Master of Culture and Arts, Creative Narration in Nonfiction, Autumn 2025: YLUOVAK26

Descriptions

The Creative Narration in Nonfiction programme is aimed at those who write for a living or otherwise in a goal-oriented manner and who want to develop their working process and written expression. You can apply for the study programme with a higher education degree from any relevant field. Students who complete the study programme will receive a Master's of Culture and Arts degree.

The training is particularly useful for journalists oriented towards feature writing, nonfiction writers interested in narrative nonfiction, nonfiction editors, as well as teachers, researchers, artists and other experts in various fields, whose work includes communicating about their work by writing to different audiences. The Creative Narration in Nonfiction programme focuses on creative and narrative nonfiction and journalism. The study programme combines the uncompromising pursuit of truthfulness, responsibility and ethics characteristic of journalism with creative narrative methods borrowed from fiction.

Students gain skills in versatile and critical information acquisition, fact-checking, reflecting on and solving ethical questions, and using narrative and literary means of expression in different genres of nonfiction. The focus is on longer genres that enable creative narrative expression, such as popular nonfiction books, guides, textbooks or other learning materials and feature articles. A key part of the education is a professional autobiographical process that continues throughout the studies. It is a guided self-reflective learning process, during which students examine themes that are central to their writing and their professional identity, and work on their identity as a writer.

Applicants to the programme are required to have a feasible plan for a writing project that will form their Master's Thesis. The thesis combines creative nonfiction or journalistic writing and an analytical, research-based examination of the writing project in the thesis report.

STUDYING IN BLENDED LEARNING

The Creative Narration in Nonfiction programme is part of the Master School of Turku University of Applied Sciences. The Master School brings together master's degree students in technology, business, social and health care and culture. In the Master School, students have the opportunity to network with experts in their own field as well as in other fields. Studying at the Master School is flexible, and studies can be completed alongside a professional career.

The Creative Narration in Nonfiction programme is implemented by the Arts Academy of Turku University of Applied Sciences, which is a multidisciplinary and multidisciplinary community. The teacher team of the programme includes experts in journalism, non-fiction writing, research writing and creative writing.

In the Creative Narration in Nonfiction, studying includes contact teaching on the campus most of the time for two days a month. Some contact teaching sessions are organized as remote learning, using a video connection. Most of the time, however, students work according to their own schedule remotely and online, doing various learning assignments and project work independently or as group work.

STRUCTURE AND CONTENT OF THE PROGRAMME

The scope of the Creative Narration in Nonfiction is 60 credits. The training is planned to be completed in three semesters (1.5 years). It is possible to complete the studies alongside work. The curriculum is flexible, and at its shortest, it is possible to complete the studies in one year as full-time study.

The core competence of the degree is built in the modules Planning for the Future and and Creative and Narrative Nonfiction. These modules focus on analysing and anticipating changes in the operating environment, exploring and strengthening one's own identity as a writer, the various uses and forms of storytelling and the use of literary narrative methods in nonfiction and journalism.

In the thesis, the student deepens his/her writing skills through his/her own writing project and a written thesis report that examines it from a research perspective. The purpose is to produce a written output that is meaningful for the student's own work and competence development, such as a feature article, essay, textbook or other form of learning material, or a manuscript for a popular nonfiction book or guide. The thesis starts right at the beginning of the studies and the work on it permeates the entire study period.

In elective studies, students expand their competence in areas useful for them. Students can choose elective studies for example from the selection of elective courses offered by the Master School of Turku UAS or from the online courses of the Campus Online. Students can also do project studies in the projects of the research groups of Turku UAS, as assignments from working life commissioners, or as their own working life projects.

The setting of a student's own learning goals, the construction of their personal learning path and their professional development will be supported by teacher tutoring, the preparation of an individual learning plan (ISP) and through the professional biographical process.

