Joy
Yap

What attracted you to MA Culture, Style and Fashion?
“After submitting my undergraduate dissertation at NTU for BA (Hons) Furniture & Product Design in 2017, I realised that I enjoyed researching more than making and this led me to MA Culture, Style and Fashion. This course offered exactly what I was looking for - it involves lots of opportunities to research and write and prepares students who want to pursue a PhD in similar fields in the future.”

Can you tell us a little bit about the course?
“To put it simply, this course is a cross between academic design studies (fashion, product, visual culture, history) and journalism. Through the course we have weekly seminars in which we give our opinion on a reading that is relevant to the topic we are studying. We have the opportunity to pick out elements that either interest or puzzle us and discuss these in order to better understand them and the topic we’re exploring.

“On many occasions, prior to submissions, we also have show and tell sessions – we bring our work in for peer review and feedback, and can improve our work before the final assessment.”

What do you enjoy most about the course?
“What I enjoy most about the course are the creative methods of presenting research and the occasional excursions to various museums and archives, including Nottingham Contemporary, Newstead Abbey and V&A in London. These trips help us to achieve a better understanding of what was taught and discussed in class.”

Would you recommend the course to others?
“I would recommend this course to others as the course content is fascinating, tutors are friendly and helpful, and we have the opportunity to go on optional study trips to places such as Paris and Antwerp.”

How do you think this course will help you achieve your future career aspirations?
“There is a significant difference between what I studied at undergraduate and postgraduate level, and I feel that my postgraduate qualification will now broaden my career prospects. When I first completed my undergraduate studies, I was considering teaching computer-aided design as a career; however, since commencing my postgraduate studies I have been considering a career in journalism. The difference in these career options is big and highlights the benefits of having two varied  qualifications.

“I hope that after finishing my postgraduate course I will be fully equipped with the necessary knowledge required to undertake a PhD with ample confidence.”

Can you tell us about your MA project/s?
“Since the course commenced in September, I have completed two projects. One focused on style, whilst the other was glamour. Throughout both projects we received lots of guidance from our course tutors and tutors from Broadcasting and Journalism, and we attended workshops around photography, filming, editing and writing. These sessions were tremendously helpful in preparing me for both projects.

“The first project was an essay along with two pieces of journalism articles based on the writing style of The Guardian and The Conversation. My research focused on the significance of style and impact of filters on food photography. In the initial stages of this project, I found I have academic text to work with but not a significant example to focus my project on.  I then decided to narrow my scope from general photography on Instagram and focus only on food photography. I found a key example to prove my point with Martha Stewart’s food photography incident in 2013 that caused an uproar amongst her online followers.

“The second project was an audio-visual project; I produced a short video titled ‘Glamour in Androgyny’ where I explored the connections between glamour and androgyny. As it was relatively new to me to present my research in such a manner, it took some trial and error before I got it right with plenty of visuals, amply, non-wordy descriptions and appropriate arrangement of content.”

As an international student, what do you like about studying and living in Nottingham?
"I love the Arboretum. While I do love how lively Nottingham’s city centre is, I do need a place other than my room to retreat to every once in a while for peace and quiet. The Arboretum is the perfect place to do that, and it is conveniently located right beside the university. Whenever I am feeling overwhelmed or just in need of fresh air, I would always head down to the Arboretum for a stroll, do some photography and have a gander at the birds that reside there."