Program and courses Online Culture: Art, Media and Society BA

In the first year of the Bachelor’s program you and your fellow (international) students take introductory courses designed to familiarize you with the various tracks of the program.

You will take the following courses:

• Social Groups in the Digital World
• Transformations of the Public Sphere
• Thinking about Science
• Digital Culture and Society
• Language, Culture and Globalization
• The Ceremonial Society
• The Digital Individual
• Interpretation of Cultural Expressions
• Intermediality

Additionally, you take several skills courses including Academic English and Doing Research: Methodology. You will participate in an active Mentorship program (PASS OC 1) and get acquainted with our counselors of Student Career Services. You will also start with your personal Career Orientation Plan.

The second year is fully devoted to the track you choose: Art in the Public Sphere, Digital Media, Global Communication or Dutch Language and Culture (in Dutch). Besides a set of compulsory courses, you have the freedom to choose elective courses.

In year 2, the focus builds on your academic skills. You will take part in Talent Management training as part of your Career Orientation Plan. In this training, you explore your talents and map out your desired job market profile. You will uncover answers to questions like: 'Who am I?', 'What do I want?' and 'What am I good at?'. 

Further down this page, you will find more information about the tracks and the courses.

In the third year, you follow five minor courses supplemented by two courses that you choose from a range of electives. Instead of following an elective, you also have the opportunity of doing a shorts internship and/or researching what it means to be an entrepreneur in the cultural field. You will also attend a Labor Market Orientation workshop as part of your Career Orientation Plan. In this workshop, you will learn to find your way around the labor market and gain insight into your opportunities.  You will finish the third year with a Bachelor's thesis.

The minor: choose your own elective courses

You can use the minor to further specialize in your chosen direction. But you can also choose to broaden your knowledge and take courses in a different field. You can take courses at Tilburg University or another university in the Netherlands. It is also possible to do an exchange semester at a renowned university abroad without having to worry about a study delay!

When you consider doing a Master’s in a different field of study after your Bachelor’s in Online Culture: Art, Media and Society, you can use your minor to gain prior knowledge that is required. 

This track gives an insight in how art and (digital) media influence each other. 
You study cultural expressions and artistic performances in the international and societal context from which they arise:

• What exactly happens during a particular artistic expression and how does the audience respond to it?
• How do creators and critics position themselves in the societal debate, for example, through online discussions?  
• In what way does the reading culture change when the accent shifts from literary novels to fanfiction on blogs?
• How can an artwork trigger a broad discussion or even social change?

Courses are about all kinds of contemporary artistic phenomena: from literary texts to television series and video clips, from religious rituals to tattoos, museum art, or guerrilla architecture. The starting point is always the study of artistic practices and their effect in the public sphere.

Core curriculum Year 2:

• Participatory Art
• Life writing: From Rousseau to Facebook
• Art and Globalization
• Philosophy of Art, Media and Society
• The Truth of Fiction
• Female Artists and Intellectuals in the Public Sphere
• Doing Research: Discourse Analysis
• Doing Research: Survey Design and Analysis OR Doing Research: Ethnography
  (choose one)

Additionally, you choose 12 ECTS worth out of the following options (6 ECTS each):

Communication in Global Settings; The Private Life in a Digital World; Visual Culture and Semiotics; Digital Literacies; Debate on Religion in Europe; 21st Century Perspectives on Education; Media, Globalization and Popular Culture; Globalization and Religious Diversity; Gender and Culture; Cultural history 3: Europe in the 20th Century (in Dutch).

Curriculum Year 3

• Minor (30 ECTS)
• Bachelor's thesis

Additionally, you choose 12 ECTS from these options (6 ECTS each):

Communication in Global Settings; The Private Life in a Digital World; Visual Culture and Semiotics; Digital Literacies; Debate on Religion in Europe; 21st Century Perspectives on Education; Media, Globalization and Popular Culture; Globalization and Religious Diversity; Gender and Culture; Cultural history 3: Europe in the 20th Century (in Dutch); Internship.

Plus you choose between one of these:

Humanities in the Digital Age, Entrepreneurship in the Cultural Field.

Go to the course descriptions

In this track you examine the effects of digitalization on several domains and aspects of our lives. Digital media have become a self-evident part of almost all personal, professional, social and political activities. That is why, in this program you approach digitalization from a broader perspective, reaching further than communication or ICT. 

