DEPARTMENT OF ART
MPHIL & PHD
FULL-TIME AND PART-TIME
STUDENT HANDBOOK
2015 – 2016
THIS HANDBOOK CONTAINS IMPORTANT INFORMATION AND MUST BE CONSULTED.
IT SHOULD BE USED IN CONJUNCTION WITH YOUR DEPARTMENTAL STUDENT HANDBOOK.
1
DISCLAIMER
The information in this handbook was correct in September 2015. Every effort is made to
ensure that the information is accurate, and Goldsmiths will undertake to inform students of
any substantial changes in the information contained in it. The University does not intend by
publication of the handbook to create any contractual or other legal relation with applicants,
accepted student, their advisers or any other person.
The University will not be responsible or liable for the accuracy or reliability of any of the
information in third party publications or websites referred to in this booklet.
UNIVERSITY REGULATIONS
All students are required to enrol at the beginning of their course of study at the University, to
re-enrol annually thereafter or inform the relevant officers if they withdraw.
By enrolling, you undertake to comply with the University's Programme and General
Regulations, and with the Charter, Statutes and Ordinances of the University. In the event of
any inconsistency existing between information provided in this handbook, and either the
Programme or General Regulations, the Programme and General Regulations shall govern in
all cases. The regulations can be found on the web at http://www.gold.ac.uk/regulations/
If you have any queries about apparent inconsistency between information in this handbook
and the Regulations, please contact the Senior Quality Manager in writing.
'FORCE MAJEURE'
Obligations of the University
Goldsmiths, University of London undertakes all reasonable steps to provide educational
services including teaching, examination, assessment and other related services, set out in its
prospectuses and programme literature (‘Educational Services’). However, except where
otherwise expressly stated, Goldsmiths, University of London regrets that it cannot accept
liability or pay any compensation where the performance or prompt performance of its
obligations to provide Educational Services is prevented or affected by "force majeure".
“Force majeure" means any event which the University could not, even with all due care,
foresee or avoid. Such events may include (but are not limited to) war or threat of war, riot,
civil strife, terrorist activity, industrial dispute, natural or nuclear disaster, adverse weather
conditions, interruption in power supplies or other services for any reason, fire and all similar
events outside our control.
THIS HANDBOOK IS AVAILABLE ELECTRONICALLY AND IN LARGE PRINT
FORMAT. IT IS AVAILABLE ON THE WEB ON THE DEPARTMENT OF ART
VIRTUAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
IF YOU WOULD LIKE A LARGE PRINT COPY PLEASE CONTACT THE
DEPARTMENT OF ART OFFICE. TELEPHONE 020 7919 7671
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CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION
4
2. MISSION STATEMENT
5
3. PROGRAMME STAFF
5
4. INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK
6
5. RESEARCH STUDENTS
10
6. SUPPORT FOR YOUR RESEARCH
A. COLLEGE-WIDE INDUCTION
10
B. DEPARTMENT INDUCTION
10
C. COMMUNICATION
10
D. SUPERVISION
11
E. RESEARCH SYMPOSIA
11
F. PRACTICE SEMINARS
12
G. RESEARCH INSTALLATIONS
12
H. SEMINARS AND RESEARCH GPS
13
I.TUTORIALS
13
J. TRAINING WORKSHOPS AND APR 14
K. GRADUATE SCHOOL
16
L. GRADUATE SYMPOSIUM
16
M. VLE
16
7. TRANSFER OF REGISTRATION FROM
MPHIL TO PHD
17
8. FINAL VIVA VOCE EXAM
20
9. RESEARCH BURSARIES
21
APPENDICES:
CENTRE FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE &
3
ACADEMIC WRITING
22
PHD GRADUATES 2000-
23
1. INTRODUCTION
Welcome to Goldsmiths. You are now a research student within the Department of Art and
the University of London.
The purpose of this handbook is to give you some useful information. It is meant to
accompany the more general Departmental Student Handbook.
The Department of Art at Goldsmiths, University of London, is one of international distinction,
of which Postgraduate programmes in Art are an integral part, and which has an international
reputation for creativity, innovation, and cultural diversity, attracting students from a worldwide constituency. The Department considers its particular expertise to be that of facilitating
artists, curators and writers to reflect upon, debate and present their individual and
collaborative practices in the context of the wider visual culture. The Department holds the
view that it is crucial that artistic production is seen as a continuing and transformative
undertaking, and that an understanding of innovative contemporary art is best achieved
through critical discourse and direct interaction with those who are involved in developing an
innovative culture of art, curating and writing in all its aspects.
As a postgraduate research student within the Department of Art you can expect to be part of
the wider Goldsmiths tradition which values interdisciplinary approaches to knowledge and
understanding and innovative practical and critical work which contributes to the creation of a
dynamic research culture. The Department's postgraduate students comprise approximately
30% of the Department’s overall student cohort. Increasingly significant are the research
(MPhil/PhD) students who make an important contribution to the department's research
culture as well as promoting external recognition of our standing within our chosen fields.
Please make sure that you read this handbook carefully.
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2. DEPARTMENTAL MISSION
STATEMENT FOR RESEARCH
The Department of Art is committed to:
•
facilitating a research culture of innovative artistic, curatorial and academic activity;
•
developing artistic, curatorial and academic research activity of the highest
international standard;
•
ensuring that the Department's research culture is closely bound to Learning and
Teaching provision, which is conceived to support and develop the individuated and
collaborative concerns of artistic, curatorial and written practice, the technological and
material underpinnings of practice, and critical reflection upon practice.
•
making its artistic, curatorial and academic research achievements available to a
wider audience.
3. RESEARCH PROGRAMME
STAFF
ACTING DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH PROGRAMMES: DR JOHN CHILVER
RESEARCH PROGRAMMES CORE TEAM: PROFESSOR MICHAEL NEWMAN, DR JOHN
CHILVER, DR EDGAR SCHMITZ
RESEARCH PROGRAMMES SUPERVSIORS: STAFF OF THE DEPARTMENT AND
ASSOCIATES
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4. THE INSTITUTIONAL
FRAMEWORK
FORMS OF REGISTRATION FOR RESEARCH IN
ART
N.B. You should read this departmental handbook in conjunction with the
College's Handbook for Research Students (http://grad.gold.ac.uk/forms/).
