LASALLE College of the Arts, University of the Arts Singapore (LASALLE) has unveiled five new degree programmes in emerging areas within the global creative economy:
- Bachelor of Arts (Honours) Art Histories and Curatorial Practices: Asia and the World
- Bachelor of Arts (Honours) Design for Social Futures
- Bachelor of Arts (Honours) International Contemporary Dance Practices
- Master of Arts Arts and Ecology
- Master of Arts Music Therapy
These pioneering programmes will prepare students to excel in the highly digitised, globalised, and eco-conscious creative industries. LASALLE aims to empower students to become empathetic leaders capable of fostering sustainable and situated creative enterprises in Singapore and the world.
BA (Hons) Art Histories and Curatorial Practices: Asia and the World
The BA (Hons) Art Histories and Curatorial Practices: Asia and the World is the first of its kind in Singapore and Southeast Asia. The programme fosters a symbiotic relationship between art history and curatorial practice in an increasingly expansive intellectual, artistic and curatorial space, embracing independent and situated knowledge-making and digital exhibitory practices. Informed by art history that acknowledges that global paradigms transform how the arts are practised, presented and collected, students will develop a critical understanding of the function and reception of art within specific cultural contexts.
BA (Hons) Design for Social Futures
The BA (Hons) Design for Social Futures aims to produce and field design leaders who are creative problem-solvers and empathetic voices focusing on innovation in and through design to forecast and foreground future design trends and their role in society and the economy. The programme will be an incubator where multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary pathways come together to equip students with critical design sensibilities as well as a broader range of skills in digital technology, strategy, user experience, content creation and social innovation. This programme responds to increasing global demand for design-inspired criticality in service sectors, healthcare, finance, creative tech, and government as well as specific research and development areas.
BA (Hons) International Contemporary Dance Practices
Jointly delivered by LASALLE and the renowned London Contemporary Dance School (LCDS), this programme speaks to an increasingly integrated dance practice on a global scale. It aims to develop dancers with an awareness of global citizenry and an understanding of how the development of cultures impacts them as artists and people. Drawing from the multicultural, multi- ethnic mix of Singapore and London, the focus of the programme is on helping students discover new transcultural and intercultural expressive languages to become independent artists with international careers. Students will study at LCDS for Year 1 and at LASALLE for Year 2 and 3.
MA Arts and Ecology
A first in Singapore and Southeast Asia, the MA Arts and Ecology is a studio-based programme for creative practitioners and ecologists who seek to respond to the environmental crisis and ecological challenges through contemporary arts and creative practices. Placing the arts centrally in the environmental conversation in Asia, the programme positions arts practices and research within real-world situations and fosters collaborative and field-based research and art-making. It encourages students to engage in independent learning that is socially relevant to the current ecological crisis.
MA Music Therapy
MA Music Therapy will be Singapore’s first postgraduate music therapy training programme, to produce professionally registered music therapists. Students will receive a comprehensive education in music therapy coursework and clinical experiences that are rooted in the cultural and social contexts of Singapore. While honing their clinical and therapeutic skills, students will build on their musical skills with LASALLE’s School of Contemporary Music, where they will be able to tap on faculty specialising in classical, popular, jazz and electro-acoustic music.
Dr Venka Purushothaman, Deputy President & Provost, LASALLE College of the Arts, said: “The five new programmes from LASALLE signify a bold step forward for arts education. This is to situate arts higher education within the context of wider global, digital and social issues and respond to demographically different learners. Against this complex but exciting backdrop, there has never been a better time to pursue an arts education in Singapore as we seek to respond, expand and redefine the creative sector.”
For more information on new degree programmes conferred by the University of the Arts Singapore, please visit the UAS website.
Image credit: Eat Me Limerick, Wang Ruobing