FEEDBACK SYSTEM

The Creative Narration in Nonfiction programme relies above all on the principle of continuous self-assessment and continuous feedback: during each contact period, students meet with a tutor teacher with whom they discuss current issues related to their studies. In tutor meetings, the threshold for giving feedback is low, and feedback can be reacted to immediately.

Feedback can also be given in the online learning environment and by email. In addition, feedback on the individual courses is collected from students with an electronic feedback system (Spark), and towards the end of studies, feedback on studies as a whole is collected using a Webropol survey.

CAREER AND POSTGRADUATE STUDY OPPORTUNITIES

A student who has graduated from the Master School of Turku UAS has developed working life and their own competence and expertise, expanded their networks both nationally and internationally, and received tools for advancing in their own career and developing their own expertise further.

Depending on their previous degree, professional background and work experience, graduates of the Creative Narration in Nonfiction programme can find employment, for example, as a nonfiction writers, journalists, editors, producers of learning materials or in various expert positions.

Master of Culture and Arts degree provides qualifications required for applying for doctoral studies in a relevant field. However, universities can set conditions for granting the right to pursue a doctoral degree, for example, in the form of supplementary bridge studies.

TAKING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT INTO ACCOUNT

The different dimensions and perspectives of sustainable development are taken into account in a variety of ways in the teaching contents and methods. Sustainable development is highlighted as one area of focus in the study modules Planning for the Future and Creative and Narrative Nonfiction. The perspectives of sustainable development are also considered when planning the implementation of one's own thesis project.

Objective

Upon completing their studies, the students will be able to:
• examine current phenomena and trends in non-fiction and journalism analytically, critically and in a future-oriented manner,
• recognise the role and significance of non-fiction and journalism in society as promoters of a sustainable future,
• utilise new ways of working and expressing themselves in their writing,
• use digital tools to facilitate information acquisition and management and fact-checking, and to support the writing process,
• to apply and develop ethical, responsible and sustainable working methods in their writing projects,
• to work in multidisciplinary teams in a creative and innovative way,
• to create and maintain collaborative relationships to complement their own competence, and to build professional networks locally and globally,
• to communicate to domestic and international networks about their competence and their writing,
• to assess and develop their competence proactively, anticipating the changes in the operating environment and future competence needs.

Development

The Creative Narration in Nonfiction is based on the blended learning approach. Most of the studying and learning takes place according to the student’s own schedule in the location of his/her own choice. The studies are completed mainly online, as independent studies and through different group and project assignments. Independent studying alternates with and is supported by contact learning, which takes place usually once a month in two consecutive days on the campus.

Multidisciplinary teamwork

The study programme is multidisciplinary and multiprofessional by nature, as students can apply for studies with diverse educational and career backgrounds and competence profiles. The multidisciplinary nature of the student group is a strength. When working in a multidisciplinary study group and teams, students have the opportunity to learn from each other and produce fresh ideas and solutions together.

Students are divided into multidisciplinary learning teams for the duration of their studies. Learning teams are used in several learning assignments, as peer support for studying and the thesis process, and in reflection discussions during the contact days. Peer feedback plays a key role in the learning assignments of the courses and in the thesis process.

The teacher supports the learning process

In the MA programmes or Arts Academy, teachers support the students' learning process and competence development, supervise theses, and enable networking and multidisciplinary teamwork. Master's education is a learning community in which peer learning from other students – professionals in their own field – plays a key role, and where teachers also learn together with students. In addition to pedagogical expertise, the teacher team of the Creative Narration in Nonfiction programme has diverse substance expertise in different genres of writing, and more broadly, in the fields of communication, culture and arts.

Each student has a discussion with their tutor teacher at the beginning of their studies and during the second academic year. In the discussion, the student is supported in setting their own learning goals and in making and following their individual study plan (ISP).

Student-centred learning and teaching methods

A professional autobiographical process is included in the studies of Master's students of Arts Academy. It supports the students’ continuous reflection on their professional choices and goals, strengths, skills and development needs, as well as professional identity and growth during the studies.