The generative and reflexive nature of practice is central to the Department’s research
culture. In all Art subjects (whether you specialize as an artist, a curator or a writer) you may
either register for practice-based research or register to undertake research leading to a
thesis submitted in accordance with the normal provisions of Goldsmiths research degrees.
If you are registered according to the normal provisions of Goldsmiths your final text has a
target of 40,000 words for an MPhil and 80,000 words for a PhD. If you are registered for a
practice-based research project you are expected to produce a series of artworks,
publications and/or documentation of a series of exhibitions or events developed whilst on the
programme as well as a dissertation of 20,000 words (MPhil) or 40,000 words (PhD). These
targets are an indicative guide and can be varied by 5,000 words where appropriate.
However presented at the final exam (viva), everything must be original work, and, where
appropriate, the practice element of your submission must be published in an approved form
of retainable documentation to accompany or form part of the bound written element.
All research students are registered first for an MPhil then may either transfer registration to
PhD following the successful completion of an upgrade exam (see below) or finish their study
at this stage by submitting their research for an MPhil exam.
PRACTICE-BASED
DEPARTMENT:
RESEARCH
IN
THE
At research level the Department’s aim is to support the development of original practice in
the form of artworks, curatorial production and writing. We consider both elements of the
practice-based PhD – the written element and the artistic or curatorial production – to be sites
of rigorous experimentation. The form your writing takes needs to be considered as clearly as
the form your artwork or exhibition-making takes. Each element must be understood as a
process of investigation. This investigation may take many directions both in shape and
subject matter, as relevant modes of cultural, social, scientific and philosophical production
become important through your research. It follows that we understand that the format of the
written element may be subject to negotiation, and equally that writing is not necessarily
confined to the written element of the thesis but may also form a core aspect of the practice.
In distinction to ongoing studio practice or a residency programme, a practice-based PhD is
an opportunity to place your artistic or curatorial work in relation to the work of other
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practitioners, be they other cultural workers or philosophers, sociologists, anthropologists,
political scientists, etc. The PhD offers you the possibility of following a curiosity for the
thought and action of others, both in a contemporary and historical context. Whilst artistic and
curatorial practice is seen as a primary site for critical and analytical articulation, the model of
a practice-based PhD also asserts the development of new relations between artistic,
curatorial and other modes of thought and action. Intertextual and interdisciplinary
experimentation is encouraged.
Throughout your period of study you will be expected to articulate the shape and form of your
research and the relation between its elements, and to discuss them in research fora on a
regular basis. You will be asked to identify and revise on a regular basis a series of research
questions and a synopsis or plan that you develop in the first months of your study. Both parts
of your research are likely to change as your project develops, as will the relation between
them.
Whether or not your thesis has a central examinable element of practice, it should:
•
consist of your own account of your investigations and must indicate how they appear
to you to advance the study of the subject;
•
form a distinct contribution to the knowledge of the subject and afford evidence of
originality by the shaping of new ideas, the development of new methodologies
and/or by the exercise of independent critical power. The criterion of originality will be
applied to the whole submission, encompassing both written text and
artistic/curatorial practice as well as the relations set up between them, where
appropriate.
REGULATIONS
The thesis must comply with the criteria defined in the University of London’s ‘Federal
Regulations for the MPhil and PhD’. These can be found online via the following link:
http://www.london.ac.uk/fileadmin/documents/students/postgraduate/phd_regs_200506.pdf
The following are incomplete extracts from the University of London’s ‘Regulations for the
Degrees of MPhil and PhD’ of September 2007:
“4. Requirements of a Thesis
4.1. Thesis for the PhD degree
4.1.1. The scope of the thesis shall be what might reasonably be expected after three or at
most four years of full-time study.
4.1.2. The thesis shall:
(a) consist of the candidate's own account of his/her investigations, the greater
proportion of which shall have been undertaken during the period of registration
under supervision for the degree;
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(b) and form a distinct contribution to the knowledge of the subject and afford
evidence of originality by the discovery of new facts and/or by the exercise of
independent critical power;
(c) and be an integrated whole and present a coherent argument;
(e) and be written in English and the literary presentation shall be satisfactory;
(f) and not exceed 100,000 words; a College may prescribe a lower number in
certain subject areas, which shall be detailed in the relevant College
regulations;
[Note: the bibliography is excluded from the word count; footnotes are included within the
word count; appendices are excluded from the word count and should only include material
which examiners are not required to read in order to examine the thesis, but to which they
may refer if they wish.]
(g) and include a full bibliography and references;
(h) and demonstrate research skills relevant to the thesis being presented;
(i) and be of a standard to merit publication in whole or in part or in a revised form
(for example, as a monograph or as a number of articles in learned journals).
4.3.9.
The form of the retainable documentation submitted by a candidate who is
undertaking practice/performance research in accordance with paragraphs 4.1.3.
to 4.1.5. or 4.2.3. to 4.2.5. above shall be approved by the College of registration
in accordance with the procedures mentioned in the above paragraph.”
It may be informative to compare the above regulations for PhD with those for MPhil below,
noting, in particular, how 4.2.2 (b) contrasts with criteria for PhD:
“4.2. Thesis for the MPhil degree
4.2.1. The scope of the thesis shall be what might reasonably be expected after two or at
most three years of full-time study.
4.2.2. The thesis shall:
(a) consist of the candidate’s own account of his/her investigations, the greater
proportion of which shall have been undertaken during the period of registration
under supervision for the degree;
(b) and be either a record of original work or of an ordered and critical exposition of
existing knowledge and shall provide evidence that the field has been surveyed
thoroughly;
(c) and be an integrated whole and present a coherent argument;
(d) and give a critical assessment of the relevant literature, describe the method of
research and its findings and include a discussion on those findings;”
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REGISTRATION PERIODS
These regulations are to be read in conjunction with the General Regulations for Students
and the University of London Regulations for the Degrees of MPhil and PhD.
