BE OPEN: Fashion Education: Fight for Inclusivity and Diversion 23 January 2021 For many years, fashion, perhaps more than any other creative sphere, has been biased with narrow ideas of who should be included in the industry. Even today, the industry has a lot of work to do when it comes to inclusivity and diversity — race, gender, body size, or disability.… Read more →
BE OPEN: Preparing for the Business of Art 14 January 2021 If you make up your mind to study a creative subject at a university, you will most probably get your share of family members arguing that this kind of a degree will not secure you a job that comes with a decent wage. Despite the work of Sir Ken Robinson… Read more →
BE OPEN: Rewriting Art History 21 December 2020 Cultural norms these days are changing quicker than some of us could keep up with. Even the study of such a seemingly stable discipline as art history has turned out to be controversial. Back in January, Yale University announced it would eliminate its popular survey course “Introduction to Art History:… Read more →
BE OPEN: Distracted from Distractions: Is Fighting Distractions in the Classroom Always a Losing Battle? 8 December 2020 Educators would like to believe that their classroom is a place for students to put away their usual routines and mundane thoughts and settle into the joy of learning. The sad-but-true reality, however, is students being carried away from the educational content with distractions of all kinds. With modern life… Read more →
BE OPEN: The University of the Future, Part 2 9 November 2020 The new reality is that this year with the pandemic serving as a catalyst for many processes in higher education has forced the sector’s leaders acknowledge - the traditional analog on-campus degree-focused learning model is seriously challenged. However, the future of higher education goes far beyond following the major general… Read more →- BE OPEN: The University of the Future 2 November 2020 Across the world, coronavirus has fundamentally changed the student experience. It has also raised a number of questions concerning what universities should offer and to whom. It is obvious that COVID-19 will leave a lasting imprint on the higher education that won’t “go back to normal” as we knew it,… Read more →
BE OPEN: Teaching Performing Arts Online 26 October 2020 As universities everywhere partially open up their doors this autumn, they have to cope with many issues of the coming academic year, trying to reinvent the education process in response to the coronavirus pandemic and the consequent restrictions. Many creative hands-on courses are struggling to come up with safe ways… Read more →
BE OPEN: Art Schools Embracing Technology 13 October 2020 Last year, one of the world’s most prestigious art schools, The Royal College of Art in London, announced plans to expand its curriculum in order to transform the accepted paradigm of an art and design university, by injecting key scientific disciplines into the mix of creative courses traditionally on offer. RCA’s new… Read more →
BE OPEN: Diversity in Architectural Education: Building Architecture of Tomorrow 21 September 2020 According to Sumita Singha, a practicing architect and academic who has worked in India, France, Spain and the UK, strangely enough, diversity and equality are ‘taboo’ words in architectural education. Considered to be liberal and creative, way above what is considered ‘political correctness’, most architects do not see the elephant… Read more →
BE OPEN: ‘Architecture is Not for You’: Elitism in Architectural Education 14 September 2020 Not long ago, writer and director of the Open City charity organization Phineas Harper wrote in his Twitter that the architecture profession has to face up to the fact that it has grown to be “more elitist than the most elite university in the world.” The assumption is not at… Read more →
BEOPEN: In Pursuit of Excellence: Critique in Design Education. Pt 2 31 July 2020 Another form of design critique used in studio format learning is intermediate group critiques that are similar in form to final reviews or "juries", yet are much more generative and positive, possessing the same coaching functions as individual critiques. Unlike juries, group crits are focused on advancing the work of… Read more →
BEOPEN: In Pursuit of Excellence: Critique in Design Education. Pt 1 24 July 2020 Critique – whether it is self-critique, peer review or expert tutoring – is an integral and one of the most valuable components of a formal art and design education. For first-year students, however, it can be one of the most difficult aspects of their design school experience. For both sides… Read more →
