At 2:30 p.m. on June 21, 2023, the 38th lecture of the School Forum was successfully held in the Lecture Hall 1104 of the Arts and Communication Building. At the invitation of deputy dean Yang Zhe, Mr. Yin Xiaoyong, editor-in-charge of design and fine arts of the “Ethnic Art Studies” at Yunnan Institute of Ethnic Arts, gave a lecture for all teachers and students in design of the School of Arts and Communication. The topic of this lecture was “Writing and Methodology of Design Papers”. Mr. Yin started this lecture with the topic, thesis and problem of paper writing.
Mr. Yin began by talking about the relationship between thesis and topic selection. He pointed out that many students would mistake "topic" for "thesis" and introduced how to list good theses. Mr. Yin also emphasized that a good topic should focus on the three principles of “public and empirical, inheritance and innovation, realistic and forward-looking”, and listed relevant papers and theoretical books for reference and study.
Then, Mr. Yin listed the main research methods in design, focusing on qualitative research, visual research and applied research methods. These methods were easy to understand and operate, and were useful for students to get started and go deeper in design art research. He also introduced the main research directions of design dissertations with the examples of history and theory, case study, practice and folklore and folk art. Mr. Yin emphasized the problems that often arise when writing: it is easy to write case studies as storytelling, simplifying the cases, etc. He warned the students not to find some examples for the author based on subjective perceptions, but “to ask questions from practice and verify from practice.”
In an in-depth manner, Mr. Yin gave a comprehensive and systematic overview of the elements of a design paper. “When writing a paper, start with the main argument and state clearly and completely to the reader what your point is, emphasize or add new significance and the importance of your research, and add an outlook on the research, suggestions for further research in the future, and possibilities for other research.” Yin concluded.
Finally, in the interactive session of the lecture, Mr. Yin answered the questions raised by the students patiently and meticulously, and the teachers and students had a lively exchange on the links they were interested in. The lecture was attended by a team of faculty members, PhD and graduate students from the School of Arts and Communication, and was an inspiration to our faculty and students for discipline construction and talent training.
After the lecture, teachers of this School and Mr. Yin held a symposium on the topic selection and research of design papers and engaged in close communication, which enriched the experience related to design papers, turned “passive” into “active”, and developed the idea of topic selection.
Text by: Lv Xiaoyan
Photo by: Lv Xiaoyan
