A master's degree is an academic degree granted to individuals who have
undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a
specific field of study or area of professional practice. Within the
area studied, graduates are posited to possess advanced knowledge of a
specialized body of theoretical and applied topics; high order skills in
analysis, critical evaluation, or professional application; and the
ability to solve complex problems and think rigorously and
independently. The degree is awarded upon graduation from a university.
The two most common titles of master's degrees are the Master of Arts
(M.A.) and Master of Science (M.S., MSc, M.Si., or M.C.A.); these may be
course-based, research-based, or a mixture of the two.
In regard to the fashion industry, the majority of students stop at the
achievement of a bachelor's degree. However, options are available
for motivated people that wish to achieve a higher level of learning.
If you have already attended fashion school but have a desire for
further education, you can research the offerings listed below.
Below you will find a few Master Degree opportunities in the realm of
fashion or textiles.
Master of Science in Fashion Design - Drexel University: The MS in
Fashion Design is a full-time program that stresses the development of
technical skills and research and experimentation. A typical graduate
sequence may consist of seven terms of graduate courses and five terms
of prerequisite coursework, beginning with the summer term accelerated
design and drawing courses. The curriculum is organized so that
studio, laboratory, and classroom work give the graduate student a
directed experience in the study of aesthetics, criticism, and
contemporary art concepts; contemporary and historic art and design;
current technology; the discipline of drawing; and the making of art.
Students learn to integrate design's aesthetic, psychological, and
social needs with the construction of clothing. The goal of the MS
program in fashion design is to integrate the understanding of design
with the construction of clothing so that the final products answer
physical, aesthetic, psychological, and social needs within the context
of contemporary fashion and industrial limitations. This approach
provides a sound basis for a broad range of employment in the fashion
industry and in education. Other professional opportunities lie in
merchandising, costume design, curatorial work, and computer-aided
design. The faculty of the Department of Fashion, Product and
Design & Merchandising includes art historians, CAD specialists,
designers, fiber artists, merchandising specialists, painters, and
sculptors. The department also draws on practicing professionals as
adjunct professors for specialized coursework and for critique of
student work.
Fashion Studies (MA) at the School of Art and Design History and Theory
– Parsons: Recognizing the growing significance of fashion, MA
Fashion Studies offers a new academic route to advance the research and
analysis of fashion as a cultural phenomenon. This 42-credit program,
which can be completed full-time or part-time, will be of particular
interest to students with degrees in the humanities and social sciences
as well as students with art, design, and fashion industry backgrounds
who want to gain a deeper understanding of fashion and its scholarship.
The program provides an entryway for students who want to pursue careers
in fashion research, including fashion archives, museums, and galleries,
media and consulting, as well as teaching and academia. MA Fashion
Studies also prepares students for advanced research in fashion leading
to a PhD. The courses in this master's program are informed by
perspectives and approaches from a variety of disciplines, including
fashion history and theory, art and design studies, history, museology,
anthropology, sociology, ethnology, cultural studies, and film and
visual studies. Core and elective courses open up broad perspectives on
fashion and its interfaces with design, production, consumption,
imagination, representation, embodiment, and identity. Students
investigate the complex material and visual dimensions of fashion, as
dress, image, and bodily practice, and as a major culture industry that
positions the individual within the social and global world. They will
be challenged to explore the interdisciplinary theories and
methodologies that have informed the evolving field of fashion studies
and contribute their own inquiries to its advancement.
MA in Liberal Studies - CUNY college: MALS students take four
classes within the program—Introduction to Graduate Liberal Studies, two
core courses in their chosen track, and the thesis—and choose their
remaining electives from among all courses offered across the doctoral
and certificate programs at the Graduate Center. The Graduate Center,
CUNY — located on Fifth Avenue in a landmark building, the former B.
