Futurising the Curriculum: College Funded Projects

SEE and CLTAD have announced their winning student engagement projects for 2014, which have been allocated funding of £2,500 in total.  

These projects investigate the relationship between college disciplines and graduate attributes relating to ‘sustainability’ or ‘enterprise and employability’, and range from cycling tours, workshops with industry and students to sustainability workshops. 

Full list of funded projects: 

Central Saint Martins: Exploring Future Creative Careers

This funded project focuses on 'The Entrepreneur' and 'Routes To Market' for the contemporary UAL Illustration student, to facilitate research into broad career opportunities and connect with key employers in the leisure, entertainment and media marketplace.

‘How We Work’ is a conversation between industry and education. Presentations by industry representatives and current students on the Graphic Communication Design Programme at Central Saint Martins, will explore key graduate attributes suitable for employment in creative corporations.

The project includes Salon Sessions, mini congresses, informal networking designed to encourage “active learning” through discussion amongst invited design professionals and current students. The salons of the enlightenment operated under the guidance of Salonnieres, whose role was to encourage ideas and debate. In Salon Sessions CSM staff and students would take on this role. 

The outcomes of the project will be delivered in talk form and shaped into a digital 'Survival Pack', which could be amended and added to for each new graduating year. Students in turn would contribute their own experiences and advice for the following years.

Further information: http://process.arts.ac.uk/content/how-we-work
Project Leaders: Andrew Hall, Subject/Route Leader Illustration; Michelle Salamon Associate Lecturer; Mike Kelly CLTAD
Discipline: Illustration within Graphic Design, Graphics Communications

CCW: Creative Practice Cycling Tour

A two day ‘cycling tour’ will take 30 UAL students, staff and alumni on a journey into the world of professional ‘creative practice’ – good, bad and ugly. 

This unprecedented opportunity allows staff, students and alumni to meet emerging and established artists, designers and cultural producers in their workspaces and hear about some of the practical and emotional challenges faced when setting up and sustaining a successful professional practice.

From artists and architects to designers and cultural entrepreneurs, no matter what the creative discipline - each practitioner must make complex decisions regarding the commercial status and organisational structure of their work. For some the development of a identity will be key while for others a mastery of the art-funding system is essential.

Further information: http://creativepracticecyclingtours.tumblr.com/ 
Project Leaders: Dr Marsha Bradfield and Claire Heafford 
Partners: Critical Practice Research Cluster
With support from: Camberwell Press and Holly Stevenson (alumna of MFA Fine Art Course at Wimbledon College of Art and co-author of the Future-proof Handbook)
Disciplines: BA, MA & PhD Students through a cross-disciplinary engagement activity that draws on the disciplines of fine art, scenography, textile & graphic design and popular music.

London College of Communication: Alumni Print Club

To establish an open access print club within the current studio resource, for selected alumni from BA and FdA Surface Design, Illustration, Book Arts, and current final year students across these courses, to  conduct an investigative enquiry in how the knowledge and experiences of graduate students can enhance the undergraduate experience and build and inform their graduate attributes.  

Interested alumni would be selected who are seen to have had valuable transferrable experiences since leaving college, or building on those achieved during their time at LCC. They would be required to participate in a seminars and workshops, and to make a presentation of their current work. Through networking opportunities with undergraduates, they would act as prospective mentors, both formally and informally.

Alumni would gain access to the facilities for specific periods, to develop their own work, and so by creating an environment of shared studio space, our current final year students would interact with alumni who are currently where final year students will be in the very near future.

The informality of the situation would make it easy for students to envisage future working environments, and consider real world scenarios.

Once familiar with the alumni participants, current final year students also, would be required to present their work in seminar conditions, and to shape their presentation to fully exploit the values and aspirations previously highlighted by alumni.

As well as mentoring opportunities, there would be scope for collaborations, work placements and other potential employment opportunities, leading from these introductions.

Further information: t.braithwaite@lcc.arts.ac.uk
Project Leader: Tony Braithwaite, Senior Lecturer Screen Printing, Course Director FdA Surface Design 
Disciplines: Surface Design, Spatial Design, Illustration. Graphic Design. 

Central Saint Martins: Mapping, framing and evaluating the impacts of our sustainable activities across disciplines and curricula.

A facilitated workshop for staff and students to share & map the range of activities and attitudes to sustainability across disciplines at CSM. To review how sustainable impacts are evaluated currently within CSM and methods and tools used externally across HEI’s and industry, with a view to developing a common framework for project positioning, protocols and impact evaluation.

The framework that emerges from the workshop seeks to establish a common understanding for achieving literacy in sustainability as informed by the Graduate Outcomes and will be used by Academic programmes  & Enterprise to help to secure funding for live student projects 

Further information: j.penty@csm.arts.ac.uk
Project Leaders: Jane Penty, Stage 2 BA (Hons) Product Design Leader and Monica Hundal Business Manager for Research and Innovation
Disciplines: Aims to reach the widest number of disciplines across CSM with the support and participation of Enterprise