Description
The Department of Performing Arts and Film, formerly the Department of Music, Dance and Drama (MDD) till 2010, was established in 1971. Performing Arts and Film (PAF) is one of the most vibrant units at Makerere University, the oldest Institution of higher learning in Eastern Africa, established by the colonial government in 1922. Performing Arts and Film, the only one of its kind in Uganda and Eastern, Central and Southern Africa, offers training in creative arts subjects including music, dance, drama and film. The Department has produced some of the best artists including musicians, dancers, actors, radio and television presenters, film personnel, and performing arts managers. PAF has also produced internationally recognised academics in the different areas of performing arts. PAF belongs to the School of Liberal and Performing Arts under the College of Humanities and Social Sciences.
Programme Objectives
- To offer arts education that responds to the community, national, regional and global demands of the Twenty-first Century
- To offer arts education with transferable skills that could enable the graduates to create jobs, an urgent intervention that is needed to propel Uganda’s economy.
- To produce all-round graduates that are critical, adaptive, reflective, reflexive to, and aware of their society and surrounding phenomena and environment.
- To introduce, ground, and allow students to experience and experiment with Indigenous community drama, dance and music traditions from within their regions in Uganda to the entire country and general survey from cultures in Africa and the world.
- To contribute to the aims and objectives of Uganda’s national development goals, sustainable development goals (SDGs), the UNESCO Convention for Safeguarding the intangible cultural heritage of 2003, as well as the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).
- To prepare and train students to be/become arts entrepreneurs who understand the history and background of Uganda, Africa’s dance and music industry, and beyond.
Programme Outcomes
- Graduates will demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of arts education that aligns with the evolving needs and demands of their community, nation, region, and global artistic landscapes in the 21st century.
- Graduates will possess versatile and transferable skills empowering them to create employment opportunities, contributing significantly to Uganda’s economic growth and addressing its urgent need for job creation.
- Graduates will exhibit critical thinking, adaptability, reflexivity, and reflection, fostering awareness and understanding of societal issues and the environment, thus nurturing a socially conscious and engaged artistic community.
- Graduates will showcase an appreciation and deep understanding of their indigenous community dance and music traditions within Uganda and beyond, contributing to the preservation and promotion of these cultural heritages at local, national, African, and global levels.
- Graduates will actively contribute to Uganda’s national development objectives, aligning with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the United Nations and complying with international conventions such as the UNESCO Convention for Safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage of 2003 and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) standards.
- Graduates will demonstrate entrepreneurial skills combined with a profound understanding of Uganda’s history and the background of Africa’s dance and music industry, enabling them to thrive and innovate within Uganda, across Africa, and on the global stage.
Employment Prospects
Performing Arts graduates are readily employable solely because they are also job creators, and are among the national and international workforce who may not be gravely affected by unemployment challenges. The graduates get employment in the following areas:
Music Teachers 25%
Performers Troupes/Bands 10%
Music Studios 5%
Music Performance trainers 35%
Media (Radio/TV) 5%
NGOs 10% and
Others 5%
Conduct of the Programme
Not specified
Target Group
Not specified
Duration
2 years (programme listing)
Tuition
Not specified in the source prospectus.
Admission Requirements
Obtained the ordinary level certificate, or its equivalent and obtained a certificate at the same sitting. Obtained at least one advanced level passes in any arts or science subject of the Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education or its equivalent. There will be no essential subject requirement.
The applicant must hold at least a minimum of Ordinary level Certificate or its equivalent; and obtained a certificate of the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM), (an internationally recognized music education examining body, accredited by Ofqual to award qualifications in music within the UK’s National Qualifications Framework, along with the London College of Music, RSL Awards [Rockschool Ltd], Trinity College London, and the Music Teachers’ Board), and globally) at any of the following levels:
Grade Six Music Practical Certificate of the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music
Grade Eight Music Theory Certificate of the Associated Board of the Royal Schools if Music
Auditions through the special entry Scheme:
The applicant must have passed the Auditions through the special entry Scheme examination set by Makerere University.
Course Categorisation
Not specified