It should be noted that the MPhil/PhD PhD is at level 8 of the Framework for Higher
Education Qualifications (FHEQ), and is not credit-rated.
For submission of MPhil thesis
(These periods refer to actual submission of an MPhil thesis, and are not relevant to MPhil
registration which is upgraded to PhD).
Period of
Registration
Minimum
Guideline
Normal Maximum
Full-time MPhil
2 years
2 years
3 years
Part-time MPhil
2 years pro rata
4 years
6 years
(‘Pro rata’ refers to the proportion of time spent on the thesis work.)
For submission of PhD thesis:
Period of
Registration
Minimum
Guideline
Normal Maximum
Full-time PhD
2 years
3 years
4 years
Part-time PhD
2 years pro rata
6 years
8 years
(‘Pro rata’ refers to the proportion of time spent on the thesis work.)
The ‘normal maximum’ period refers to the time by which all students should have completed
their thesis.
In exceptional circumstances, and with the support of the Departmental Postgraduate
Committee, it is possible for students to be granted a further one-year extension to their
registration beyond the normal maximum period. Requests for extension should be made by
the Departmental Research Committee to the Graduate School and will be considered by the
Dean of the Graduate School.
In no circumstances will registration be allowed to continue beyond this extension period.
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5. RESEARCH STUDENTS
We expect you to come to us with an MFA or MA in an appropriate subject, and prior
knowledge of your chosen area of exploration. We expect you to embark on your PhD on the
basis of an agreed research proposal. We also expect you to have, and show the ability to
further develop, the following skills:
i.
research skills, techniques and management;
ii.
appropriate technical skills in support of your practice;
iii. appropriate writing skills;
iv. the ability to participate in critical discussion.
6. SUPPORT FOR YOUR
RESEARCH
A. COLLEGE-WIDE INDUCTION
During the first week of your first academic year you are expected to attend the College
induction programme.
B. DEPARTMENT-SPECIFIC INDUCTION
During or close to the College Induction week you will also attend a number of departmental
induction events. These will include a discussion of anything in the handbook for research
students that you need to have clarified. Around this time there will also be library and
laboratory inductions.
C. COMMUNICATION
You should make sure that you inform the Department of Art Office if any of your contact
details change.
It is important that you provide details of your telephone numbers, email address and
home address to your supervisors to enable them to contact you.
Information will be sent to your college email address. You will be sent information to your
designated college email address only and should check this regularly.
Any mail sent to you via the Department will find its way to your pigeonhole. You will find
your pigeonhole outside the Department of Art Office. You should check this regularly for
information about the programme and other events.
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D. SUPERVISION
All students in the Department of Art are team supervised (either by two supervisors or by a
primary supervisor and a number of associate supervisors). Supervision also takes place via
workshops, reading groups and symposia (see below).
Supervisors have on-going oversight of your research project. They are required to have
regular meetings with you and agree a written report on progress, additional support and
make critical evaluations of all elements of your work. Generally speaking, your supervisors
will see you separately, unless required for reports meetings, to achieve consensus or resolve
more difficult matters.
Where appropriate, supervisors address both elements of the thesis. All tutorials with
supervisors require the completion of a proforma supervisory record sheet that is signed by
both student and supervisor. The student and supervisor each receive a copy of this report
and the original is lodged in the student file in the department office. This sets the agenda for
all supervisory meetings by reviewing current work and records the proposed direction of
further work.
The frequency of meetings with your supervisors will vary according to your research project
but you should expect more contact with supervisors in the first year of your study than
subsequent years. As your project develops it is likely that you will need more time between
meetings to develop both written and practice elements of your MPhil/PhD. For more
information on supervision, see the Research Student Handbook, which is available on the
Graduate School website.
The Department is required by the college to complete a first term report for all first year
students which monitors progress with the following questions:
•
Has the student established a clear project proposal and the objectives of the
project?
•
Does the student have the skill, knowledge and aptitude required for successful
completion of the project?
•
Is it feasible to complete the project on time? Are you as supervisor having regular
meetings with the student and keeping a short dated log or record of such meeting?
Each year you are required to write an end-of-year report with your supervisors. All report
forms are considered by the Department’s postgraduate research committee and
subsequently lodged with the Research Office. This constitutes a formal assessment of your
progress.
E. RESEARCH SYMPOSIA
Research symposia are held on a regular basis and are organized by research students and
tutors. The aim of the research symposia is to contextualize the individual research projects
of doctoral students within the milieu of contemporary artistic and curatorial practice and in
relation to developments in social, philosophical and cultural ideas. The symposia are open to
visitors from within the Department of Art as well as from staff and doctoral students from
other Departments in Goldsmiths and beyond. Collaborations between Department doctoral
11
students and galleries, curators, writers may be proposed, as can visits to exhibitions and
events that take place as part of symposia.
Normally, each symposium comprises:
•
the proposal of a pertinent theme
•
discussion of reading and/or viewing material distributed in advance
•
conversations and presentations with guest speakers
Symposia are normally themed around a concept, text, artwork or question. Themes can be
proposed by any student, normally at the end of the preceding year to allow for organization.
Attendance at symposia is not mandatory, but it is very strongly encouraged. However we
believe that the best way to foster our research culture is by discussing ideas and practices
amongst ourselves and with visitors.
Symposia dates for academic year 2015-16 will be advertised at the beginning of the autumn
term.
Symposia normally run for two to three days depending on their scale. It is expected that
supervisors and programme leaders of any student working as a Graduate Trainee Tutor (see
below) allow students to attend symposia whenever possible if there is a timetable clash,
however this is not always possible.
If you are attending a symposium please endeavour to attend all days and arrive on time in
order not to interrupt or necessitate colleagues to repeat discussion.
F. RESEARCH INSTALLATIONS:
During your time as a research student on the Art Department programmes if you are
following a practice-based research route, you must produce at least two presentations of
your practice to peers and guests.
