Information Technology and Contemporary Performance BA (with Foundation Year)

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Information Technology is a rapidly changing and exciting subject. Organisations are increasingly relying on information technology to carry out key business functions. There is an explosion in the use of mobile devices to shop online and there is a high demand for skilled professionals who are able to effectively manage information systems. Well-designed software applications that are effective and usable is a crucial requirement for employers.

Our Information Technology degree prepares you to meet the needs of a wide range of organisations, emphasising the development of a variety of technologies, especially web and mobile technologies that are increasingly becoming a part of our everyday lives. During your studies, you will have opportunities to develop computational thinking and a systems approach to formulating, analysing and solving complex problems.

The degree is intellectually challenging and is taught by staff with a varied background and a diverse range of interests. Your student experience is enhanced by a rich curriculum that exposes you to multiple approaches to technological problems. Information Technology has a wide-reaching social impact, posing many ethical questions, and these issues are explored at various points during the degree.

CONTEMPORARY PERFORMANCE

On this course you will be making work that physically brings the audience into the performance environment. It is about exploring drama and performance through the interactions between bodies and environments and how different technologies can facilitate this. How can light function as an actor? What are the merits and limitations of devising a performance for an audience of one person? What staging possibilities does virtual reality and video gaming provide the performance-maker? Here you will learn about the different approaches to creating your own immersive performance environments as well as gaining an important understanding of the digital creative sector.

Located within the Creative Campus, this community of artists, musicians and performers is a vibrant and exciting environment to create work. Throughout your studies you will be equipped with the relevant technical knowledge and skills to realise and manage your own projects, supported by a team of highly qualified tutors. These will include acquiring skills in digital coding, lighting design, audio and video editing, 360 film and sound recording, motion capture and projection mapping. In addition to making performances, you will present ideas verbally, as well as enhancing your skills in critical and reflective writing.

Your three years begins with an introduction to immersive performance practices before you journey into the exciting challenges of audience participation and interaction. Moving outside of the campus, the city of Liverpool itself will become a site for performance, echoing the work of immersive practitioners such as Punchdrunk, dreamthinkspeak and Shunt. Your final year will involve a push into new and experimental performance technologies, presenting performance projects in virtual worlds. This will culminate in you selecting either to complete a placement within an arts organisation or to take the lead as project manager of a major performance project of your own devising. This final year will also require you to complete an independent research project on a topic of your own choice.

This course is for those interested in making innovative and dynamic worlds for their audiences to interact with and explore. It will appeal to students interested in contemporary performance and its overlaps with creative technologies.