems, treatment methods..
2. The voice and its care Dr Garfield Davis
The voice and its care. The lanynx, its physiology, function and use in performance. Laryngeal disorders: diagnosis, surgery, treatment and prevention. Good performance, anxiety, travel and medications. The artistry of the voice, its attributes and the temperament of singers and actors.
3. Medical problems in British Orchestras Dr Frances Carter
Medical problems of British Orchestras – AMABO and its history. Nature and incidence of problems and their treatment. Comparisons with non-orchestral players and foreign data.
4. Hand and Upper Limb problems Ian Winspur/Dr Wynn Parry
The musicians hand and its use by different instrumentalists. Misuse and overuse, Surgical interventions and their outcomes. Specific conditions. Dystonia in performers – incidence, treatment, rehabilitation and online help. Prevention of disorders.
5. Musculoskeletal problems, dance and performance Justin Howse
Musculoskeletal problems in dance and performance.
6. Hypermobility and rheumatic disorders Prof. Rodney Grahame
Hypermotility, osteoarthritis, rheumatic diseases, management of rheumatic disorders.
7. Misuse Prevention, health education, hearing loss Dr Penny Wright
Prevention, health education, hearing loss and the management of practical issues affecting performers. Good practice, prevention and guidance for younger performers. Health education within colleges and places of education. Insurance and litigation.
8. Integrative treatment plans – case studies Dr Karenna Caun
Diagnosing and treating more than one presenting problem. Drugs – medical and recreational and their effects on performance. Types of intervention and their effectiveness.
9. Integrative music practice Emma Peake
What do music teachers need to know about integrating health, prevention, postural and psychological factors in their work with students? Practice techniques, mental rehearsal, proper movement, avoidance of injury. Tenets of teaching – types and stereotypes of teachers. Holistic teaching – good practice, boundaries.
10. Ergonomics of performance Paul Anders Søgaard
The ergonomics of performance – specific applications to instrumentalists, aids to performance, the performing environment and its quality and acoustics, mental approaches to ergonomics including Zen and Alexander Technique.
11. Complementary Health Prof Nicky Robinson
Complementary health and the performer. The range of healthcare available – physios, osteopaths, chiropractors, other interventions. Data on the effectiveness of alternative health methods, specific areas of help to performers, their use and frequency.
12. Feldenkreis + Alexander Robert Sholl/Cat Jary
How do postural techniques help performers. What is their history and current usage. Specific applications of posture techniques to different types of performers.
Essential texts:
Winspur I, Wynn Parry C.B, the Musician’s Hand – A clinical guide (Martin Dunitz 1998)
Davies, D. Garfield, Jahn A, Care of the Professional Voice (Butterworth Heinemann 1998)
Howse J, Hancock S, Dance Technique and Injury Prevention (A&C Black 2000)
Additional texts:
Shapiro H, Waiting for the Man: The Story of Drugs and Popular Music (Helter Skelter 2003)
Medical Problems of Performing Artists Journal - http://www.sciandmed.com/mppa/
Gelb M., Body Learning, An Introduction to the Alexander Technique (Aurum 2004)
Feldenkreis M. Awareness through Movement (HarperCollins 1991)
1. Major themes in media studies Dr Eryl Price-Davies
What are the main themes in media studies and how do these impact on people as users, viewers, creatives and audiences.
2. Fame – its nature and history Dr Glenn D Wilson
Fame – how are stars created, the nature of stardom, marketing, Hollywood and the media. Fame within society - politics and role models. Exhibitionism, charisma, lust for life, narcissism. Mental problems associated with stars. Stars and celebrities who can’t cope: stage fright, depression, flight, suicide. The star, the audience, fan behaviour and stalking. Lookalikes.
3. The impact of TV Juliet Dwek
How does TV affect peoples’ lives? The appeal of soaps. Celebrities and overnight fame. Reality TV - docu-soaps, talk shows, ambush TV, surveillance TV. Big Brother and similar shows – why are they so successful. Psychological effects of reality TV on participants.
4. Games – their nature, effects and future Nick S Dalton
Games, their history, types and content. Psychology of games – survival, competition, aggression, violence and death. Positive uses of games – altruism, education. The effect of computer games on children and adults. Male and female roles in games. Convergence of games and film and their future.
5. Advertising, persuasion and spin Andy McStay
The advertising industry – does it do a good job within society? Persuasion in PR and the media. Spin in politics.
6. Violence, sex and censorship in film and broadcasting Dave Austin, BBFC
Censorship and its history. What bodies are responsible in the UK and abroad? What is the role of the government? Censorship and culture – religious groups and vested interests. Who censors the censors? The history of censorship in film.Censorship in broadcasting. Censorship in the music industry. Is there proof of the harmful effects of violence? Sex, nudity and the sex industry. Future directions and options.
7. The Information Age, computers and Net culture Eryl Price-Davies
The Information Age – its history and development in cultures. Techno utopia and dystopia. Organisational and cultural impact of new technology, globalism, distance learning, virtual workplaces. The sociology and philosophy of new technologies.
New technology, convergence, platforms and hardware. Connectivity, speed, storage and integration of systems.History and development of the Net, uses and culture.. Netiquette and user groups, sex and gender. Politics and ownership of information, surveillance, privacy, hacking and security. Content creators, users and clients - Ebay, websites, online shopping and business.
