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Ling U

Ling U

Ling U

Ling U

Ling U

Nicol Cheung


Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Visual Studies (2018)
Research Master's in Media Studies (Film), University of Amsterdam
- graduated cum laude
- Member of curatorial team, Fly me to the Moon film festival, de Nieuwe Regentes, Den Haag, 2019


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Visual Studies programme introduced me to a wide array of opportunities that gradually helped me define my interests and motivated my decision to take up an academic career in Film Studies.



From 2013 to 2018 I had the great pleasure to be a bachelor's student in Visual Studies at Lingnan. Now, a somewhat surprising admission - it wasn't the programme I started out with. Surprising, particularly because I have always held great interest in visual arts from a young age. This, however, makes my eventual transfer to the Visual Studies program all the more rewarding, for it rekindled my passion for art and provided me with a new way to reconnect with a field I have always wanted to participate in. From hands-on art-making in studio practice courses, introductions to art theories and histories, and student-led curatorial initiatives, the Visual Studies programme introduced me to a wide array of opportunities that gradually helped me define my interests and motivated my decision to take up an academic career in Film Studies.


It would be hard to pinpoint the biggest highlights during my time as a Visual Studies student at Lingnan. That said, I think one of the aspects that made the programme so unique and valuable for me was the combination of theoretical and practical components in the curriculum, along with the many opportunities the programme offered to its students. The studio and theoretical courses opened me to the diverse ways visual arts can be approached, appreciated, and studied, whereas my time as an exchange student in Morocco and France nurtured my interest in cinema in particular. In addition, the small size of the department helped promote close connections between the faculty and the students. Having graduated three years ago, the friendly support I receive from the professors and the tightly-knit environment at the Visual Studies programme is something I cherish a lot as I move on to pursue postgraduate studies overseas.


Upon graduating from the BA Visual Studies programme, I went on to study film in the Research Master's programme in Media Studies at the University of Amsterdam. Reflecting on my personal contact with cinema and the field of Film Studies, I focused my thesis on tracing the historical interplay between cinephilia and styles of film criticism, a topic I wish to further develop in my PhD studies. Without delving into the details, it is clear to me that none of this would have been possible without the guidance and encouragement I received during my time as a Visual Studies student. As I mentioned in the beginning, it was a great pleasure indeed to be an alumni of this unique family.