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Bachelor
Global Arts, Culture and Politics
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Study programme

The Bachelor’s programme in Global Arts, Culture and Politics teaches you the necessary skills and knowledge to engage with the global challenges of today from an interdisciplinary perspective.

The programme in short

You will study art as a medium, the big history of art and the relationship between power and representation. You look at culture and ecology and study sustainability from multiple perspectives. You research the politics of culture and learn to understand how contemporary culture is highly politicised. Artificial intelligence deeply influences our daily lives. We analyse how this works and what consequences AI has ethically, politically, and sociologically. You acquire valuable skills to engage actively with global challenges through concrete real-life projects.

Theatrical performances about colonial history not only shape how we understand the past but also influence how we relate to social inequalities in the present. Dr Sruti Bala

The first year

  • In the first year, you will lay a broad foundation in the fields of art and media, sustainability, cultural policy and artificial intelligence. You will also gain skills in doing interdisciplinary research, and academic writing.

The second and third year

  • In the second year, you will start your specialisation by choosing one of the four majors on the different global challenges. Additionally, you will be taught 'Philosophy of Humanities and Science' and follow the course 'Key Stories' with lectures from hot-shot specialists from various faculties and political, cultural and media figures.
  • In the third year, you will take two electives and a minor, either in a different discipline within the Humanities or at a different faculty. You will also have the opportunity to study abroad. The programme will be completed with a Bachelor’s project in cooperation with cultural, artistic or governmental organisations.
  • You choose to specialise in one of our four majors:
  • Art and Media

    In this major, you study art as a medium, with an emphasis on the past. How was art used to justify social status (or political power)? How did Louis XIV, the Sun King, use theater to his advantage, and what contribution did world maps have to the colonial aspirations of governments?

    You will analyse themes and gain insights from fields such as:

    • Art History
    • Book History
    • Cultural Industries
    • Heritage Studies
    • Looted objects
    • Museums Studies
    • Music Studies
    • Theatre Studies
    • Technology
    • Visual Culture and Propaganda
    Since #MeToo, women are listened to and believed at face value, which has changed how we think about the past and the present. In our major, students learn how to do archival research to find women’s voices and write them into history. Dr Judith Noorman
  • Reimagining Sustainability

    In this interdisciplinary major you will study sustainability from multiple perspectives. Courses will explore the historical roots of the concept, the place of sustainability in contemporary ecopolitics, and the important role arts and culture can play in shaping more sustainable futures. You will analyse themes and gain insights from fields such as: 

    • Deep ecology
    • Ecofeminism
    • Nature and modernity
    • Degrowth
    • Sustainability in past societies
    • The Anthropocene
    • Indigenous approaches to sustainability
    • Art and the environment
    • Sustainable practices in cultural institutions
    Museums and other cultural institutions have an important role to play in fighting climate change and shaping a more sustainable future for the planet. Dr Colin Sterling
  • Culture and Social Justice

    Contemporary culture connects and divides. Film, music, art, dance and theatre travel across the globe faster than ever, bringing people closer. Simultaneously, proximity creates friction. In a globalising, post-colonial world (social) media discussions on topics such as gender, racism and #me that rub against different cultural norms existing in society can result in conflict. The arts are then often invoked to mediate and transform the problem of culture into a remedy.

    The core themes of the major Culture and Social Justice are the global transformations of cultural practices, their underlying conceptions of culture and the socio-economic inequalities these create or tackle. You will analyse themes and gain insights from fields such as:

    • (Post-)Colonial Studies
    • Critical Heritage Studies
    • Cultural Policy
    • Gender & Sexuality Studies
    • Global Studies
    • Migration Studies
    To some people fashion can bring enjoyment; to others it can even mean empowerment. Yet, fashion is also the product of a global industry that is structurally riddled with injustice in terms of gender, race and class, as well as in the way it appropriates indigenous cultures and pollutes the planet. In order to grasp this complex global phenomenon, we cannot do without a social justice approach. Dr Christine Delhaye
  • The Human and Artificial Intelligence

    Artificial intelligence deeply influences our daily lives: in the way we listen to music on Spotify, consume (fake) news, or contact friends on WhatsApp. This major will address questions of big data and AI from the point of view of the humanities and arts. We will study how AI works, how it is it programmed, and what consequences it has ethically, politically and sociologically. You will learn about the growing importance of AI in contemporary culture and society and study the critical thinking and intellectual debates in this fast-developing field, while acquiring the tools and framework to analyse new cultural and social datasets with AI methods. You will analyse themes and gain insights from fields such as:

    • Artificial Intelligence and Ethics
    • AI and Politics
    • Content
    • Digital Humanities
    • Fake news
    • Media Studies (such as TV, film, photography and social media)
    • Platformisation
    AI has always been an interdisciplinary object. The humanities play an important role in developing its future. Prof. Tobias Blanke, Humanities and Computing Expert
COURSES SEM 1 SEM 2 SEMESTER 1 SEMESTER 2 EC
  • Big History of Arts, Culture and Politics
    6
  • Skills: Critical Reading & Argumentation
    3
  • Fake News: Introducing The Human and AI
    3
  • Cultural Sociology
    6
  • Skills: Visual Literacy
    3
  • Writing Women into History: Introducing Art and Media
    3
  • Key Stories I
    6
  • Philosophy of Art & Culture
    6
  • Skills: Digital Literacy & Archival Research
    3
  • Museums and the Climate Emergency: Introducing Reimagining Sustainability
    3
  • Global Politics and Power
    6
  • Skills: Interviews & On Site Research
    3
  • Culture Wars: Introducing Culture and Social Justice
    3
  • Skills: Writing and the Web
    6
COURSES SEM 1 SEM 2 SEMESTER 1 SEMESTER 2 EC
  • Major specific courses
    18
  • Philosophy of Science and the Humanities
    6
  • Key Stories II
    6
  • Major specific courses
    30
COURSES SEM 1 SEM 2 SEMESTER 1 SEMESTER 2 EC
  • (Programme related) Electives or Minor
    30
  • (Programme related) Electives and/or Minor
    18
  • Bachelor’s Thesis or Final Bachelor Project
    12
The classes are accessible and interactive, and there is a lot of room for dialogue between teachers and students. Noah Wattimena, student