Altman department store — is the only University in the US that is not a
design or fashion school to offer a Master's degree in Liberal Studies
with a track in Fashion Studies. This is a groundbreaking area of
specialization that offers the chance to study the phenomenon of fashion
from a variety of standpoints and in a unique interdisciplinary
framework. The track in fashion is the result of more than a decade of
academic international conferences, exhibitions, film screenings and
festivals, and PhD seminars that have taken place at the Graduate Center
and that culminated with the establishment of the PhD concentration in
Fashion Studies available to PhD students. This new concentration will
enable students to serve as adjunct instructors in the CUNY colleges and
beyond where fashion courses are taught. After being trained in the
core courses the program requires, students choose from among a number
of electives that will be offered through the Inter-Disciplinary Studies
Concentration in Fashion and the wide range of courses offered in the
social sciences and the humanities by departments and programs at the
GC. Students will receive guidance to develop their own plan of study
according to their main research interest and training. The Track's two
core courses are: MALS 71200. The Culture of Fashion. The course will
introduce students the fashion system, its implications with body,
gender and class. It will also consider its role and power in the
context of global history, from nations to empire and to globalization
as well as recent developments in digital technology. Students will get
acquainted with the foundational theories of fashion as well as the most
recent research in fashion studies.; and MALS 71300. The Business of
Fashion. The course will offer students in depth and critical knowledge
of how the business of fashion works through study of new scientific
research in technology, design, textile, the functioning of modeling
industry etc. as well as addressing issues of globalization,
sustainability and the environment.
Domus Academy: The Master program provides an integrated approach
between cultural, design, production, marketing and communication
aspects through a dialogue with experts in the field. The program is
designed to contribute to the development of professionals able to
express their creativity and face the new challenges coming from the
Fashion world. The Master program aims at providing participants with a
360 degree perspective on cultural research culminating in a design
project. Domus Academy was founded in Milan in 1982 as the first
postgraduate design school in Italy, and as an open project focusing on
the Italian Design and Fashion experience. Throughout the years, DA also
asserted its importance as a school, in the full meaning of the term: a
place for postgraduate education and research lab investigating
innovation and design topics. In December 2009 Domus Academy
joined the Laureate International Universities Network , an
internationational network which includes more than 80 accredited
campus-based and online universities in 29 countries throughout
North America, Latin America, Europe, Northern Africa, Asia and the
Middle East.
Istituto Marangoni Professionals: Aimed at candidates who have
previous undergraduate study in the fields of communication,
advertising, business and marketing or similar, or proven work
experience. They have masters programs for women's fashion design,
men's fashion design, knitwear, photography, media, luxury brand
management and more. The womenswear fashion design master degree
is dedicated to all those students with specific competences in fashion
design and to professionals that wish to expand their knowledge on
specific themes. Starting from the study of Women's fashion design the
course will give an in-depth view of the different fashion trends
through the evolution of society. Besides the practical study of how to
coordinate a women's fashion collection, the students will acquire also
the basic structures of free-hand and digital drawing and the right
research tools for identifying trends and contemporary culture. A
women's fashion designer is a precursor of styles: starting from the
analysis of the market's history and of the changes of habits and
traditions, he/she is capable of designing a collection responding to
the needs and requirements of a contemporary woman.
The Savannah College of Art and Design: SCAD exists to prepare
talented students for professional careers, emphasizing learning through
individual attention in a positively oriented university environment.
Fashion M.A. students are required to develop and complete a final
project that represents the culmination of their academic program.
Prerequisite(s): FASH 716 and completion of the review for candidacy.
The Master in Fashion, Experience & Design Management (MAFED) is a
full-time, one-year intense program that is taught entirely in English
and attracts students from all over the world. MAFED aims at the
culture of results-oriented creativity, which implies coping with the
unlimited imagination of creative people, your awareness of the
beautiful and original, and the constraints of timing and the fickleness
of consumers. From footwear to clothing, from a scooter to a
Ferrari, Italian style is famous around the globe. Not
surprisingly, an Italian city (Turin) was nominated the world's first
industrial design capital in 2008. Milan is a European and world fashion
center, where the sector includes more than 12,000 companies, 800 show
rooms and 6,000 sales outlets, while four weeks each year are dedicated
to top shows and other events. MAFED offers an Italian take on
fashion.
We hope that this page has helped you adequately research an appropriate
school to attend. If you have suggestions regarding any master
degree programs that should be added or removed from this section,
please let us know.
By the way, if you complete research papers while attending a MA degree program or after you graduate, you are welcome to submit your fashion relevant research to Apparel Search for possible publication. We would very much like to help you share your research findings with the world. It could help you, help us, and help people interested in learning more about clothing & textiles.
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