米兰色彩硕士课程引领新趋势

Having trouble matching your trousers and jumper? Unsure if you can wear a blue shirt with black shoes?

不知道怎么搭配套头衫和裤子？蓝衬衫可以搭配黑鞋吗？

For those aspiring to have a definitive answer to these questions and more, two universities in Milan are offering what is being touted as the world’s first masters degree programme dedicated to colour. With coursework that contains chemistry and psychology, the fashion industry is just one of many careers for which the programme is designed to prepare students. Other outlets for graduates include industrial design, interior design, entertainment, architecture, communications and art restoration.

想寻找这些问题的确切答案？米兰的两所大学现在提供号称是全球第一项专门研究色彩的硕士学位课程。课程范围涵盖化学和心理学，旨在培养学生应对时尚等多个领域的工作。除了时尚外，毕业生的其他出路还包括工业设计、室内设计、娱乐、建筑、传媒和艺术品修复。

While the University of Milan and the city’s Polytechnic University are on the cutting edge with their masters in colour design and technology – the first year-long course begins in late February – they are part of a growing pack of universities rolling out once impossible to imagine masters degree programmes designed to attract students by offering preparation for jobs that are or will be in demand.

米兰大学(University of Milan)和米兰理工大学(Politechnico di Milano)联合推出该“色彩设计与技术硕士学位（为期一年的首届课程将于2月下旬开课），此举使其跻身于最前沿，也成为当前一个趋势的一部分，即越来越多的大学开始推出此前难以想象的硕士课程，帮助学生为目前或将来的热门工作做好准备。

“In many jobs where colour plays an important role, such as architecture or art restoration, there are people who have only a basic understanding of colour and how we interact with it, says Alessandro Rizzi, a professor at the University of Milan who helped develop the masters in colour. “This course will produce people who are much better prepared.

“在很多工作中，色彩扮演着重要角色，如建筑或艺术品修复。但一些从业者对色彩和人与色彩的互动方式只有初浅的认识，协助策划色彩硕士课程的米兰大学教授亚历山德罗·里齐(Alessandro Rizzi)说，“该课程将培养出准备更加充分的人才。

Deans from Milan to Philadelphia and beyond are increasingly under pressure to develop courses that prepare students for a changing world.

从米兰到费城以及其它地方的高校，院长们受到越来越大的压力，要求他们推出合适的课程，让学生为不断变化的世界做好准备。

Rather than prepare students for specific careers, Drexel University in Philadelphia is tackling the uncertainty of the jobs market with its online masters in creativity and innovation that aims to produce students who can solve real-world problems in myriad industries through new ideas and critical thinking.

费城德雷克塞尔大学(Drexel University)的在线“创造力与创新硕士课程，并不培养学生进入特定职业，而是立足于就业市场的不确定性，力图让学生通过创新想法和批判思维，在不同的行业解决实际问题。

“Creativity is a new body of knowledge for inclusion in existing jobs – law, engineering, project management, hospitality, construction management, says Fredericka Reisman, a professor and the director of the Drexel-Torrance Center for Creativity and Innovation.

德雷克塞尔大学托兰斯创意与创新中心(Torrance Center for Creativity and Innovation)主任弗雷德里卡·赖斯曼(Fredericka Reisman)教授说：“创造力是各种现有工作（法律、工程、项目管理、酒店管理、建筑施工管理等）需要纳入的新一类知识。

Online courses have only heightened the already stiff competition for students. In Milan alone, five universities offer dozens of masters courses such as the Catholic University’s co-operative banking and development programme which targets students wishing to work for co-operative banks, while SDA Bocconi School of Management’s masters in fashion, experience and design management is aimed at those seeking a career in fashion or design-based companies.

在线课程使得本已激烈的生源之争更加白热化。光是在米兰，就有五所大学提供几十个硕士课程，如圣心天主教大学(Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore)为希望在合作银行工作的学生提供“合作银行业与发展课程。SDA博科尼管理学院(SDA Bocconi School of Management)的“时尚、体验与设计管理硕士课程，则面向那些希望在时尚或设计公司谋职的学生。

Even the MBA has its variations as universities try to distinguish themselves. The key, says Gianmario Verona, the director of SDA Bocconi’s MBA programme, is that business schools adapt to change.

随着各大学试图发扬自己的特色，就连MBA学位课程也衍生出不同形式。SDA博科尼学院的MBA课程主任詹马里奥·维罗纳(Gianmario Verona)称，关键是商学院要适应变化。

“The most important business schools have the same standard part of the curriculum and then you have to try to differentiate within that framework, says Prof Verona.

维罗纳教授表示：“最顶尖商学院的课程拥有相同的标准部分，你得在这个框架内树立自己的特色。

“Nowadays to get the best students, programmes must be interactive and must offer innovative parts that appeals to particular segments of possible students. If you do the programme well the good students will come.

“如今，为了招收到最优秀的学生，课程必须具有互动性，并提供吸引特定生源的创新环节。如果课程设计得好，就能吸引到优秀学生。

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Two big changes – the arrival of new technology, which has made more content easily available and the increasing amount of coursework that is done in the field – are influencing MBA programmes around the world and forcing universities to adapt, Prof Verona adds. The need for more time in the field means it is no longer enough to have an engaging professor with consulting experience, he says.

维罗纳教授补充称，新技术的普及让更多内容触手可及，而在实习期间完成的作业在增加，这两大变化正在影响世界各地的MBA课程，迫使大学做出调整。他认为，需要更多实习训练意味着，光有一名拥有丰富顾问经验的迷人的教授是不够的。

The key adds Ms Resiman is to have teaching staff with stellar credentials in the relevant field so that a cutting-edge programme can be offered.

赖斯曼补充称，重要的一点是应当拥有在相关领域资历显赫的教员，这样学校才能提供先进的课程。

With dozens of experts in their respective fields soon to have a hand in teaching Milan’s masters in colour, time will tell if Prof Rizzi and his colleagues can produce a pool of marketable experts to solve the riddles of colour in a host of industries.

几十名不同领域的专家即将为研究色彩的硕士生授课。里齐教授和他的同事们能否培养出一群能在不同行业解决色彩难题、因而就业前景广阔的专家？让我们拭目以待。