The first of these takes place before the end of year one and allows you to test out how to
best demonstrate your practice in terms of your research trajectory in preparation for your
upgrade exam. This is an important opportunity to articulate the practice component of the
research in relation to the written component, to test boundaries or indeed to investigate how
to productively disregard such categorisations. The installation (in the broadest sense) also
helps you negotiate exhibition formats suitable to your respective research/practice and how
to best open these up for debate.
The second of these takes place around the final viva voce examination and opens the
material presented for the closed-doors defence up to an audience before or after the
examination.
Both presentations are open to peers on the programme and possibly other audiences
beyond this group. There is no set guideline for their degrees of publicness. To the contrary it
is expected that each presenter negotiate levels of access and visibility, as these parameters
are often an important dimension of practice-based research.
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The presentations should importantly enrich opportunities across the programme and beyond
to encounter and debate practices as well as formats. They could be embedded in or framed
by symposia, guest lecturers/ seminars and similar.
If you are in year one or coming up to your final exam please contact Edgar Schmitz to
discuss the timing and format of your installation.
Dates for 2016, with previews usually on Tuesdays from 5pm, are as follows:
th
26 April
rd
3 May
th
12 May* (*tbc)
th
17 May
th
24 May
G. SEMINARS AND RESEARCH GROUPS
Throughout the academic year current Department staff and visiting researchers and
practitioners will run rsearch groups and seminars for students enrolled on the MPhil/PhD
programme. These will either be focused on a body of text provided in advance or focused
around the development of a set of ideas or project. Groups will usually be announced at the
beginning of the academic year but may develop throughout.
If you would like to participate in a reading group or seminar you may be asked to write to
programme staff identifying the reasons for your interest. Occasionally groups will be formed
through the recommendation of programme staff. Group numbers may be limited. If you do
participate in a reading group or seminar you will be expected to attend all sessions and
actively contribute, dates of which will be available in advance.
Students often set up research groups themselves and are encouraged to do so.
H. TUTORIALS
In addition to regular meetings with your supervisors there will be the occasional opportunity
to call on additional expertise you, and your supervisors, feel to be appropriate to develop
your project. You can therefore seek tutorials from not only other academic staff at
Goldsmiths, but also from the wider community of the London art world, and those visiting
London.
You must speak to the programme director for permission to arrange such tutorials before
they take place and you may be asked to arrange the tutorial personally.
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I. TRAINING WORKSHOPS AND ANNUAL
PROGRESS REVIEW
Two training workshops will take place in 2014-15. Both are mandatory for first year students
(if you are registered as a part-time students and cannot attend the workshops due to work or
childcare, etc., please talk to the programme leader). Other students are welcome to attend
but are asked to attend all dates:
METHOD WORKSHOP
With John Chilver and guests
This workshop will consider what methodologies you will use to develop both elements of
your thesis and compare artistic and curatorial methodologies with other disciplines. As well
as developing practical aspects of your research, including describing, planning, pacing,
developing milestones for your research, this workshop will also consider the ongoing
international debate about the value and legitimacy of practice-based research within both
academia and the wider arts community. We will discuss what ‘research skills and training’
might be in the context of artistic and curatorial research.
DATES
Term One:
Mondays 2pm Studio A
5 Oct
19 Oct
9 Nov
30 Nov
Term Two: to be confirmed
RESEARCH WRITING SEMINAR
With Michael Newman and guests
This seminar will comprise two elements:
1. Presentations by and discussions with artists who have a developed research-based
practice who have done a practice-based or -related PhD. Extracts from their PhD will be
circulated in advance. This will be an opportunity to discuss approaches to writing the thesis,
and the various relations between the thesis and the art practice.
2. Workshopping and collective critique of participating students’ writing for research,
including experiments in different modes drawing on various models and discourses.
A commitment to attend all the seminars is a requirement.
DATES
Term One:
Mondays 2pm venues to be confirmed
th
12 Oct
14
th
26 Oct
th
16 Nov
th
7 Dec
They will continue in the Spring and Summer terms. Dates to be confirmed.
In addition, a mandatory workshop for second year students and all those who have not yet
transferred registration:
UPGRADE WORKSHOP
With John Chilver
This workshop will cover all aspects of
Transfer of registration
Elements of transfer material
Preparing for the upgrade viva.
DATES To be confirmed
Other specific training needs are identified by supervisors who liaise directly with providers, or
through the Research Directors: laboratory/workshop technicians, Centre for English
Language and Academic Writing, etc.
ANNUAL PROGESS REVIEW
6th – 9th June 2016 in the Baths, Seminar Space, Laurie Grove
In June 2014 a four-day annual progress review takes place at which all research
students must make a short presentation to members of staff and external assessors
to ascertain the quality of annual progress. This, along with the Annual Progress
Report filled in by students and supervisors, is submitted to the Post Graduate
Research Committee and the Graduate School in July. This Committee makes
recommendations for action if progress is not deemed appropriate.
J. GRADUATE SCHOOL
The Graduate School is a central College resource for research students, providing Collegewide research training programmes for all MPhil and PhD-registered students. It aims to be
an interdisciplinary space where students are encouraged to have intellectual and social
contact with each other, which are less likely within individual academic departments.
Part of the Graduate School’s provision is the Virtual Graduate School site – grad.gold –
which allows people to take part in seminars, discussion groups and social for a on-line. The
Graduate School organizes interdisciplinary research seminars and an advisory service for all
15
postgraduate students. In addition the Graduate School organizes Spring Review Week (see
below). For more information: http://www.gold.ac.uk/graduate-school
K. GRADUATE FESTIVAL
During spring term, a series of events will take place, organized and facilitated by Goldsmiths
Graduate students. This festival of ideas will bring staff and students together in the context of
conferences, symposiums, public discussions, performances and film screenings. For more
details, please see the Graduate School webpages:
http://www.gold.ac.uk/graduate-school/
L. VLE
Goldsmiths VLE (Virtual Learning Environment)
To access information on the MPhil/PhD programme - including an archive of resources
and documents from previous research symposia - as well as a range of information on
Department of Art programmes, go to learn.gold and log in with your Goldsmiths username
and password.
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7. TRANSFER OF REGISTRATION
FROM MPHIL TO PHD
If you are a full-time student you should aim to up-grade from MPhil to PhD status in your
second academic year. You will receive clear advice from your supervisors about your
readiness for Transfer of Registration. At Transfer of Registration there will be an oral
examination (Viva Voce) by a least two persons who are not in a supervisory position for the
candidate, one of whom must be from the Department’s Postgraduate Research Committee.
The examiners will comply with one of the following conditions:
1. That they should have a doctorate of their own.
2. That they should have previously supervised to completion.
3. That they should have previous experience of examining at PhD level.
You should be fully consulted over the choice of examiners. However the final choice will be
determined by your supervisors in consultation with the director of postgraduate research.
You should note that your lead supervisor is responsible for organising the timetable for your
up-grade and will approach prospective readers on your behalf. You should only concern
yourself with your submission, including the exhibition of your studio practice.
The Transfer of Registration examination is modelled on the University’s Guidance on
the Conduct of PhD Oral Examinations. In particular, no persons other than the
examiners, one supervisor and the candidate may be present at the oral examination.
The supervisor can attend the oral examination as an observer, provided that the
candidate has not indicated that his/her supervisor should not be present.
The supervisor, if present, does not have the right to participate in the examination
but may contribute if invited to do so by the examiners.
The oral examination should be conducted in such a way that the candidate has
adequate opportunity, encouragement and time to explain his/her research and to
defend the thesis.
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ELEMENTS REQUIRED FOR THE TRANSFER OF
REGISTRATION EXAMINATION
If your thesis is practice-based you are required to mount an exhibition of your practice, or
provide publications and/or documentation of it, for the viva voce. You will also be required to
provide various text elements for the examiners well before the date of the oral examination.
A description of the various elements of the text required for your submission follows. Before
submission you should discuss with your supervisors how what you propose to submit
conforms to this checklist.
1. AN EXHIBITION/PORTFOLIO OF YOUR
ARTISTIC/CURATORIAL PRACTICE
This should be organised in a way that best suits your practice and will normally take
place in a studio or seminar room at Goldsmiths (it is occasionally possible to arrange
for examiners to view an exhibition at another location but this is dependent upon
availability). It is acceptable to provide a portfolio of documentation if exhibitions or
events produced have taken place elsewhere during the period of study. (Please
note if you are not registered for practice-based research you do not need this
element.)
2. A SYNOPSIS OF YOUR THESIS
The synopsis should be a brief statement of intent of no more than 300 words
covering your whole research project, including the practice element. It should
explicitly explain the relationship between the interests of the written element and
your practice. It should be headed by the title of your thesis
3. A PLAN OF THE WRITTEN ELEMENT OF THE THESIS
The chapter outline follows the synopsis and should give an outline of the contents
of each chapter or section. Generally the synopsis of each chapter should be no
more than 700 words.
The division of the written element of your thesis into chapters or sections is a matter
for you. You should use the chapter divisions to stage your argument(s) and aid your
reader.
4. CONTEXTUAL REVIEW
The College’s regulations governing the transfer of registration from MPhil to PhD
stipulate, amongst other things, that the minimum College requirement includes a
contextual review (often referred to in other disciplines as a ‘literature’ review).
A contextual review is a critically evaluative review of key source material you are
planning to use in the written element of your thesis, and can include diverse
material. The Department of Art has three preferred models of what constitutes a
contextual review.
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i.
A review of, or commentary on, the current research material (texts, films,
exhibitions, artworks, etc) relevant to the topic or research questions you are
seeking to develop in the written and practice element of your thesis. In this
instance the contextual review may well be an integral element of the writing, as it
were ‘setting the scene’.
ii.
The contextual review can also be seen as helping you to plan the structure and
direction of your thesis. In this case it will consist of a series of reviews of, or
commentaries on, those key materials which are essential to the development of
the written and practice element of your thesis. In this case the contextual review
establishes an outline of the means by which you expect to structure the
development your own arguments. As a consequence the contextual reviews will
reflect the structure of your thesis and will be separate from your draft writing.
iii. The literature review may be in the form of an annotated bibliography/filmography
etc., of a more extensive field of materials than offered above that you identify as
pertinent to the development of your thesis topic
5. A CHAPTER/SECTION OF RESEARCH OR
EQUIVALENT WORK
The exact length and form of the section you submit for upgrade should be discussed
with your supervisors and must be consistent with the overall plan of your thesis. It
should be a continuous, coherent section of writing, using a form that illustrates the
overall structure of the written element.
It should pursue a coherent argument and be written to a standard which shows
potential for publication. It is not, however, necessary for it to be entirely resolved and
self-contained in all the points it raises and discusses as an actual chapter (or
equivalent section) would. Specialist terms should be clearly defined and sourced
throughout. It should be titled and numbered to correspond to your chapter (or
equivalent) plan. You are recommended to use the Harvard system for citations and
bibliographic references. (For further details on citation see the Research Methods
Training Handbook on Bibliography & Finding References.)
6. A TIMETABLE FOR COMPLETION.
You must provide a timetable for completing your thesis. First of all, this must be
realistic. Secondly, it should enumerate the key targets you need to achieve, in the
order in which you expect to complete them.
Note for practice-based researchers: As with the final PhD exam, the upgrade examiners are
instructed to focus equally on both elements of a practice-based research submission. Equal
attention should thus be paid to both elements when preparing for the exam. The College will
provide studio space and equipment for exhibition. Where an exhibition, event or publication
has already been presented or is in progress adequate documentation must be provided.
Having successfully upgraded your final step is to ensure that you get the Transfer of
Registration form completed and copies sent to the Research Office and Students Records
Office. A copy of the form can be found in the Research Office handbook for research
students.
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8. FINAL VIVA VOCE EXAMINATION
Having been up-graded to PhD level you are now on course to complete your research
project.
As you approach the last stages in its development you will need to liaise very closely with
your supervisors over the arrangements for your final examination.
Identifying appropriate examiners is perhaps the key issue and your supervisors will need to
determine whether potential examiners will be acceptable to the University of London.
Information governing the appointment of examiners is available from the Research Office
and in the College’s Handbook for Research Students.
It is your supervisors’ responsibility to contact potential examiners and ask them whether
they are prepared to examine your thesis.
It is recommended that you prepare a prospectus of your thesis to be sent to your
prospective examiners to give them a concise account of the research project they
are being asked to examine. The prospectus should give a synopsis of your
research project, an outline of the written element, and provide documentation of
your studio practice.
You should remember that serving as an examiner is an onerous task, and not well
remunerated, so your prospectus will need to offer your examiners the inducement to
agree to serve.
You will need to submit the written element of your thesis at least three months before the
date of your final viva voce examination to allow it to be sent to your two examiners and
properly read by them.
Your final oral examination will take place in the presence of an exhibition, publication or
documentation of your practice.
You are advised to ensure your timetable allows a generous amount of time to
prepare for this exhibition, publication or documentation after you have completed the
written element and submitted it.
If you need to exhibit work, and the exhibition is to be mounted at Goldsmiths it will
need to occur during one of the three annual vacation periods to allow you the space
and time to mount the exhibition in an appropriate exhibition space. During the
summer vacation it must avoid clashing with the mounting of taught postgraduate
exhibitions in early-mid July.
You should note that the expectation is that this will be a substantial exhibition,
publication or documentation, showing a full range of your practice.
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9. RESEARCH BURSARIES AND
GRADUATE TRAINEE TUTORSHIPS
The Department may offer a number of yearly research bursaries and teaching assistantships
for research students. The full terms and conditions are available in the Department of Art
Office and any appointments will be made at the end of the summer term for the next
academic year. Both bursaries and teaching assistantships are subject to Department funding
and thus we are unable to guarantee the number for the next year at the outset of the current
academic year.
Bursaries are offered on the direct nomination of the Head of Department. The award-holder
must be accepted by the College as a full time MPhil or PhD student (or be prepared to
transfer to full time study if in receipt of an award).
GTTs are offered on the basis of interviews with relevant Programme Leaders. Successful
applicants may be asked to teach on a number of different programmes in the Art
Department.
.
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APPENDIX
CENTRE FOR ENGLISH
LANGUAGE AND ACADEMIC
WRITING
The Centre for English Language and Academic Writing runs courses for students for whom
English is either a first or second language. Support for dyslexic students is also provided
by the Centre.
Language classes not only review how to approach preparing essays and presentations, but
also explore a range of written texts. These include extracts from the recommended reading
lists, catalogues, reviews, literature, diaries etc.
Classes focus on addressing essay questions, planning answers, vocabulary, sentence and
paragraph structure, and useful grammar / expressions. This is generally followed by
discussion of texts, and some practice of students’ own writing in class time.
Students will become more aware of their strengths, and be able to concentrate on
developing weaker areas.
You will be given detailed information about the Language Classes for Postgraduate Students
near the start of the Autumn term. You can also obtain details from:
Marl’ene Edwin Email: [email protected]
Telephone: 020 7919 7402/7763
http://www.gold.ac.uk/eap
DROP-IN STUDY SKILLS ADVICE
Available to all students
On Mondays - Thursdays, 4 - 5 pm, and Fridays 12.30 – 1.30 pm, a language tutor is
available to advise on specific questions regarding academic writing or research skills. The
tutor will also recommend materials (e.g. books, CD-ROMS, web-sites), which you can use to
improve your language skills. This form of support operates on a ‘drop in’ basis. Students
don’t need to book, but should come to the desk of the Language Resource Centre (Library,
nd
2 floor), shortly before 4pm. Tutorials normally last about 20 minutes, and operate on a first
come, first served basis. [Please note this is not an error-correction service, and that the more
specific your questions, the better we will be able to advise you]
ONLINE ACADEMIC LANGUAGE
DEVELOPMENT
You can find further advice on essay writing and other academic skills on the learn.gold
section of the Goldsmith’s website. Either click on the Academic Language Development
link on the learn.gold homepage at https://learn.gold.ac.uk.
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PhD Graduates 2000Mary Anne Francis (2000) ‘The Artist as a Multifarious Agent: an artist’s theory of the
origin of meaning’
Supervisor: Professor Nick de Ville
Examiners: Professor Yve Lomax, Professor Phyllida Barlow
Mike Stubbs (2003) ‘Digital Embodiment in Contemporary Abstract Painting’. Vol 1:
thesis; Vol. 2: visual accompaniment to thesis ‘Paintings: 1989-2003’.
