Joint honours - Fine Art & Psychology?

Hey all,
New to the forum & in need of a lot of advice!! Please just skip down to the questions bulleted if you dont want to trawl through all this! Any input massively appreciated.

Quick history:
Finished 6th form summer 2010 with 3 A*s in Art, Maths & Psychology.
My plan (GCSE onwards) had been to do an art foundation, then fine art - but between year 12 & 13 I started having doubts art was for me; decided to do the foundation whilst it was funded for in my hometown, then go from there. I hated my foundation year (cliques of students, negative studio environment, barely any taught sessions) but forced myself through to complete with a distinction (last summer)
A great, unrelated (equestrian) job opportunity came up, so I figured to put studying 'on hold' for a year - hoping the breathing space would clarify how best to continue, but that break away has just confused me more & knocked my confidence entirely. I relapsed into anorexia for the first time in years, & developed fairly severe depression alongside & causing that job to fall apart a few months in & so I've spent the last year working part time in a very mundane horsey job, & the rest of my time recovering/trying to get back into being creative/portfolio development.
I've turned quite a corner in recovery, & I have my heart set on Sept 2013 entry.

I'd always debated between either an Art or Psychology degree, (plus toying with their variants; sfx, criminology etc.) & recently discovered the option of doing them as a joint - at Reading, or Canterbury.

I've found it really difficult to get back into the flow of working creatively so far, & i'm the first to say I know I'm not cut out for design led work in future-If i have an interest in something, I'll try & fulfill it tooth & nail, but I dont love drawing for the love of drawing etc. I aways felt this made me a bit of an outsider at foundation, like I shouldn't be there because I didnt live & breathe art. I wasnt interested in everything. But I always found an interest for myself, and nothing made me feel more accomplished & focussed then working towards that.
I can't imagine giving up that control, & freedom to write essays/read/carry out experiments etc. as I would if I abandoned the art & focussed on a purely academic degree. On the flipside, I found the rationale, & logic of maths, & psychology at A Level quite a therapeutic break from the hours & hours & endless opportunities & questions of art!
I don't know what career path I see myself going down; I'm kind of hoping that will unfold with time...but psychology seems to touch on a lot of the areas I may be interested in (eg's equine assisted, and other outdoors-y therapies, sports coaching, police work) & I loved it at A level.
My struggle with getting back into Art makes me think I cant do it - but i'll feel I've failed myself entirely if i dont give it one more serious shot. I considered crafting just as a hobby & forgetting about fine art, but I just got frustrated with my juvenile work. I want to improve it, & I feel I need the pressure & opportunity offered at a university to help me get there.

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Do any universities, other than Canterbury & Reading, offer this combination?

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Is it difficult to juggle 2 subjects? I was always a hard worker, but I'm definetely a 'slow-burner'; particularly on the art front; I really agonise over tiny details, & favour more physical, time-consuming work which obviously takes a lot of time to get results. I want to push myself to the highest level I can achieve, but at the same time-I want more out of uni than that. I'm keen to get as much experience volunteering, playing sport etc. as I can. I spent my entire freetime over the school years studying, except for a hour or 2 each day.

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Does the quality of art suffer at these unis, with them not being specialist 'big gun' names in the art world?  I know some people are so talented they'll succeed anywhere; but I know work best in the most supportive, stimulating environment I can get.

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BPS accreditation of Psychology - I'm sure I remember reading these uni's psychology courses were accredited, but does that still stand with a joint degree? Would I need to fulfill a particular route for that to be the case, if at all? (e.g. major in psych 2nd year, then drop art completely 3rd year?)

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Does anyone who does a joint feel they 'miss out' a bit on their subjects? I'm concerned about losing the depth on the two, as its really the more specialist modules, that I guess I'd lose as a joint, that I'd be interested in doing.

Apologies for the essay! Any insight MASSIVELY appreciated!!

Reply 1

sjw90

What is it about psychology you are interested in? and the same with art? Are you looking to do art theropy? If so there is also the choice to do an art degree so you can focus on that (you could always join the psychology society) and then do a top in psychology/art theropy.

If this might be an option for you, check out nottingham trents fine art/decorative arts programs; http://www.ntu.ac.uk/apps/pss/course_finder/113265-1/39/ba_(hons)_decorative_arts.aspx

Sarah x

Reply 2

tasha16

I'm doing my GCSEs at the moment art is my passion but I'm concerned there aren't any good jobs to aim for to do with art, I'm going to do Psychology for A level and although i haven't actually started learning about it yet I'm interested in all psychological things and how the mind works, i was wondering if anyone knew about if there are any jobs that combine art and psychology and would be a job that would enable me to travel around the world not just stay in one place inside an office???

Reply 3

Criticalproof

I would say its far better to do one subject as at Uni you have core subjects plus options but with a joint degree you often don't get the optional elements. So I would say do psychology then study art as a hobby maybe do a diploma after your psychology degree. Hope this helps. Karen

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Reply 4

tasha16

thanks yeah i was thinking of keeping art as a hobby but do you know of any jobs than have an aristic aspect to them?

Reply 5

gilly888

K
I hope you have sorted things out. Not sure if you will receive anything from this thread as it was a year ago. I'm just researching for a friend's son, going to look through his portfolio today.

If you are still at sea, let me know i might be able to help.
G.

Reply 6

EM2000

Hi Gilly, KattM, and all else involved in this convo.
I know this is a while after these posts, but am currently studying a joint degree in fine art and art history at a good london art university. The course is very varied, and interesting within the history of art, looking at subjects like sociology and and parts of psychoanalysis. However, I'm toying with the idea of changing to a psychology course as I really like the idea of career within the field of psychology and working with people as a proffesional, possibly educational psychology. I do feel, however that I need substantial training in psychology research methods etc. so was wondering if any of you have found a good course for studying both art and psychology together?
And equally, any other careers that would combine the two?
Hope everything is going well KattM,
Best,
Em

Reply 7

Gabimiel

I'm thinking of studying art and psychology at Reading as my first choice - it's seems amazing!!!

Reply 8

SVND

I think you can get a bachelor in Psychology and then a master in Art therapy, maybe the classes you already took in Art would be transferable. Or check if you can do the opposite way, a Bachelors in Fine Arts and a then master in Psychology..I don't know if I helped.. I am going through the same drama, trying to decide between the two, I love both, but together. I feel each one complete each other..

Reply 9

sophia2246

hey just been looking over this conversation as im currently in year 12 and thinking about taking a joint degree (art and psychology) the one at reading looks great from what I can tell from their website.did you end up taking it and what are your thoughts?

Reply 10

hallamstudents

Official Rep

Original post by Kattm

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Do any universities, other than Canterbury & Reading, offer this combination?

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Apologies for the essay! Any insight MASSIVELY appreciated!!

Hi there,

If is is Art Therapy you want to go into I know someone who is studying that at Derby and she really enjoys it. Some other Unis offer it like Leeds and the University of Sheffield. Maybe have a look ans see if they are your cup of tea :smile:

Generally in first year on most courses there is not too much work so you do have the time to join societies and or sports teams. And if you manage your time well and are organised you should be able to continue with these into 2nd and third year.

I manage to do salsa, jujitsu, go to the gym and have a part time job and manage my uni work quite easily. My experience though is sports teams take up a lot of time so if you do a sport you probably wont have time to do a society. But if you are in a society you probably can be in a few and they are more relaxed about turning up casually. What societies/sport are you interested in?

Hope that helps

Chandni