Bachelor Online Culture

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

Program and courses BA Online Culture: Art, Media and Society
In this unique, international Bachelor’s program you study the interplay of digital media, art, and culture in an increasingly globalized society. You examine the influence of digitalization and globalization on the world we live in, from four contemporary perspectives.

Video: short overview of this Bachelor's program (03:06)

Program structure and content

In the first year, you familiarize yourself with insights and theories about digital culture in relation to society. You follow courses from four possible tracks. This allows you to discover which track best fits your interests.

  • Art in the Public Sphere
  • Digital Media
  • Global Communication
  • Dutch Language and Culture (in Dutch)

Career orientation is a central theme in the program. A Career Orientation Plan is part of the core curriculum. You have the option to do a (short) internship. The third year offers the opportunity to create a unique profile with a minor and electives. You finish the third year with a Bachelor's thesis.

First Year Content

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.

Second Year Content

The second year is fully devoted to the track you choose: Art in the Public SphereDigital MediaGlobal 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.

Third Year Content

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. 

Study abroad: going on exchange

We encourage all students to gain international experience. A popular and very exiting option is to go abroad on exchange. As an exchange student, you study at one of the many international partner universities of Tilburg University, typically for one semester.

The Study Abroad & Exchange Office of Tilburg University will be available to help you research the opportunities within your study program and a dedicated Study Abroad & Exchange Coordinator will be advising you before, during and after your exchange.

Most students will be eligible for a grant or scholarship to financially support them during their exchange experience. Additional grants for students with special needs or a difficult financial situation are also available.

More on studying abroad

You will find a detailed description of the courses and required literature in our course catalog.

Go to the course descriptions


Please note: programs are subject to change. We advise you to look up the current program in OSIRIS Student at the start of the year.


Tracks of Online Culture: Art, Media and Society

At the end of year one, you choose one of four tracks. In the second year you take courses relevant to your chosen track. The curriculum is not entirely fixed: in addition to the core curriculum, you have the opportunity to take elective courses for in-depth specialization.

Art in the Public Sphere

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

Digital Media

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

Global Communication

In this track you acquire extensive knowledge on international communicationthe 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

Dutch Language and Culture

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?

 


Please note: programs are subject to change. We advise you to look up the current program in OSIRIS Student at the start of the year.


Do you want to know more about this Bachelor’s program?

Learn more on this Bachelor's program at one of our events

Check out our events calendar

Why Online Culture: Art, Media and Society in Tilburg?

  • You receive international education in groups of approximately 15 to 50 students. The small-scale program is beneficial for the quality of education: there is ample room for guidanceinteraction and feedback. This is a perfect way for you to learn how to voice your opinion.
  • The program is up to date, addressing current developments and events.
  • There is a lot of attention for your language- and writing skills. The program has its own online magazine: Diggit Magazine.
  • Within this innovative learning environment, you will publish papers, opinion pieces, and reviews.
  • Throughout the program, there is a focus on career orientation. You participate in workshops and training sessions such as Talent Management and Labor Market Orientation to prepare you for a career after graduation.

Interested in the Bachelor's program in Online Culture: Art, Media and Society?

Check your eligibility and the deadlines for application