Focusing on Arts and Design for Social impact
In 2021, Lingnan University launched its MA in Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management (SEIM), to help develop a generation of social innovators and entrepreneurs capable of driving a future of sustainable growth.
To expand the scope of this programme and build upon its success, in September 2023 the new Concentration in Arts and Design for Social Impact (ADSI Concentration) will be added as a specialisation pathway. With teaching based in Hong Kong’s exciting new West Kowloon Cultural District (WKCD), the Concentration will focus on the use of design methods and interactive technology to promote social well-being and to lead entrepreneurial endeavours in the creative industries.
Students will be taught the underlying skills necessary to manage everything from the development of new methods for the presentation of exhibits in museums, to the use of technologies, such as AI, in visual advertisements and the movie industry.
They will also learn how to use both innovative management techniques, and an entrepreneurial mindset, to ensure their projects have a positive social impact. “Students could, for example, work with community members to preserve Hong Kong’s cultural heritage, such as its traditional Chinese Opera stages,” explains Dr Jasper van Holsteijn of Lingnan’s School of Graduate Studies.
Aims and opportunities
Dr van Holsteijn says the Concentration’s focus on social impact chimes with the essential ethos of Lingnan University, and makes full use of Lingnan’s links to a strong network of local NGOs and community organisations.
He also believes that this is the perfect time to launch such a programme in Hong Kong. Developments in digital technology, such as in the field of virtual reality, are opening up new creative possibilities – for example, in providing original methods for preserving Hong Kong’s unique cultural heritage in the face of rapid urban development. And the government is committing significant financial backing, not only to large-scale infrastructure projects, such as the WKCD, but to the creative industries in general.
“If students in this concentration, or in the main programme, have good entrepreneurial ideas, it is relatively easy to get step funding from the government,” notes Dr van Holsteijn.
As well as pursuing their own business projects, graduates will have a number of other pathways open to them. These include management and facilitation roles in the creative industries, as innovators in museums and cultural organisations, and in positions within relevant NGOs. “For example, in NGOs who run art workshops for the underprivileged.”
New courses
The new courses for the ADSI Concentration focus on applying design and innovation know-how in the context of both the creative industries and of intangible cultural heritage. The Interactive Arts and Technology course will provide students with hands-on experience of using digital and other technologies relevant to the creative arts and industries. The Design Methods for Arts and Culture course will teach similar problem-solving concepts and methods as the SEIM equivalent, but will look at them in the context of revitalising aspects of our intangible cultural heritage and of innovation within the creative industries.
So a project in the latter course might look at a little-known piece of Hong Kong’s cultural heritage and the ways in which technology can be used in innovative ways to inform people in Hong Kong, and worldwide, about it. “The Design Methods course will involve a lot of hands-on and group work to come up with creative ideas to tackle these types of challenges,” explains Dr van Holsteijn.
Given the broad range of expertise of Lingnan’s SEIM faculty members, and of the Concentration’s guest lecturers, students will be taught to consider Art and Design Management from different angles and perspectives. This interdisciplinary approach will draw on input from Lingnan’s Humanities, Engineering, and Management departments.
Not just what but where
Classes for the ADSI Concentration will be taught in a newly designed teaching and learning space at M+, the ground-breaking new museum of visual culture that lies at the heart of Hong Kong’s WKCD. The proximity to a range of cultural venues is certain to prove inspiring to the Concentration’s students and generate a creative synergy.
Dr van Holsteijn sees the fact that Lingnan has been able to design its teaching spaces in M+ as incredibly valuable. The flexible, modular classrooms will allow students to work collaboratively and engage in studio-based, interactive, hands-on workshops.
While Professor Albert Ko, Lingnan’s Director of Service-Learning, points out that the M+ base will also allow for the integration of teaching and the students’ work on their service projects. “For example, in the morning we can teach the students about community engagement and train them in the necessary skills. In the afternoon students can organize co-designing workshops for community members. A day like this can culminate with the space welcoming community members to join the students in an exhibition of their co-created products.