Arts and Culture

These challenges are inherently cultural—and shape how we see ourselves and others. In the Bachelor of Arts and Culture, you will learn to interpret and explain these questions through the lens of culture, tracing their deep historical roots as well as their current social and ethical implications.

Because culture permeates science, media, technology, politics and art, these challenges cannot be understood through one vantage point only. That is why you will explore these questions using an interdisciplinary approach that integrates perspectives and methods from history, philosophy, art and literature studies, and qualitative social sciences.

Through our Problem-Based Learning didactic and hands-on training in academic skills and a range of research methodologies, you will develop a ‘researcher mindset’—the ability to approach, research and communicate complex problems from multiple angles, work collaboratively, and present and defend convincing arguments. Such transferable skills are highly valued in both academia and the professional world. 

Understanding modern culture requires studying how developments in art, media, politics and science/technology intersect and influence one another. How should democracies respond to misinformation on social media? How might literature and art help us reflect on the promises and risks of emerging technologies? How do policy documents and media narratives imagine our relation to the natural environment? 

You learn to identify and analyse such problems by combining the strengths historical, philosophical, literary and social scientific thinking. This will lead you to study first-hand philosophical works, novels, artworks and media representations, but also to dive in archives, observe everyday practices and analyse public controversies. By integrating multiple perspectives, you develop the intellectual flexibility to understand cultural change in all its complexity. 

Our programme is international in both subject matter and community. Our staff and students come from across Europe and beyond, creating a vibrant and diverse classroom environment. Such diversity enriches discussion, especially in a small-scale PBL environment where students and faculty know each other personally. It broadens your worldview and helps you reflect on your own perspectives. 

In year three, you can also spend a semester abroad, for an internship at an international organisation or to take courses at one of our 100+ European and non-European partner universities. This allows you explore your options for future master’s programmes or career, and to apply your new skills in a different context. 

The Bachelor Arts and Culture programme includes a comprehensive skills trajectory that trains academic and professional skills as well as research methodologies in an intuitive, hands-on and step-by-step way. From day one, you will begin to develop fundamental reading, writing and presenting skills. You will also develop other competences that are directly transferable, such as analysing sources and concepts, thinking critically and debating, making podcasts, organizing an art festival or writing a policy brief. 

You also develop an extensive methodological toolbox with a range of approaches from the field of arts and culture, such as conceptual analysis, historical document analysis, ethnography, literary and art analysis and discourse analysis. In the specialization and graduation phases, you further specialize in a selection of these methods and learn to apply them in research settings. 

• More information on the skills courses can be found on the Courses & Curriculum page.

University wide Honours+ component
The Honours+ Programme consists of three types of activities. Students attend workshops to develop professional skills; help organize a series of DIY lectures; and co-author contributions to the digital magazine Excellium.

If you complete the Honours Programme successfully you will receive a special Honours Programme Certificate, in addition to your diploma, when you graduate. ECTS credits are not awarded.

 More about Honours+    

FASoS Honours component
The faculty of Arts and Social Sciences offers its most ambitious bachelor’s students the opportunity to take part in the Honours Programme.
You do not need to contact the Faculty if you belong to the top 4 to 5 per cent of students of the first year (based on average grade) who passed all their first-year courses and skills trainings at the first attempt: you will be invited to apply.

Honours programme students are given the freedom to study academic topics in depth. The programme consists of various components, from which you choose two. For example, you could undertake a small-scale, comprehensive six-week project under the guidance of a faculty professor. This could be a small research project or consist of reading and discussing several books. You could also participate in faculty research, choose an individual assignment such as writing a paper, or take a second minor at the Faculty.

 More about the FASoS Honours Programme