Sound (Taught)

The Sound MA at the RCA is a new programme, with its first intake in the 2027/28 academic year. The programme explores how sound works across different disciplines and how listening and sound-making can create new creative, social and political possibilities. Students experiment with projects such as audio documentaries, sound installations and immersive soundscapes, using methods like recording, composition, broadcast, installation and performance. The course also examines how sound connects people, communities and environments, shaping how we understand the world and ourselves.

About RCA:

The Royal College of Art is the world’s leading postgraduate art and design university, providing students with unrivalled opportunities to develop their practice, build their networks, enhance their career and to deliver art and design projects that transform the world.

For 12 consecutive years, the RCA has been ranked as the world’s number 1 art & design university in the QS World University subject rankings (2015-2026) - attracting artists, designers and communicators from across the globe.

Course Modules

Term 1

In term 1 and in the Polisonics unit, you will explore communal and experimental listening, sonic ecologies and socio-sonics, while engaging with concepts such as Insurgent, Forensic and Deep Listening through collaborative sound projects.

You’ll also take Sonic Bodies unit in term1, where you will develop an embodied approach to sound practice and examine how racialised, disabled, gendered and socially marked bodies produce and experience sound.

Term 2

In term 2, the Ensemble unit will develop your understanding of sonic tools and approaches to both collaborative and individual sound composition, giving you an opportunity to professionally showcase your work with one of the programme’s creative partner venues in London.

There are two Electives in this term. In the first elective unit, you will be offered a choice of two units No Such Thing as Empty Space, where you will explore the politics of sonic space through engagement with concepts such as psychacoustics, and Listening Commons, where you will explore expanded notions of broadcast, distribution and community listening activities.

For the second Elective you will choose between a set of School-wide and College-wide electives available to you at the RCA.

Term 3

In term 3, you complete the Independent Research Project which allows you to explore an area of sound practice through experimental sound-making, technical exploration and/or community collaboration. The project supports the development of a substantial body of creative and theoretical work, which you will present in a public exhibition or showcase.

Please refer to the programme webpage for the most accurate and up-to-date information about the programme, its structure, modules and any updates or changes.

https://www.rca.ac.uk/study/programme-finder/sound-ma/