Norwich University of the Arts


Norwich University of the Arts is a public university in Norwich, Norfolk, United Kingdom. It is a former higher education institution and specialises in art, design and media. Norwich University of the Arts was founded as Norwich School of Design in 1845 and has a long history of arts education. It gained full university status in 2013.
NUA is the smaller of two universities in Norwich, the other being the University of East Anglia.

History

The history of the university dates back to 1845 when the Norwich School of Design was established to provide designers for local industries. Its founders were the artists and followers of the 'Norwich School of Painters', the only provincial British group to establish an international reputation for landscape painting.
Degree-level provision has been offered since 1965, when it was approved to offer the Diploma in Art and Design, validated by the National Council for Diplomas in Art and Design. After 1965 the School of Art made its own mark on the national art and design scene when twin strengths in Painting and Graphic Design emerged under a group of exceptional practitioners and teachers. From 1975, after NCDAD's merger with the Council for National Academic Awards, the School offered its first BA Honours degree courses in Fine Art and Graphic Design, validated by CNAA.
In 1989 the School merged with Great Yarmouth College of Art to form the Norfolk Institute of Art and Design. In 1991 Norfolk Institute of Art and Design become an Associate College of the new Anglia Polytechnic with the polytechnic assuming validation responsibilities from CNAA from September 1992. This agreement extended to postgraduate provision, with the first MA course being introduced in 1993 and the first research degree student being registered in 1995.
In 1994 NIAD was incorporated as a Higher Education Institution, renamed as Norwich School of Art and Design and re-launched with a new corporate identity.
In November 2007 the School was granted the power to award its own degrees up to Masters level and was renamed Norwich University College of the Arts.
In January 2013 the institution was given permission by the Privy Council to become a university and became Norwich University of the Arts.

Buildings

The university campus comprises eleven buildings located in Norwich city centre.
Francis House which is located on Redwell Street is the main reception for NUA, while the majority of academic facilities are a two-minute walk away, along the pedestrianised St Georges Street, with additional sites on the neighbouring Duke Street and St Andrews Street.
Teaching facilities include a large Apple Mac and Windows suite, A1 style printing rooms, wood and metal workshops with a functioning forge, stop-motion animation studios, professional sound booths, open-plan design and illustration studios, constructed textiles and fashion workshops, lecture theatre and comprehensive library.
There are three areas of accommodation for year one students: the newly developed All Saints Green halls of residence comprising a total of 228 rooms, the Beechcroft complex off Sprowston Road and Harvard Court.

Organisation and structure

The Vice-Chancellor is Professor John Last and Chancellor is the British filmmaker Amma Asante.

Academic profile

Undergraduate courses are offered in a range of art and design fields, including Animation, Architecture, Design for Publishing, Fashion, Fashion Communication and Promotion, Film and Moving Image Publishing, Fine Art, Games Art and Design, Graphic Communication, Graphic Design, Illustration, Photography, Textile Design and VFX.
Postgraduate courses include MAs in Communication Design, Curation, Fashion, Fine Art, Games, Moving Image and Sound, Photography, and Textile Design.
MPhil and PhD research degrees are also offered in many arts, design, and media areas.

Research

NUA entered the national Research Excellence Framework in 2014 with funding awarded to develop capability. In the 2014 REF submission, 55% of NUA’s submitted research was confirmed to be ‘world leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’.
NUA’s research has been judged to be particularly successful in terms of its impact on the broader cultural and economic landscape: 40% of NUA research has been classified as ‘world leading’ and 50% as ‘internationally excellent’.
Norwich University of the Arts is a founding member of CREST, the Consortium for Research Excellence Support and Training, a group of higher education institutes that does interdisciplinary work related to research excellence and research focused staff and student training.

Students' Union

The students' union represents all students and focuses on student experience, support, and activities. The union also has student offers and discount bus passes. It is affiliated with the National Union of Students.

Notable people

Alumni include: