PwarYuex said:
Heya,
First look through the degree list:
This is for the normal BCA [Creative Writing] degree,
this is for the BCA (International) [Creative Writing] degree.
Have a look through the subjects you've got to do...
I think there may already be a thread about this, and Glitterfairy (a very sexy mod) is doing it, so I've pmed her to come and look at this thread to discuss it with you.
Yeah, although the thread's not about Creative Writing, you might find it relevant.
Obviously my sexiness overwhelmed pwar to the point where he forgot to send the pm, but it's ok. He can make it up to me later!
I'm going to be a bit blase about the second and third year courses as I haven't done them myself yet (I just finished first year). In a nutshell, this degree is for people who LOVE the arts and want to graduate in something art-sy, but also something that can get them a REAL job. Let's face facts - being a starving artist isn't fun. The BCA can lead into things like Event Management, Events Marketing etc - all of which are REAL jobs, but will allow you to work within (or around) a specific field of your choice.
The BCA tends to be a mish-mash of elements - in first semester, you'll do "What Is Contemporary Art?" <-- this is the most AWESOME uni course you will ever do in your entire life, I swear! However you'll also do things like marketing and accounting, which cater to the "business" component of the course
(remember, this degree sets you up for a REAL job - whether it's just something on the side to supplement your "real" artistic career - heck, it's gotta be better than waitressing - or something you end up going into full-time). At the end of the course, you'll do something like 50 or 100 hours of work (no pay) at an approved institution. BCA International students will do this overseas (airfares all paid for) and have to have a 3.0 GPA *gulp* for a third year course (I think).
You'll also get about 12 credit points or so left over to use as regular BA points. So in this sense, it is a bit like a regular BA degree, however the BCA *DOES* have some sort of "direction" (like any business degree, but a lot looser). It's not a *complete* mishmash of courses, and some things like ARTS105, BBA250 and MKTG101 aren't accessible to BA students.
Here's a quick rundown on BCA - majoring in Creative Arts - first-year subjects:
ARTS100 - What is Contemporary Art?
^This course is awesome. You'll basically look at a whole bunch of art - dance, music, drama, creative writing, photography - and discuss it till the cows come home. You'll look at what influences the art, who likes to view it, as well as how the Australian arts scene works, eg how to apply for grants, what the funding is like, why certain things work, etc etc. This course is required to do all the other ARTS courses.
ENGL120 - Introduction to English
^Sorry, me no like this course. Like so many other MQ prerequisite courses, it's a HUGE overview of everything, from Sylvia Plath to "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight". It's not death-inducing, however some of the lectures sent me to sleep. Like more humanities courses, easy to pass/credit, hard to get much more. This course (or the other ENGL prerequisite) is required for all 200/300 level english courses - including the Creative Writing ones!
CUL100 - Introduction to Cultural Studies
^Ugh, me like this one even less. Huge broad overview of terms like "Deconstruction". But it's over now. This course is required for basically all the other 200 and 300 level CUL courses, however the "required" ones for the BCA degree are a heck of a lot more arts-related than this one is.
MKTG101 - Introduction to Marketing
^This was actually kind of fun. Revolved around memorising case study facts and rote-learning definitions. This is one of the random "business' subjects you'll do.
SOC180 - Introduction to Popular Culture
NB: This course is being discontinued and will be replaced next year. I don't know what by, or whether they'll just use the other SOC 100-level course as the prerequisite
^The funny thing about SOC is that there's a trend between either cruising in CUL and being slaughtered in SOC, or vice-versa. They're actually really similar but not.
ARTS105 - Accounting for the Creative Arts
^This is a dumbed-down version of ARTS100. We cover basically the same material, but our marking is a lot more lenient. It sucks like nothing else I know, and the only good thing about it is that you'll never have to do accounting in the BCA again once you've passed. Thankfully, ARTS210 (the compulsary arts business unit for next year) is Human Resource Management... that should be better!!!!
Other compulsary units off the top of my head include BBA250.
Now for the million-dollar question. With all this theory stuff, is there any practical component? Yes, but you'll have to wait until second-year to even *touch* the fun stuff. But a friend of mine who's in second year says it's fun
Something I've found by breezing through all the compulsary units is that the first-year units tend to be really generalised (not to mention being compulsary prerequisites for 200 and 300 level compulsary units), and some of them suck. No, really they do (like accounting, for example). However the 200 and 300 units (where you can pick up your major - even if it's something like Dance and you elect to study it at UNSW since MQ doesn't provide it, which was something I looked at) tend to get a lot more specific and relevant to your major. So do hang on, and don't get disillusioned - it gets better after first year!
ladyknight said:
Is Maquarie good? Wollongong uni? Should I just skip to journalism or something similar?
I have no idea what the Wollongong BCA is like other than knowing they don't provide the BCA International. Whilst I get pissed off at times at the very generalised nature of 100-level courses (which basically all serve as prerequisites. There's not a huge amount of "fun" stuff in first-year at MQ...), I still think it's still really good to do it at MQ. I've heard there's a postmodern trend to the creative writing, but we'll see how it goes - my style is far more "pulp fiction/light reading", and I do expect to graduate
I don't think you should "skip to journalism" unless it's actually what you want to do. There's a world of difference between "journalism" and "creative/artistic" writing. Of course, if you like writing in general, it's no such biggie. But hey - if you're given the opportunity to get really nitty-gritty and specific about what you want to do (eg choosing between studying an editorial and a short story, I know which one I'd choose!!) then why not take it?