Supervisors: Dr Suhail Malik, Professor Gerhard Hemsworth
Examiners: Thomas Lawson, Dr Andrew Renton
Yu-Cheng Chuang (2003) ‘Cross Cultural Currents in the work of Yu-Cheng Chuang:
An Examination of the Chinese Principles of Jinjie and the Western idea of the
Picturesque as Parallel Influences on Site-Specificity in LandArt’
Supervisor: Professor Nick de Ville
Examiners: Professor Gerder Roper, Professor Kim Liong
Amanda Beech (2003) ‘Heroic Realism: Rhetoric and Violence in Narratives of
Justice and Discourses of Decision’
Supervisors: Dr Suhail Malik, Dr Janet Hand
Examiners: Dr Simon Critchley, Michael Archer
Sean Ashton (2004) ‘The Dissolution of the Readymade’s Semiotic Imperative’
Superviors: Professor Nick de Ville, David Mabb
Examiners: Professor Ed Allington, David Dye
Salomé Vogelin (2004) ‘Practising TimeSpace-Collage: Art as Material Complex’
Supervisors: Professor Nick de Ville, Dr Janet Hand
Examiners: Professor Gerder Roper, Professor Yve Lomax
Frank Banfield (2004) ‘An Investigation of Beauty and Contemporary Painting: Kant,
Greenberg and Neuroscience’
Supervisors: Dr Suhail Malik, Dr Janet Hand, Professor Nick de Ville
Examiners: Michael Phillipson, David Reason
Mark Ingham (2005) ‘Photography as External Autobiographical Memory System and
a Contemporary Art Practice’
Supervisors: Professor Nick de Ville, David Mabb
Examiners: Professor Gerder Roper, Professor Phyllida Barlow
Pat Paxson (2005) ‘Reflections on and Refractions in Painting Processes’
Supervisors: Dr Janet Hand, Professor Gerard Hemsworth
Examiners: Dr Tessa Adams, Professor Yve Lomax
John Reardon (2005) ‘The Uncontrollable Discourse: Exploring Concepts of Public
within Contemporary Art Practice’
Supervisors: Dr Suhail Malik, Professor Nick de Ville
Examiners: Professor Gerder Roper, Michael Archer
John Chilver (2005) ‘Gestural Ethics: Consequences of the Mark in Contemporary
Painting’
Supervisors: Dr Suhail Malik, Professor Nick de Ville, Professor Gerard Hemsworth
Examiners: Thomas Lawson, Professor Howard Caygill
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Nigel Cooke (2005) ‘The Ambivalence of the Undead: Entropy, Duality and the
Sublime as Perspectives on Contemporary Painting’
Supervisors: Dr Suhail Malik, Professor Nick de Ville
Examiners: Michael Archer, David Reason
Virginia Nimarkoh (2005) ‘Shadow Boxing: Governmentality, Performativity and
Critique in Contemporary Art Practice’
Supervisors: Professor Janis Jefferies, Dr Janet Hand
Examiners: Professor Anne Tallentire, David Reason
Pernille Holm-Mercer (2006) ‘Maternal Perspectives in Art: reflected on and
performed through text and art practice’
Supervisor: Susan Taylor
Examiners: Professor Yve Lomax, Dr Sharon Kivland
Anita Ponton (2006) ‘Veritigo: The Technophenomenological Body in Performance’
Supervisors: Susan Taylor, Dr Janet Hand
Examiners: Dr Lizbeth Goodman, Dr Sophia Lycouris
David Mollin (2007) ‘The Potency of the Comic in Contemporary Art’
Supervisors: Professor Nick de Ville, Dr Janet Hand
Examiners: Professor Gerder Roper, Michael Archer
Dolly Thompsett (2007) ‘The Persistence of Religious Iconography in the Secular
Imagery of Filmic Culture – A Study of an Artist’s Source Material’
Supervisors: Professor Nick de Ville, Jane Harris
Examiners: Professor Stephen Farthing, Professor Gerder Roper
Yosefina Anaya-Morales (2007) ‘Mi Vestido Somos Nosotros – Addressing Huipil: A
Studyof the History, Significance & Use of Mexican Indigenous Textiles through
Makers, Weavers and Frida Kahlo’
Supervisors: Professor Janis Jefferies, Dr Nick Thomas
Examiners: Dr Eli Bartra, Professor Susanne Kuechler
Ole Hagen (2007) ‘Towards an Ontology and Ethics of Introspection’
Supervisor: Dr Janet Hand
Examiners: Dr Simon O’Sullivan, Professor Yve Lomax
Jaspar Joseph-Lester (2007) ‘Space and Illusion: A Practical and Theoretical
Investigation into the Critical Status of Illusion in Social Space’
Supervisors: Dr Suhail Malik, Professor Nick de Ville
Examiners: Dr Susan Collins, Professor Stephen Pile
Jasone Miranda-Bilbao (2007) ‘On the Relation between Movement and Things That
Appear to be Static’
Supervisor: Professor Nick de Ville
Examiners: Nicolas Bourriaud, Dr Simon O’Sullivan
Dafna Ganani-Tomares (2007) ‘Mimesis: Judith Butler, Visual Practice, Tragic Art’
Supervisor: Professor Nick de Ville, Dr Janet Hand
Examiners: Dr Rachel Garfield, Dr Janet Harbord
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Lola Frost (2007) ‘Poetic Ambiguity and Sublime Irresolution in Contemporary
Painting’
Supervisor: Susan Taylor
Examiners: Professor Howard Caygill, Professsor Yve Lomax.
Roshini Kempadoo (2007) ‘Creole in the Archive: imagery, presence, and location of
the plantation worker of two plantations, nearby villages and towns in Trinidad (1838
– 1938)’
Supervisors: Susan Taylor, Dr Françoise Vergès
Examiners: Professor Laura Mulvey, Baroness Lola Young
Naomi Salaman (2007) ‘Looking Back at the Life Room: revisiting Pevsner’s
Academies of Art Past and Present, to reconsider the illustrations and construct
photographs representing the curriculum’
Supervisors: Dr Stephen Johnstone, Professor Victor Burgin
Examiners: Dr Lucy Soutter, Professor Adrian Rifkin
Stella Baraklianou (2007) ‘Photographing the Landscape of Memory: Photography,
Memory and the Re-making of the Notion of Landscape’
Supervisor: Professor Victor Burgin
Examiners: Dr Susan Butler, Professor Yve Lomax
Gill Houghton (2007) ‘Image, Trauma and Time: The Late Cinematography and
Photographic Works of Marguerite Duras’
Supervisors: Sam Fisher, Dr James Williams
Examiners: Dr Sharon Kivland, Dr Leslie Hill
Mike Marshall (2007) ‘Art, Sensation and the Edges of Thought’
Supervisors: Dr Suhail Malik, Dr Stephen Johnston
Examiners: Michael Archer, Professor Yve Lomax
Jacqueline Cooke (2008) ‘Ephemeral traces of 'alternative space': the documentation
of art events in London 1995-2005, in an art library’
Supervisors: Professor Nick de Ville, Dr Andrew Renton
Examiners: Dr Stephen Bury, Dr Andrea Phillips
Michal Klega (2008) ‘Ars Infirma - Aspects of ‘Auto-poiesis’ in Heidegger and Stoic
Doctrine: an investigation into incertitude in art’
Supervisors: Professor Nick de Ville, Professor Howard Caygill
Examiners: Professor Alexander Düttmann, David Reason
Christina Neiderberger (2009) ‘The Quest for Heimat – Discourses on Kitsch in the
Realm of Art Practice’
Supervisors: Professor Nick de Ville, Dr Janet Hand
Examiners: Professor Howard Caygill, Professor Peter Schneemann
Steve Klee (2010) ‘Between Mastery and Subjectivization: Jacques Ranciere and a
Politics of Art Without Foundation’
Supervisors: Dr Suhail Malik, Professor Nick de Ville
Examiners: Professor Adrian Rifkin, Professor Peter Hallward
Denny Robson (2010) ‘Re-Thinking Time: The Creativity of Loss’
Supervisors: Professor Nick de Ville, David Bate
Examiners: Professor Yve Lomax, Professor Olivier Richon
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Nayia Yiakoumaki (2010) 'Curating Archives, Archiving Curating'
Supervisors: Dr Andrew Renton
Examiners: Professor Barry Curtis, Dr Jean Paul Martinon
Clair Joy (2010) ‘Contemporary Landscape Painting’
Supervisors: Dr Andrea Phillips, Susan Taylor
Examiners: Dr Jorella Andrews, Professor Stephen Farthing
Lisa Vinebaum (2010) ‘Body of the Nation - Corporeality, Territory,
Performance: Palestine and Israel’
Supervisors: Dr Andrew Renton
Examiners: Professor Howard Caygill, Dr Juliet Steyn
Jesse Ash (2011) ‘The Figure of Speech: The Politics of Contemporary Chatter’
Supervisors: Dr Suhail Malik, Dr Stephen Johnstone
Examiners: Dr Elizabeth Price, Professor Les Back
Stephen Little (2011) 'Painting in Transit: Inter-domain Transfer and
Material Reformation'
Supervisors: Dr John Chilver, Professor Nick de Ville
Examiners: Professor Maria Lalic, Dr Alison Green
Young-In Hong (2011) ‘A Reappraisal of Intuition in the Perception of Urban Space
with particular respect to cultural development in South Korea’
Supervisor: Dr Suhail Malik, Professor Nick de Ville
Examiners: Dr Simon O’Sullivan, Dr Charlotte Horlyck
Elisavet Kalpaxi (2012) ‘Narcissim and Narrativity in Photographic
Self-Portraiture’
Supervisors: Professor Nick de Ville, Dr John Chilver
Examiners: Dr Francette Pacteau, Professor Mark Durden
Sophia Kosmaoglou (2012) ‘The Self-Conscious Artist and the Politics of Art:
From Institutional Critique to Underground Cinema’
Supervisors: Dr John Chilver, Professor Nick de Ville
Examiners: Mel Jordan, Dr John Russell
Livia Marin (2012) ‘Rules of Engagement: Trope of Estrangement.
A Relation between Art and Consumer Object’
Supervisor: Professor Michael Newman, Dr Andrea Phillips
Examiners: Professor Oriana Baddeley, Brendan Prendeville
Klaus Wehner (2013) ‘On Posing: Notes on Imageness’
Supervisors: Professor Nick de Ville, Dr Andrea Phillips, Dr John Chilver
Examiners: Professor Yve Lomax, Dr Andrew Stephenson
Pil and Galia Kollectiv (2013) ‘Art in the Age of its Dissolution: Beyond the
Democratic Paradox’
Supervisors: Dr Andrea Phillips, David Mabb
Examiners: Dr Alberto Toscano, Charles Esche
Thomas Strobech (2013) ‘Fictioneering Rogues, or the End of the Artist’
Supervisors: Dr Andrea Phillips
Examiners: Maria Fusco, Professor Nicholas Royle
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Veronique Chance (2012) ‘Re-presenting the Physical Act: an exploration of the
physical presence of the body through its screen representation’
Supervisor: Dr Andrea Phillips
Examiners: Dr Maria Walsh, Professor Michael Newman
Michelle Williams Gamaker (2012) ‘Immersion and Reciprocity: art experience in live
space’
Supervisor: Dr Andrew Renton
Examiners: Dr Michael Asbury, Dr Chris Wright
Matthew Mackisack (2013)
‘Cancelling Phantasmata: the Fate and Function of the Inner Image’
Supervisor: Dr Andrew Renton, Bernard Walsh
Examiners: tbd
Nicholas Stewart (2013) ‘Abstraction and Comedy’
Supervisors: Dr John Chilver, Dr Suhail Malik
Examiners: David Burrows, Dr Stewart Martin
Euyoung Hong (2013) ‘Constructing an invisible territory: an investigation of the
production of the sculptural in relation to urban development since the 1980s’
Supervisor: Dr Andrea Phillips
Examiners: Mark Dunhill, Dr Simon O’Sullivan
Nina Höchtl (2013)
‘If Only For The Length Of A Lucha: Queer/ing, Mask/ing, Gender/ing And Gesture In
Lucha Libre’
Supervisors: Dr Susan Kelly, Dr Ros Gray
Examiners: Michael Ashbury, Dr Lyn Turner
Johannes Maier (2013)
Supervisor: Dr Suhail Malik
Examiners: Annie Fletcher, Chris Townsend
John Timberlake (2013) ‘The Sapphic Sublime of Frederick Sommer’
Supervisor: Dr Andrew Renton
Examiners: Dr Andrea Phillips
Lois Rowe (2013) ‘The Rhetoric of Silence in Discourses on Truth’
Supervisor: Dr Andrea Phillips
Examiners: Dr David Dibosa, Simon Martin
Simon Clark (2014) ‘Undead Melancholia; from Lost Modernism to Haptic
Antagonism’
Supervisor: Dr Suahil Malik, David Mabb
Examiners: Professor Esther Leslie, Jason Bowman
Nick Gee (2014) ‘Trouble in the Garden: Exploring the Ambivalence of Public Space
and Private Property’
Supervisor: Dr Susan Kelly, Dr Richard Noble
Examiners: Massimo de Angelis, Professor Les Back
Jörg Jozwiak, (2014) ‘Meaning and Meaning-Making: An Exploration into the
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Importance of Creative Viewer Response for Art Practice’
Supervisor: Dr Andrea Phillips
Examiners: Dr Elisabeth Schellekens, Professor Andrew Renton
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GOLDSMITHS, UNIVERSITY OF LONDON
NEW CROSS
LONDON SE14 6NW
020 7919 7171
www.goldsmiths.ac.uk
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