The courses of the study programme are planned and built around a student-centred learning process and authentic, motivating learning tasks. Many of the learning tasks are linked with the students’ own thesis projects. Learning tasks may also be based on real-life cases, problems and assignments provided by our working life partners.

Students' learning is assessed through a variety of methods. In addition to the assessment conducted by the teachers, self-assessment and peer assessment are systematically used. Learning is also assessed externally by working life partners, when possible. The assessment covers the competences attained by the student as well as his/her competence development during the studies. The main purpose of the assessment is to support the students’ competence development. (For more details, see Evaluation.)

Diverse learning environments

In a MA programme, studying and learning takes place in many different learning environments. Some learning environments are used by all students in the programme together, while others are used by those students who feel that the learning environment is a meaningful way and place of learning in terms of their own learning goals.

- Campus environment: Students gather on the campus of Turku UAS for contact days mainly once a month. The contact period serves as an important place for guiding the learning process, peer support, teamwork and joint reflection. In addition, keynote lectures and presentations by the teachers or visiting experts are organised during the contact periods.

Online learning environment:
The “home base” of the study programme is Turku UAS's online learning environment called ITSLearning, where the students find general information about their studies, as well as the schedules, instructions, learning materials, learning assignments, and learning tools of individual study units (courses). Some of the learning activities in the online environment are based on collaboration and interaction among the learning team or the whole study group. The tools available in ITSlearning may also be complemented with other distance learning technology, such as Teams and Zoom.

- Collaboration networks: The studies are implemented in close cooperation with working life networks. The students are encouraged to use their own professional networks in their thesis project and other studies and to create new networks. The students are also encouraged to benefit from events and trainings relevant to their professional development and to include them in their elective studies.

- Research groups and RDI projects: The students have the opportunity to participate in various roles in the activities of the Arts Academy's research groups and their research, development and innovation (RDI) projects. Students can do project studies in RDI projects and include them in their elective studies.

Further information

The assessment of each course is based on the learning objectives detailed in the curriculum, which in turn are based on the competence goals set for the entire degree programme. The scale of assessment is Approved/Failed, except for the Master's thesis which is graded on a numerical scale from 1 to 5.

The assessment of the thesis is based on the assessment criteria for Master’s degree thesis at Turku UAS. The thesis is always evaluated by two examiners, one of whom also supervises the thesis work. The second examiner may be a teacher from Turku University of Applied Sciences or a working life representative. The students will receive a written statement on their thesis detailing the grounds for the grade awarded.

Assessment by teachers: The course assessment by the teacher covers all the learning assignments submitted during the course in accordance with the principle of continuous assessment. The focus of the assessment is on both, the final product (such as a report or a presentation) demonstrating the student’s competences (learning outcomes) and the student’s learning process (competence development). The learning process is made visible in the online learning environment (by sharing draft versions of learning assignments in the discussion forum, by giving and receiving peer feedback and editing the work based on feedback), during face-to-face meetings, in which students may give progress reports on their projects, during supervisory meetings with the teacher and in the reports written by the student on their work.

Self-assessment: Self-assessment is essentially based on the professional autobiographical process that continues throughout the studies. It serves as a tool for reflection on the students’ own skills and their development and on their professional identity. In addition, the students are expected to reflect on the progress of their learning in all reports written during the studies, such as the project-based course reports in elective studies and the thesis report on the development project.

Peer assessment: Peer assessment is used in many learning tasks and throughout the thesis process. The students give feedback on each others work as instructed, both in the face-to-face meetings and on the ITSLearning course platforms.

Assessment by working life partners: Working life partners may assess student performance during the thesis work, if the work was commissioned by an external working life partner. The courses also include lectures and workshops by visiting experts, who will give feedback on student performance during the contact sessions. The purpose of the assessment conducted by a working life partner is mainly to support the students’ competence development and achievement of goals, so it is provided primarily for the personal benefit of the student.