You study how digital media are structured, how they function, and how digitalization has ensured new cultural products and art forms, other social practices and new ways of experiencing the world:

• How do digital media influence the way people are involved in political decision-making and public administration?
• How have digital media changed our views on privacy?
• How much influence does Google have on our knowledge and opinions?

Highly appreciated knowledge and skills

Growing digitalization means that society needs people who can critically analyze and interpret its developments. In this track, you acquire the knowledge and skills to fit that role. You learn how to analyze and interpret cultural and social phenomena in a contemporary way and to voice your own opinion in a presentation, debate, or (online) publication. These skills are highly acclaimed by both national and international employers.

Core curriculum Year 2:

• Media, Globalization and Popular Culture
• The Private Life in a Digital World
• Reading and Writing in Online Culture
• Digital Media and Politics
• Digital Media and Journalism
• Philosophy of Art, Media and Society
• Doing Research: Discourse Analysis
• Doing Research: Survey Design and Analysis OR Doing Research: Ethnography (choose one)

Additionally, you take 12 ECTS worth from these options (6 ECTS each): 

Communication in Global Settings; The Truth of Fiction; Participatory Art; Visual Culture and Semiotics; Digital Literacies; Debate on Religion in Europe, 21st Century Perspectives on Education; Globalization and Religious Diversity; Gender and Culture; Europe in the 20th Century (in Dutch.

Curriculum Year 3:

• Minor (30 ECTS)
• Bachelor's thesis

Additionally, you choose two elective courses from these options (6 ECTS each):

Communication in Global Settings; The Truth of Fiction; Participatory Art; Visual Culture and Semiotics; Digital Literacies; Debate on Religion in Europe, 21st Century Perspectives on Education; Globalization and Religious Diversity; Gender and Culture; Europe in the 20th Century (in Dutch); Internship.

Plus you choose between one of these:
Humanities in the Digital Age, Entrepreneurship in the Cultural Field.

Go to the course descriptions

In this track you acquire extensive knowledge on international communication, the consequences of increased mobility and the diversity that accords with it. Thanks to social media, smartphones, and cheap flight tickets for example, it has become relatively easy to stay in touch with family and friends abroad. What are the consequences of these developments? And what role does intercultural communication play in international advertising, trade, conflict management and negotiations?

In order to function properly in a globalized, diverse world, you need to have certain language skills, a basic knowledge of the world, and you must be culturally aware.

As a Global Communication student, you are concerned with issues such as:

• Is it possible to hold on to culture, language or dialect in a globalized world? And what happens when you do not?
• Do globalization and digitalization lead to equal opportunities for everyone or do they feed inequality between the ‘haves’ and ‘have-not’s’?
• How can we ensure that people get a chance to develop all skills necessary to participate in this rapidly changing society?

Core curriculum:

• Language Learning and Socialization
• The Multicultural Individual
• Globalization and Religious Diversity
• Communication in Global Settings
• Management, Organization and Culture
• Philosophy of Art, Media and Society
• Doing Research: Discourse Analysis
• Doing Research: Survey Design and Analysis OR Doing Research: Ethnography (choose one)

In addition, you will take 12 ECTS worth out of these options (6 ECTS each):

The Private Life in a Digital World; The Truth of Fiction; Participatory Art; Visual Culture and Semiotics; Digital Literacies; Debate on Religion in Europe; 21st Century Perspectives on Education; Media, Globalization and Popular Culture; Gender and Culture; Europe in the 20th Century (in Dutch).

Curriculum Year 3:

• Minor (30 ECTS)
• Bachelor's thesis

In addition, you will take 12 ECTS worth out of these options (6 ECTS each):

The Private Life in a Digital World; The Truth of Fiction; Participatory Art; Visual Culture and Semiotics; Digital Literacies; Debate on Religion in Europe; 21st Century Perspectives on Education; Media, Globalization and Popular Culture; Gender and Culture; Europe in the 20th Century (in Dutch); Internship.

Plus you choose between one of these:
Humanities in the Digital Age, Entrepreneurship in the Cultural Field

Go to the course descriptions

In the Dutch Language and Cultural track you will acquire in-depth knowledge about literature, media, language, and communication:

• What new opportunities do digital media offer for telling and experiencing stories?
• What is media literacy and why is it so important?
• How do your reading and writing skills change as a result of digitalization?

The track is only offered in Dutch. Do you want to read more about this Bachelor's program?

Go to our Dutch website about Online Culture: Art, Media and Society?