Don’t forget importance of the arts, warns UCC President
Patrick O’Shea was speaking at the announcement of a €60,000 annual investment by UCC in a collaboration with Cork Opera House that will expand training for future performers and arts organisation leaders.
Discussions have recently begun about a new approach to higher education funding — one element of which will see greater funding given to courses with science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) elements. While these tend to have higher running costs due to lab and equipment, a key factor in the increased weighting is the economic impact due to employer demand for Stem graduates.
Prof O’Shea said we have to look at what we can do differently to put Ireland in a stronger position, and that should involve our very strong heritage in art, music, design and culture.
“There’s a unique opportunity to create a fusion that blends our heritage in arts and culture with the modern, which is STEM,” he told the Irish Examiner. “I’d like to see more understanding that the arts and other non-STEM areas are important.
“There’s a danger that we become too utilitarian and get disconnected from the things we’re really good at. We’re competing in a very difficult marketplace with other countries so we have to take advantage and create a trans-disciplinary environment to break down barriers that traditionally exist between disciplines in academia.”
Cork Opera House chief executive Eibhlín Gleeson said the partnership will see the theatre throw open its doors to students, making it a place of exploration, ambition and learning.
As reported in yesterday’s Irish Examiner, the eight-year collaboration includes a Masters degree in arts and cultural management from 2019, providing a new generation of people to lead organisations that provide work for performers from institutions such as UCC’s school of theatre and music.
Applications are being invited for a €20,000 appointment as theatre artist-in-residence, who will teach on the MA in theatre and performative practices that enrols its first students next September, and develop links to in-house productions at Cork Opera House.
The introduction of internships at Cork Opera House aims to meet Government requirements for more on-the-job training, with a focus on skills in areas such as marketing and management, and on technical disciplines such as lighting, sound, and costumes.
A researcher will be funded to undertake a PhD project focused on the history of Cork Opera House and its role in the Cork community, and the long-term benefits of the collaboration for the community beyond the two institutions were emphasised yesterday.
“This unique relationship will bring us beyond education and entertainment in a new space where so much is possible,” said Tim Healy, chairman of the Cork Opera House board.
