B.A. in Media, Art, Design and Architecture

What is relevant in visual culture today? How do images and objects, media and technologies shape how we view ourselves, others, and our environment? Which stories, people, places, and things do we remember, and why do we forget others?

Media, Art, Design and Architecture is an interdisciplinary programme that integrates four fields of study. In the first year, students follow all courses together. By the second year, you are prepared to choose one of the four specializations: media, art, design or architecture. In the third year, in preparation of your thesis, you broaden or deepen your disciplinary knowledge. Besides following courses, you can study a semester abroad, take an internship or choose a minor.

This structure offers a broad theoretical-methodological foundation, and a historical understanding of how cultural expressions come into being. You will develop a critical perspective on the effects of culture on society and on our planet. This expertise enables you to critically explore cultural practices, transforming you into an insightful and informed actor in the cultural field.

You will go on field trips, visit museums and creative incubators, with the chance to meet artists, curators, filmmakers, and designers. How do local creative scenes interact with other parts of the world? And how do global developments affect culture locally? Media, Art, Design, and Architecture opens doors for you to experience and understand these developments academically. Note that this is not a practice-based bachelor.

Starting in 2021, students may choose to follow Media, Art, Design and Architecture entirely in English or as a bilingual (Dutch/English) programme.

In year 1, you will attend lectures and participate in seminars about media, art, design and architecture. Discussion and reflection on academic literature will take place in lecture-based courses and you will learn to look critically and historically at objects, from paintings to buildings, films to games. During seminars, you will work to apply what you have learned from literature, analyse case studies, visit exhibitions, archives and explore the urban environment. You will also receive training in speaking and writing skills.

• Approaching Visual and Material Culture
• Cultural History
• History of Media, Art, Design and Architecture: Early Modern
• Academic Skills
• Image and Object Analysis
• History of Media, Art, Design and Architecture: Modern
• Academic English
• History of Media, Art, Design and Architecture: Contemporary
• The Netherlands TM
• Research Methods

In the second year, you will take joint courses in which media, art, design, and architecture are discussed in relation to each other and to the museum, the city, digital, and globalized worlds. You will also discuss how theories about media, art, design and architecture have developed. At the end of the academic year you will go on an excursion abroad.

You will also dive into the history, theory and analysis of film, television, internet and games in a broad cultural and contemporary context.

The third year is devoted to broadening or deepening your disciplinary knowledge and writing your bachelor’s thesis. You decide how to fill in the first five months, with broadening your knowledge or with in-depth electives, a university minor, a research internship, or by following courses abroad. You complete your bachelor’s degree with a research seminar, a broad course on visual culture, and a course that aims to familiarize you with the labor market. Last but not least, you will write a bachelor’s thesis, where you demonstrate that you have gained sufficient knowledge and skills to carry out independent academic research.