Research
The Faculty of VCA and MCM draws together two historically distinguished arts institutions in Melbourne – the Victorian College of the Arts (with its heritage rooted in the National Gallery of Victoria Art School which first admitted students in 1867) and the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music (the former Faculty of Music - the oldest university music school in Australia) to form a vital and dynamic new research faculty.
The University of Melbourne is a research-intensive university. International rankings and the Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) outcomes confirm its place as an Australian leader in research. Studies in the Creative Arts and Writing received a ranking of 4 in the 2010 ERA assessment.
With the VCA campus in the heart of Melbourne’s arts precinct and the Melbourne Conservatorium’s home in Parkville on the main campus of the University of Melbourne, researchers at the Faculty have access to the state’s rich cultural resources, and work with the University of Melbourne’s cultural collections, associates and facilities. These include the Melbourne Theatre Company; Ian Potter Museum of Art, which has custodial responsibility for the university's art collection, and a strong research agenda; Margaret Lawrence Gallery; George Paton Gallery; Grainger Museum; Melba Hall; Centre for Studies in Australian Music; the Early Music Studio; Open Stage; Grant Street Theatre; Federation Hall; and specialist library facilities including the Lenton Parr Music, Visual and Performing Arts Library; the Louise Hanson-Dyer Music Library and the Baillieu Library. Faculty staff and graduate students have the opportunity to network with experts and professionals in Australia and abroad, and to present their research in international settings including professional conventions, concert platforms and art galleries.
The Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) and the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music are generously supported through bequests and scholarships, which aim to support and nurture emerging talent in the creative arts. For example, The MacGeorge Bequest offers scholarships for research higher degree students in the visual, creative and performing arts, music, architecture, conservation, literature, creative writing, language, history, philosophy and anthropology to travel overseas on research trips. It also offers fellowships for distinguished overseas scholars and artists who enrich the learning environment. Recent visiting fellows include: Professor Barbara Stafford (University of Chicago), Professor Michael Rosenthal (Warwick), Thierry Dufrene (University of Paris), A/Prof Chris Berry (University of California Berkeley), and Domenico Fabris (Conservatorio di Bari).
Research at the Faculty is characterised by a spirit of enquiry, collaboration and a willingness to cross multi-disciplinary boundaries. It has internationally acclaimed scholars working across traditional research modes such as musicology, ethnomusicology and music therapy and practice-led research where creative outputs explore issues of modernity, postmodernity and cross-media experimentation, while performance is known for its innovative interpretation. A productive tension exists between tradition and experimental approaches to research.
The Faculty is recognized for research excellence in the following:
• cultural traditions, including modernity and post-modernity across the art forms of Art, Film and Television, Music and the Performing Arts;
• experimental and avant-garde practices in contemporary cultural production;
• digital media and mediating technologies in the context of new art forms;
• the contribution of the creative arts to issues of human values and rights in interdisciplinary projects and the work of the Centre for Cultural Partnerships.
Whether you are interested in coming to Melbourne as a student, PhD candidate, visitor or future colleague, the Faculty of VCA and MCM offers a dynamic and youthful creative research culture in Australia’s premier research institution.
