Thoughts on ‘research’ degrees in visual arts departments

Abstract

Starting from dictionary definitions that underpin commonsense notions of ‘research’ as ‘scientific or scholarly investigation’, I go on to consider how scientific and scholarly investigation has been pursued in visual arts departments. I then describe the type of research activity that I encounter most often in such departments — one that conforms to neither dictionary definitions nor commonsense. I conclude with a brief consideration of the relation of writing to practice in the particular case of research degrees in audiovisual arts — and with a practical recommendation.