A Design Programme Oriented Towards Cultural Understanding and Social Innovation

The Art Design programme is grounded in the cultural perspective of “greater design”. It emphasises understanding design within broader cultural and social contexts, rather than limiting design to the production of form. Instead, design is understood as an important means of connecting culture, communication, education and public issues through the use of “objects” as a medium.

Programme Aims

Responding to the needs of cultural inheritance and innovation, social development, and changing future lifestyles, this programme aims to cultivate interdisciplinary design talent with systems thinking, research awareness, integrated expression and cross-disciplinary innovation capabilities. The programme places particular emphasis on developing students’ critical thinking and humanistic concern, as well as their abilities in innovative design, prototype validation and research. Students will be able to identify problems, integrate ideas, generate concepts and create design solutions within complex social and cultural contexts through design methods.

Learning Outcomes

Through their study on the programme, students will be expected to develop the following capabilities:

·Research capability: students will master design research methods and will be able to conduct problem-oriented design exploration through investigation, analysis and empirical approaches.

·Critical thinking: students will develop critical understanding and systematic judgement in relation to cultural phenomena, social issues and design problems.

·Original design capability: students will be able to use design prototyping techniques proficiently, rapidly transforming concepts into product prototypes that can be tested, iterated and communicated. In doing so, they will support the effective transformation of design from ideas into physical outcomes.

·Collaborative innovation capability: guided by lifestyle innovation, students will develop critical understanding of cultural phenomena, social issues and technology ethics. They will be able to propose product strategies, service systems and sustainable solutions oriented towards future lifestyles.

Programme Structure and Content

Students will systematically study design thinking and the fundamentals of visual and form-based practice, including two-dimensional, three-dimensional and four-dimensional design. They will develop core technical foundations in digital tools, creative coding, typography and layout, spatial cognition and construction, material experimentation, and human factors engineering.

Students will also study methodological courses such as design research, design strategy and design sociology, enabling them to develop critical thinking and academic research capabilities.

In the later years of the programme, students will focus on smart living scenarios. They will explore specialist areas including integrated product design, lifestyle design, narrative spatial design, service design, sustainable design, traditional craftsmanship and its contemporary transformation.

Drawing on Beijing Normal University’s disciplinary strengths in education, the programme also offers distinctive design education modules, including design cognition and thinking education, gamified educational design, and art and aesthetic education. These modules are intended to cultivate interdisciplinary and innovative design talent.

Duration and Degree

This is a four-year full-time programme. Students who complete all required modules within the period of study specified by the University, achieve passing grades, and obtain the total number of credits required by the programme will be permitted to graduate. The University will issue a graduation certificate. Students who meet the requirements for the conferment of a bachelor’s degree will be awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree.

Project-Based Learning and Internship Opportunities

During their studies, students will join laboratories jointly established by industry mentors and academic mentors, where they will learn through a project-based learning model. Students may also undertake professional internships with technology companies, digital entertainment companies, new media art organisations, digital culture platforms, intelligent interaction enterprises, and media and creative institutions.

Students with outstanding academic performance may be eligible for scholarships funded or supported by the government, the University and corporate partners, including the National Scholarship, the National Encouragement Scholarship and the Jingshi Scholarship.

The University offers a wide range of international exchange programmes. Students with outstanding academic performance may have the opportunity to receive priority recommendation for study and exchange at institutions such as the University of Oxford, the University of California, Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, and Keio University in Japan.