UNAM Higher Diploma in Visual Arts Course

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1 UNAM Higher Diploma in Visual Arts Course

1.1 Degree

1.2 Introduction

1.3 Admission Criteria

1.4 Modules

1.5 See Also

Degree

Higher Diploma

Introduction

A significant number of young people in Namibia having skill or aptitude in the visual arts have recognised the possibility of developing this ability into a career. However, due largely to having experienced educational disadvantage, they have not sufficient entry points to gain admittance to the University’s degree programmes. It is for such students that the Department of Visual and Performing Arts has introduced this intermediate qualification, giving them the opportunity to develop their creative and entrepreneurial potential.
Apart from the obvious benefits of personal development and the academic foundation that the visual arts curricula provide to Higher Diploma in Visual Arts holders, they function within the context of the real world. The “applied” subjects – Art for Advertising, Ceramics Studies, Fashion Studies and Textiles Studies – promote an entrepreneurial focus, training advertising practitioners, ceramic designers, fashion designers and textile designers. The more philosophy-centred subjects – Visual Culture and Creative Expression – focus on cultural domains such as gallery art, tourism, education and heritage. Higher Diploma in Visual Arts holders find employment as self-supporting artists, gallery and museum curators, community project developers, educational officers, workers in the field of cultural tourism, and teachers.

Admission Criteria

An NSSC or equivalent qualification, obtained in not more than three (3) examination sittings, with a minimum score of 22 in five (5) subjects on the UNAM Evaluation Scale (cf. 7.3.1(7) under 7.3 General Admission Criteria for Undergraduate Programmes in the General Information and Regulations Yearbook). English is a compulsory subject and should have been obtained at English as a First/Second Language NSSC level, symbol D or higher.
A candidate can be admitted to the programme through the University’s Mature Age Entry Scheme (cf. 7.4 in the General Information and Regulations Yearbook).
In borderline cases, a student may be admitted to the programme if he/she satisfies any one (1) of the following requirements:
- a pass in Art at NSSC level
- the successful submission of a portfolio acceptable to the Department of Visual and Performing Arts
- a pass in a visual arts admission test administered by the Department of Visual and Performing Arts

Modules

Year 1, Semester 1
Contemporary Social Issues
Computer Literacy
Principles of Design
Visual Literacy and Drawing
English for General Communication OR English Communication and Study Skills

Year 1, Semester 2
Principles of Design
Visual Literacy and Drawing
English for General Communication
English for Academic Purposes

Year 2, Semester 1
Art for Advertising
Fashion Studies
Creative Expression
Textiles: Dyed, Painted and Printed
Visual Culture and Concepts in Africa
Introduction to Photography
Textiles and Fashion Basics
Visual Articulation and Drawing

Year 2, Semester 2
Art for Advertising
Fashion Studies
Creative Expression
Constructed Textiles and Sewn Decoration
Developments in Contemporary Art
Introduction to Photography
Textiles and Fashion Basics
Visual Articulation and Drawing

Year 3, Semester 1
Art for Advertising
Fashion Studies
Creative Expression
Textile Product Development
Visual Culture and Concepts
Business for Visual Arts (all students)
Desktop Publishing for Visual Arts (all students)

Year 3, Semester 2
Art for Advertising
Fashion Studies
Creative Expression
Textiles in Interior Design
Visual Culture and Concepts

1. Year, English Courses: dependent on qualification in English
2. and 3. Year: select one discipline and take all courses of that discipline