Bachelor Arts, Culture and Media

Profile of the programme

 

What is the role of the arts in society? How are art works created, produced and distributed? How are cultural and social identifications such as race, ethnicity, class and gender impacted by the cultural, social, institutional or commercial organization of the arts? How can one critically analyze and interpret artistic texts? In what ways do the arts reflect or transform societies?

 

In the twenty-first century, the role of media is unquestionably and dramatically altering the ways in which art is created, distributed, promoted, experienced and understood. Considering the profound transformation of society upon the heels of the digital revolution, in what ways do new media alter not only creative processes but the various modes of sociality and artistic affiliation promoted by their circulation within contemporary late-capitalist worlds?

 

These are some of the questions posed by the Arts, Culture and Media BA program, which foregrounds interdisciplinary approaches as critical for its academic framework. During the course of their study, students acquire a grounded understanding of the corpus of arts while also examining them in their relevant cultural contexts. The program further examines the variety of methodological and theoretical approaches applied to the study of the arts from the disciplines of hermeneutics, semiotics, critical theory to cultural studies, ethnography, psychoanalysis, post-structuralism, historiography and the sociological study of art worlds.

 

The program provides a broad grounding in the relevant art disciplines – film, music, theatre, literature, music, visual arts and new media – within three academic frameworks: Arts Criticism and Analysis, Arts Policy and Management, and Arts Education. Students choose one of the seven disciplines as their major.

 

 

The Department of Arts, Culture and Media is unique in the Netherlands because of its emphasis upon:

 

Interdisciplinary study – students follow modules that examine the mutual interdependence of the arts

 

In-depth study – students examine one art form through both historical and theoretical frameworks

 

Sociological study – Students examine the arts in their relevant cultural and sociological contexts

 

Programme structure

In addition to an introduction to the field, the BA degree programme consists of the following general modules: History and Theory of Art and Media; Sociology of Art I and II; Thinking about Art I, II and III (together 65 EC).
In addition, the programme includes options for broadening and deepening knowledge:

• Students can choose two art disciplines from Literature, Theatre and TV, Film and TV, Music (classical and popular) or the Visual Arts (20 EC)
• Specialization in one of these two art disciplines in the second and third year; this art discipline also qualifies as a graduation subject (30 EC). The MA degree programme includes Arts and New Media as well
• The choice between two possible graduation variants: Art, Policy and Management (KBM), or Arts and Culture (K&C). The former concentrates on the organization of the arts in a culture, the latter involves further investigation of the emphasis, history and theory of the arts (20 EC). The two variants are included as specializations in the MA degree program
• Choosing a minor (20 EC) which involves the deepening and broadening of the main programme (the major), and Optional Modules worth 20 EC, of the student's choice, for example a third art subject or language.
  The BA degree programme is rounded off with a short thesis (5 EC) whose subject will be in the field of the student's art discipline and specialization.

Courses for exchange students

Many courses are taught in Dutch. However, music courses, new media and film courses are regularly offered in English. Students who have a specific interest outside of these three areas should contact the student counselor in advance.  

 

 

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