Course
CourseAt the international Masters Artist Educator (iMAE) we learn by doing and making together. You bring – and throughout the program further develop – your own practice and research interest to address pressing social concerns: migration, identity, conflict, environment and diversity.
iMAE is a one-year full-time programme of study endorsed by the NAVO and part of a national consortium of masters art education courses in the Netherlands. Unlike the other programmes, iMAE focuses on issues based arts research and socially engaged practice-based research and is underpinned by experiential learning. In this regard the course is part of a broader programme of activities that include research residencies set directly in artistic and non-artistic contexts. These can be in other institutions or in diverse socio-political contexts ranging from Marrakesh to West Belfast.
Learning on location: Site Specific Colleges
iMAE introduces the concept of Site Specific Colleges (SSC) as a place set in a local, national, or international context where the course situates itself for a period of 8 to 16 weeks. Each SSC is constructed in partnership with local organisations including cultural institutions, schools, universities, and community groups. These are places that through our presence become sites of research, practice, artivism and learning. Each SSC is framed by a set of research questions that are formed from an engagement with the people and needs of each site. A college will cover a range of issues and provide an amazing opportunity for students to live, work, learn, and build professional portfolios that will further their career opportunities beyond the course. Working with local communities and professional practitioners, students are encouraged to connect their own practice and research, to meet the needs of Others. but always with a focus on social change.
The 2020-21 cohort will be working two sites: SSC I Windesheim University of the Applied Science Zwolle the Netherlands – theme United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. SSCII the Metropolitan Arts Centre (MAC) in Belfast Northern Ireland – Theme Art and Conflict Transformation. These sites can change according to needs and time.

Partners
For the Site Specific Colleges, the iMAE program runs on a solid network of local partners who share the same key values: social justice, openness and empathy. Together they underline the importance of mobility, connecting you as a change maker to various people, groups and social-political contexts. We work together with, amongst others, Asociación de Arte Útil, The Playhouse, Migratiemuseum an the Queens Collective.

What do you learn? And how?
As a master student at iMAE you learn not only how to use existing research methodologies, but also – and mostly – how to develop your own creativity to produce unique research methods that fall within your practice and existing skill set. You combine international fieldwork with practice and theory, to learn how to apply your own research interests to specific contexts.
iMAE gave me the space to think, feel, create and collaborate.