Graduate Diploma of Creative Arts

2024 Deakin University Handbook

Year	2025 course information
Award granted	Graduate Diploma of Creative Arts
Deakin course code	A659
Faculty	Faculty of Arts and Education
Campus	Offered at Burwood (Melbourne)
Online	No
Duration	1 year full-time or part-time equivalent
Course Map - enrolment planning tool	This course map is for new students commencing from Trimester 1 2025. Course maps for commencement in previous years are available on the Course Maps webpage or please contact a Student Adviser in Student Central.
CRICOS course code	083982C Burwood (Melbourne), Waterfront (Geelong)
Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) recognition	The award conferred upon completion is recognised in the Australian Qualifications Framework at Level 8
Disciplines on offer Burwood (Melbourne) - Animation & Motion Capture, Dance, Drama, Photography, Visual Arts and Visual Communication Design

Course sub-headings

Course overview

Upskill for the creative career you’ve always wanted with the Graduate Diploma of Creative Arts. Collaborate on real-world creative projects to build your portfolio and customise your degree to match your personal and professional interests.

Ready to join a high-achieving group of like-minded creatives on the path to career progression?

The Graduate Diploma of Creative Arts allows you to hone your creative practice alongside students from our six creative arts disciplines: visual arts, photography, animation and motion capture, visual communication design, dance and drama. By collaborating with artists from different fields, you will broaden your understanding of creativity while developing transferable skills that employers value, such as imaginative thinking, problem solving and leadership.

On top of core units of study, you will strengthen your creative repertoire with six elective units. Your electives can play to your strengths, or help you upskill in an unfamiliar discipline. Some of your elective options include:

Writing with the Camera
Documentary Production Practice
Arts Marketing
Introduction to Digital Photography
Design Thinking and Problem Solving.

Elective units provide lots of practical experience, including industry-relevant creative projects that challenge you to apply theoretical frameworks in teams and as an individual. You can also get hands-on in our professional standard facilities, including TV broadcast studios, dance and drama studios, a professional photographic light studio, visual arts and design studios and dedicated gallery spaces.

While there are many exciting career pathways for graduates, there are also opportunities for further study upon successful completion of the course. If you want to continue building your creative expertise, you might like to articulate into Deakin’s Master of Creative Arts.

Career opportunities

Graduate with specialist knowledge, transferable creative skills and real-world experience that prepares you for a diverse range of creative roles in areas such as:

entrepreneurship and management in the creative arts
design
video, sound and multimedia production
freelancing as a creator or artist
art production and curation
consulting.

Your skills will be sought-after in museums and galleries, all levels of government, boutique art companies and design agencies. You can also explore opportunities in festivals, community events and curatorial projects typically funded by government and philanthropic entities.

For more information go to DeakinTALENT.

Participation requirements

Reasonable adjustments to participation and other course requirements will be made for students with a disability. More information available at Disability support services.

Alternative exits

Graduate Certificate of Creative Arts (A559)

Course Learning Outcomes

Deakin Graduate Learning Outcomes	Course Learning Outcomes
Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities	Apply and extend specialist knowledge and technical and creative skills in creative arts practice in one or more disciplines or areas of creative arts including drama, dance, photography, visual arts, animation, and design.
Communication	Use specialist creative arts technologies and skills to communicate complex ideas to a range of audiences in academic and non-academic contexts. Harness specialist creative arts technologies, skills, and discourse to communicate complex ideas to a range of audiences in academic and non -academic contexts.
Digital literacy	Draw on, analyse, and assess digital technologies to produce, document, present and publish in the creative arts.
Critical thinking	Evaluate, interpret, and synthesise complex ideas within creative arts drawing on discourse and practice.
Problem solving	Address theoretical and methodological challenges in the creation of work that is discursive and reflective and engages in creative decision -making processes within the relevant field.
Self-management	Develop systematic and episodic reflective approaches to creative work practices.
Teamwork	Advanced interpersonal and communication skills to participate effectively in the critical culture of production, completion and presentation of creative arts projects.
Global citizenship	Establish ethical approaches that interrogate the value of art and performance in diverse communities and cultures and transfer creative practice outcomes into real world contexts

Approved at Faculty Board November 2018

Course rules

To complete the Graduate Diploma of Creative Arts students must pass 8 credit points and meet the following course rules to be eligible to graduate:

DAI001 Academic Integrity and Respect at Deakin (0-credit-point compulsory unit) in their first study period
2 credit points of core units
6 credit points of course electives

Students are required to meet the University's academic progress and conduct requirements. See the enrolment codes and terminology to help make sense of the University’s vocabulary.

Course structure

Core Units

ACA710

Contemporary Debates in the Creative Arts

ACA712

Transgressive Acts in Cinema, Art, Performance

Elective units

Choose 6 credit points of electives from within the Master of Creative Arts, Master of Communication or Master of Arts (Writing and Literature)

Other units that may be counted as electives are:

ECP711

Creativity and the Arts

MMK792

Arts Marketing

MMM790

Arts Management

ADS720

Arts and Sports-based Approaches to Community Development

ACI700

Introduction to Digital Photography

ALC708

Social Media Content Creation

ACG708

Design Thinking and Problem Solving

ACF700

Writing with the Camera

ACF705

Documentary Production Practice

ACA715

Creating Your Arts Business

Work experience

Elective units may provide the opportunity for Work Integrated Learning experiences.

Course duration

Course duration may be affected by delays in completing course requirements, such as failing of units or accessing or completing placements.

Further information

Student Central can help you with course planning, choosing the right units and explaining course rules and requirements.

Contact Student Central

Research and research-related study

Independent research components are embedded across a number of units.

Fees and charges

Fees and charges vary depending on the type of fee place you hold, your course, your commencement year, the units you choose to study, and their study discipline or your study load.

Tuition fees increase at the beginning of each calendar year and all fees quoted are in Australian dollars ($AUD). Tuition fees do not include textbooks, computer equipment or software, other equipment or costs such as mandatory checks, travel and stationery.

Estimate your fees

For further information regarding tuition fees, other fees and charges, invoice due dates, withdrawal dates, payment methods visit our Current students website.