Practice-Led and Industry-Focused Curriculum
Students will experience live client projects or internship as part of the course requirement. Such work experience aims to deepen students’ skillsets through industry application and attaining mastery by integrating theory with practice. Modules such as Design Studio and Design Futures and Insights, will enable students to develop skill sets that relate to their design toolkits while responding to real-world challenges in creative manners.
Interdisciplinary and Transdisciplinary Learning
Students will be equipped with skills from their chosen domain and progress to explore interdisciplinary opportunities, learning to see design as a synergetic fusion of different perspectives. A student-led transdisciplinary project will be undertaken in the final semester of the course.
Understanding Current Issues and Future Trends
The reading of cultural issues with emergent political, economic, social, technological, legal environmental contexts will be woven into the curriculum as students study the impact of design with its integration in the community. Students will apply design thinking to explore interventions, test ideas, and assess their design impact.
The NAFA Spirit and the Southeast Asian Arts Dimension
The course will have a strong Southeast Asian arts focus to drive research inquiries, raising critical discourse while opening new perspectives that will broaden and contribute to practices and cultural research around the region. A Southeast Asian masterclass kickstarts the beginning of every semester that serves as stimulus to the learning journey, with aspects of cultural heritage incorporated into the course.
Live-Client Project/ Internship
All students will have the opportunity to undertake a live-client project/internship in the final year for a period of 10-weeks that will provide students with insights and knowledge of professional practice, that enable their alignment of skills and capabilities to the real needs of the industry.
Central Location within Singapore’s Arts and Heritage District
NAFA is located within the Bugis Arts Belt in the city centre, within walking proximity to the National Design Centre, museums, galleries, and arts groups, where a vibrant surrounding environment serves as active catalyst for engaging discourse, dialogue, teaching and learning of the arts.
International Placement at UAL
The course offers students the opportunity to spend seven weeks on an international placement in London, studying with international practitioners and experts in their fields. Students will benefit from the immersion in a lively cultural capital with opportunities to experience design from fresh perspectives. The studio modules will be conducted by faculty from London over this period, adding to the multicultural integration and collaboration.
The UAL-NAFA Partnership
The UAL-NAFA partnership is the first for the University of the Arts London, ranked first in art and design undergraduate programmes according to the 2021 QS World University Rankings. It is Europe’s largest specialist art and design university, with over 19,000 students from more than 130 countries. This partnership marks the first time that the University is offering validated programmes outside the UK.