Specialisation Arts Analysis & Criticism - BA ACM

The goal of the specialisation Arts Analysis & Criticism (AAC) is to develop your expertise in your preferred art discipline in relation to the other arts. We challenge you to think critically about various art forms and media, to analyse their forms and functions, to think about the boundaries between the arts, and about how these are constantly changing. We teach you how to analyse artworks across media by applying different critical, philosophical and cognitive frameworks, to think about the role of both historical traditions and new technologies, and to develop your skills as an art critic and theorist through concrete examples, as well as practical and creative projects.

Mediality to Intermediality (10 ECTS in year 2), Dr. Steven Willemsen

We live in a mediatised world, surrounded by and participating in media. Art forms have traditionally been associated with their distinct medium (e.g. music, literature, theatre, fine arts, and film). But with the increasing impact of digitisation, the linkages between different media – and different art forms – have intensified. In this course, we critically examine the changing interrelations of various media and art forms in contemporary culture, starting from a historical and philosophical perspective on mediality, and moving towards contemporary theories of intermediality in the arts.

Narrativity Across Media (10 ECTS in year 2), Dr. Steven Willemsen

Stories are everywhere: in our everyday exchanges, in media, culture, even the sciences, and –prominently– in the arts. Underlying this diversity of stories seems to be an innate narrative capacity: a cognitive predisposition to narrativity. This course teaches you to analyse the forms and functions of narrative and storytelling across art forms: How do literature, film, music, theatre, or paintings tell stories? How do various media cooperate in conveying stories? And what conventions and cognitive abilities underlie our perception of narrativity in art? While the first half of the course addresses these questions theoretically, the second half brings the theory to life by having students collaborate on creative projects of their own .

Evaluating the Arts (10 ECTS in year 3), Dr. Chris Tonelli

This course looks directly to the contemporary and recent historical field of arts criticism. Students first examine respected and prolific arts critics in various field, to recognise the pithy, poetic, yet functional language of arts criticism intended for a broader public. In the second half of this course, students undertake their own arts criticism project, in the form of an online blog or video channel, reviewing various artistic examples from the student's chosen arts discipline, creating a cohesive portfolio in style, content, and negotiation of one's own critical voice.