8. Issues and future of the Film Industry Jim Barratt, UK Film Council
What is the current state of UK film and film in the UK? What are the issues facing the UK industry (piracy, tax, globalisation and mobile production etc)? How is public policy meeting these challenges?
9. Issues and future of the Music Industry Steve Jones
Majors and independents. Sales figures and breakdowns. Format wars – how will recorded music be stored and made available? How are recordings archived?. Classification of popular music into categories (house, techno, R&B etc). Live bands and recorded music - home studios and their role in the industry. Clubs and DJs
Jazz and improvised music. Classical music – survival of orchestras and opera houses Dumbing down and crossover, high art and low art. Folk music and retaining traditions. World music. The future of the music industry
10. Creativity – personality, assessment, blocks Andy Evans
What is creativity? Creativity and intelligence. Convergent and divergent thinking. Lateral thinking and mind mapping. Creative flow and blocks. The creative environment. Assessing creativity – tests versus evaluation of creative product. Is everybody creative? What is the personality of high creatives. What factors do we see in the creative mind? What steps make up the creative process? Creatives in education – failures and successes, recognition of the ‘gifted child’. The creative artist in society and politics. Prizes and awards, such as Nobel Prize and Turner prize. Creativity and madness. Outstanding creatives and how they worked.
11. Simulation, animation and Virtual Reality Nick S Dalton
Representations of man and their evolution. From cartoon and puppet to computer grahics– what is the appeal of animation? Virtual environments, virtual archaeology, Virtual Reality.Lifelike representation – avatars, humanoid and non-humanoid. Immersion and duality. Psychological and humanitarian uses of VR.
12. Media Ecology Andy Evans
Escapism – definitions, types, personalities, characters. Healthy and unhealthy escapism, creativity, rebellion, evasion. Escapism, the media, society and ecology. History and schools of media ecology. Social and psychological effects of new media – the self, sex, tolerance of technology. Ethics and responsibilities in future directions. Computerphobia, addiction and the N-generation
Essential texts
Evans A., This Virtual Life – Escapism and Simulation in our Media World (Fusion Press, London 2001)
Lister et al, New Media – A critical introduction (Routledge 2003)
McQuail D, McQuail’s Mass Communication Theory, Ed.5 (Sage, London 2005)
Additional texts:
Arieti, S., Creativity, the Magic Synthesis (Basic Books, NY, 1976)
Aldgate A., Robertson J C., Censorship in Theatre and Cinema (2005)
Dyer, R Stars (BFI Publishing, London UK 1998)
Postman, N. Amusing ourselves to death, Methuen 1987
Turkle S., Life on the Screen : Identity in the Age of the Internet
Brenton S, Cohen R, Shooting People: Adventures in Reality TV (Verso 2003)
1. The Power of the Arts Catherine Butler
The power of the arts to affect us. Music and its features – the ‘Mozart effect”, music in hospitals and other health areas. The cultural and historic effects of art, drama and dance.
2. Institutions and Therapeutic uses of arts therapies Ann Sloboda
Training and international scope and history of the movement. Recognition and use within Health Services. Ethical questions. Patient groups particularly open to the healing power of arts therapies – mental health, special needs, learning difficulties. Data on therapeutic uses. Location, environment and practice. Outcomes. Therapeutic arts for normal client groups – stress reduction and mind expansion.
3. Experiential workshop Ann Sloboda
Music therapy
4. Experiential workshop Ann Sloboda
Music therapy
5. Experiential workshop Ann Sloboda
Analytical Music therapy
6. Experiential workshop Helen Payne
Dance movement therapy
7. Experiential workshop Helen Payne
Dance movement therapy
8. Experiential workshop Anna Chesner
Psychodrama
9. Experiential workshop Anna Chesner
Psychodrama
10. Experiential workshop Philippa Brown
Art therapy
11. Experiential workshop Philippa Brown
Art therapy
12. Conclusions Catherine Butler
Similarities and differences between different therapies, how they work and the results they achieve.
Essential texts
Darnley-Smith R. and Patey H, Music Therapy (Sage 2003)
Karp M, the Handbook of Psychodrama (Routledge 1998)
Payne H, Dance Movement Therapy: Theory and Practice (Routledge 1992)
Dalley T and Case C, The Handbook of Art Therapy (Routledge 1992)
Additional texts:
British Journal of Music Therapy http://www.bsmt.org/journal.htm
Bunt l. and Hoskyns S, The Handbook of Music Therapy (Brunner Routledge 2002)
Eschen, J Analytical Music Therapy (Jessica Kingsley 2002)
Friedman R.L.The Healing Power of the Drum: A Psychotherapist Explores the Healing Power of Rhythm (White Cliffs Media 2000)
Jennings S. and Higgins C, Introduction to Dramatherapy: Ariadne's Ball of Thread (Jessica Kingsley 1997)
Skaife S. and Huet V, Art Psychotherapy Groups - Between Pictures and Words (Routledge 1998)
For details or to enrol - Contact course leader:
Robert Sholl ~ robert.sholl@tvu.ac.uk