| PROGRAMME |
| ANNUAL SCHEDULE COURSE 1: DISCIPLINE RELATED REFLECTION (FASHION DESIGN) Study time: 640 hours. Duration: 40 weeks: week 1- 40. This course, consisting of four 8-weeks units, focuses on acquiring more in-depth knowledge on the design process. The four units follow the time schedule of the individual research (course 3) and contribute to the development and gathering of skills and knowledge in the Fashion Design. The four contributing courses are Exploration, Arrangement, Elaboration and Representation as the main steps in the design process. In addition to these units, the second unit of the second course (concept development) adds the formulation of an idiosyncratic opinion to the series of design steps, thus completing an ideal scheme of a fashion design process. Unit 1: Exploration The aim of this unit is to familiarize the student with the development of a conceptual viewpoint that will provide the foundation for the design process. The purpose of this is to enable the student to compare and assess at a later stage his/her own products and performance in relation to colleagues, the broader field, specialist literature, social and economical developments, and ethical debates and to place these issues in an intercultural and marketing perspective. The student learns to critically look at his/her own culture or Western counterculture and to translate this into a modern fashion context. In addition, the student learns to critically reflect on the field and position him/herself in relation to this field. In so doing, the student should be stimulated to make a personal contribution to the development and innovation of the field. Assessment: This united will be conducted in the form of formulating an idiosyncratic vision on the current practice of Fashion Design. Unit 2: Arrangement This unit deals with the collection. A PR book should be produced which will serve as a means of communication both internally and externally, and which should show evidence of the social relevance of the practical and theoretical research carried out by the student. In the PR book, the student should provide a description of the concept behind his/her collection for third parties - clients (for commissioned work) as well as customers (possible future wearers of the collection). The description should make clear to what extent the concept is innovative and should show the relevance of the research that has been carried out. Assessment: this unit will be conducted by producing a PR book Unit 3: Elaboration During this unit, work is carried out on the technical realization of the test models of the designs. This is also the phase during which experimenting with fabric and print designs takes place. The drapings are further developed into a design. The patterns and prototypes are realized and analyses are made of the problems that can arise, after which solutions can be explored. The student learns to carry out the production process of the final graduate collection both efficiently and according to a plan. Moreover, the student learns to make a stylistic interpretation of the final collection in order to show this optimally in the form of a fashion show. Assessment: This unit will be conducted in the form of the production of sample silhouettes. Unit 4: Representation In this unit, the practical final examination project becomes concrete and is brought into relationship with aspects such as styling and presentation in the form of a fashion show that is organized by the school. Moreover, the collection book will come up for consideration. The collection book is a two-dimensional report of the collection and will make up an important part of the student's portfolio. Assessment: This unit will be conducted in the form of the completion of the collection book. Reference Materials: Roland Barthes, The Fashion System, New York, 1983. Ieme Boer, Just a Fashion: Cultural cross-dressing and the dynamics of cross-cultural representations, Amsterdam, 2002. Pierre Bourdieu, Distinction: A social critique of the judgement of taste, Cambridge, 1984. M. Castells, The Rise of the network society, New York, 1996. Diane Crane, Fashion and its social agendas: Class, Gender and Identity in Clothing, Chicago, 2001. Stuart Hall, Representation: cultural representations and signifying practices, London, 1997. Naomi Klein, No Logo, New York, 2000. Victor Margolin, Richard Buchanon (eds).The Idea of design, Cambridge, 1997. S. Niessen, C.Jones, A.Leshkowich, (eds.) Re-Orienting Fashion: The Globalisation of Asian Dress, New York, 2002. L.W. Rabine, The Global circulation of African Fashion, New York, 2002. COURSE 2: DISCOURSE PRODUCTION Study time: 480 hours. Duration: 24 weeks: week 1-16 and week 25-32. The purpose of this collective MA course of study is to familiarize you with reflections on topical visual productions. Particularly the notion of research plays a decisive role in this. How could research in design be distinguished from other forms of research? You will learn to reflect methodologically, to formulate research hypotheses, to reflect on concepts, and to design research models. The program consists of three units of each eight weeks of instruction. For the program part Discourse Production (unit 1 and unit 3), students of the various pathways are divided in a foursome small work-shops. Here the first confrontation takes place between the various design disciplines and the discipline of fine art. This confrontation offers an optimal departure point for a climate where collaborative projects can emerge. Moreover, in week 32, at the end of the theory program, room has been created to produce such an experimental, transdisciplinary project. Unit 1: Cultural Studies (Week 1-8) The first unit is devoted to Cultural Studies. Primary subjects are Visual Culture, Aesthetic Experience, Intervisuality, Rhetorics and Communication, The Era of Information, Performativity, Brand & Styling, Globalization, Identity, Models of Critical Awareness. During these 8 weeks seminars will take place where major topical literature will be discussed in various seminars. You are expected to study the assigned literature in such a way that you are able to thoroughly contribute to the discussion. Assessment: This unit will be concluded in the form of a presentation (with a paper of 500 words), where you should demonstrate a critical assessment of the literature studied, if possible in the context of your own work/research (your research proposal). Unit 2: Concept Development: (Week 9-16) The second unit, Concept Development, will take place within your own discipline (Fashion Design). Primary questions dealt with: What is a concept? How is a concept developed in the topical practice of design? How does a design concept differ from another concept? How can we describe the structure of design problems? Is design a reflective practice or a problem solving approach? What is a design solution? Assessment: The program will be in the form of a participatory seminar. You will independently prepare parts of the lecture and discuss these in the form of critical reports. The unit will be concluded with a paper (1000 words) in which a work-related concept (your pre-thesis) should be formulated. Unit 3: Cross-Cultural Studies: (Week 25-32) The third unit, Cross-Cultural Studies, is a collective part of the program. The central questions are: What is research? What is an artistic or a design methodology? How does these methods relate to other methodologies (various artistic disciplines, various scientific disciplines, philosophy)? And how does the research of your own design discipline contribute to the current cultural debate. Assessment: The unit will be concluded with a collective research project, taking place during the last week. An editorial board of both professional and theoretical lecturers will participate in this project. The research theme becomes formulated every year in dialogue with the Reader in Artistic Research. The theme connects with the Graduate School as such. During the course 2006-2007 the research theme will deal with the concept of experience. COURSE 3: INDIVIDUAL RESEARCH PROJECT Study time: 800 hours. Duration 32 weeks: week 17-24 Course 3 is characterized as a stage of production. It is the place where you modify and realize independently the project proposal presented at the start of the program. Individual research activities and visual results will be evaluated in group-discussions. During the group discussion, you report on the progress of your research in the form of a research presentation. In critical discussions, the methodological premises and the project proposal will be evaluated and, if necessary, adjusted. In regular conferences between student and lecturer, the progress of the research is monitored. You should be able (in writing and in image) to communicate the premises of your research and be able to adjust the premises based on various try-outs and critical discussions. In addition, you will render an account of the meaning of the chosen context for situating your work and concept. The reflexive investigation should continuously demonstrate a dynamic interaction between theoretical concepts and design practice. The written work will be completed in a final thesis (essay 5000 words). In the thesis, the research trajectory, the chosen methodological plan and the critical position within the process of communication are all theoretically founded. In addition, you are involved in a presentation concept of your work. The presentation and the public defence of the thesis (End of August 2006) form the completion of the program. |
