MA Arts and Culture: Modern Political Culture (MPC)

When we asked him what the programme Modern Political Culture (MPC) is all about he said: “The MA AC specialisation in Modern Political Culture is really about studying the ideas and practices that make up political life. We do this from a contemporary as well as a historical perspective. We examine how, for example, the concept and practice of democracy has developed over time and what the future may hold for this grand idea, what role social and political identity play in the ways that we address and engage with others and even see the world around us, why phenomena like nationalism seem to have such a grip on our cultures and nationalism is perhaps needed for democracies to function. We think about the that violence plays in our culture. I’ll be teaching a course called Researching the field: Democracy, Identity, Communication. We will be examining how these three concepts are linked together, but also how researchers and indeed policy makers can study these concepts as ideas and practices that shape our political culture and indeed our lives.”

When we asked him for which students this would be a perfect programme, he explained: “I think that the MA AC MPC is really for any student who is interested in the ideas and practices that shape our political landscape. I guess if you are not interested in this, it is maybe not the course for you. We will examine, for example, how statistics are used and abused in political communication, but we are not going to learn how to do statistical analysis.”

He also explained that the programme addresses current events in society: “I think that the course is relevant to the shape of the culture full stop. So questions about the future of liberal democracy, the structure and role of identity politics, how to motivate political behaviour that addresses the most pressing issue of our age, climate change, these are all topics that students might study in the course.”

When we asked him what the career perspectives are with the MPC programme, he answered: “I hope that some will go on to become young leaders in policy and civil society, because I really think that we need policy makers who can see the big picture and that’s what this course aims to provide. Some will go on to do further research as PhD students. I hope that some go into media and communication.”

On the question “what makes this programme so unique?” he stated: “As a student of cultures and ideas, I’d say that we should not worry so much about being unique. We have a great culture at FASoS, engaging, open and supportive; students will work directly with researchers in the field, understanding how research is done in these areas. We will study difficult but also fascinating phenomena and hopefully we will add some constructive ideas to our human body of knowledge and make some headway towards addressing the challenges that our cultures and our planet face.

April 2022