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General information

Learning outcomes for the entire programme
Nijmegen-specific
Job market prospects
Art History programme
Art Policy and Patronage programme
Creative Industries programme
Tourism and Culture programme
Honours Programme

The Arts and Culture Studies Master’s trains students to become academics with extensive theoretical and methodological knowledge of (the history of) art and culture. Graduates are competent academic researchers who are firmly rooted in society. Students immerse themselves in one of the four programmes: Creative Industries, Art History, Art Policy and Patronage, and Tourism and Culture. Students also have the opportunity to customise their education by combining courses from each of the four programmes. Graduates are a valuable addition to the cultural sector thanks to their extensive knowledge, their excellent communication skills and their relevant scientific insights.

Learning outcomes for the entire programme

Please note: Additional, specialisation-specific learning outcomes are stated in the descriptions of the relevant specialisations in this study guide.

After completing the programme, graduates will be able to:

  • independently analyse questions relating to art and culture studies and substantiate their vision of and opinions on these issues. This analysis and substantiation reflect an investigative attitude and the ability to methodically and critically process knowledge of the discipline.
  • independently research a specific and relevant art and culture studies issue using suitable research methods. The graduate is capable of defining the problem, formulating sub-questions, conducting theoretical and/or empirical research using relevant sources, and reporting on the research results, both verbally and in writing, in a clear academic style.
  • organising tasks individually and in a team setting within the time stipulated. The graduate is capable of evaluating and improving these tasks based in part on the feedback of others. The graduate is also capable of identifying gaps in their knowledge and resolving these with the help of targeted searches. The graduate is capable of making informed decisions with regard to their future career.
  • Exemplary identify the relationship between the development of art and culture and developments in related disciplines in the humanities and the social sciences. The graduate can participate in discussions with other (social) scientists and/or translate academic insights into socially relevant solutions and contribute to debates

Nijmegen-specific

 Linking theory and practice

The courses of the four tracks aim to provide the students with a thorough theoretical base, complemented with training in ways to put these theoretical insights into practice. This is done by working in small groups on case studies, by inviting guest lectures working in the cultural industry, by means of excursions and practice-oriented assignments.

Students discover how they can make their theoretical knowledge productive when reflecting on challenges the cultural industry has to deal with on a daily basis. This also works the other way round: students learn how work experience can lead to new scientific questions and insights.

Problem-based reflection on current social issues and dilemmas

The courses focus heavily on questions in the fields of policy, funding, creativity, tourism, visual arts, sustainability and heritage that are currently being discussed in the national and international cultural field. The programme aims to give students the knowledge and research tools they need to help answer these questions after graduating. Two specialisations have a compulsory internship and one specialisation works with studios. If possible, the supervising lecturers will visit the internship organisation to stay up to date on the latest developments in the field.

Knowledge-driven focus on recent developments in the field

The curriculum closely aligns with the research projects and research expertise of the lecturers. They make sure that students are being kept up to date on on the latest scientific themes and issues.

Object-oriented research

Students learn to start their research with an observation and description of objects, particularly in the Creative Industries and Art History Master's specialisations.

Focus on academic skills

In the Core Course, students acquire academic knowledge and theoretical frameworks that provide them with a solid foundation to build on, irrespective of their prior education.

Clear and thoughtful programme structure

The Master's specialisations have a lot of unique subject matter developed specifically for these specialisations; the courses build on each other, the methods are tailored to the content and the programme is coherent.

Intensive supervision

Students receive intensive supervision both during the courses and during the internship and thesis phase. As part of this supervision, students are encouraged to further develop their research and writing skills and take responsibility for their own learning process.

Job market prospects

Our graduates work as project leaders or programmers at cultural institutions, museums, art centres, heritage institutions, festivals, art galleries and at organisations that specialise in making and financing culture. They often play an intermediary role as culture brokers or policy officers at a municipal, provincial or state level. They advice institutions on forms of financing and on attracting benefactors and sponsors. Others work as journalists in old or new media.

Art History programme

This specialisation offers in-depth training in the history of the visual arts while exploring the current role of artworks in today's society. Students study works from different historical periods and geographical areas through urgent questions of meaning, gender, identity, decolonisation, capitalism and globalisation. The investigation of medium and materiality plays a central role, from both the practice of conservation techniques and recent theorising around affect and the body. At the same time, you will learn about the value of works within the contemporary art market and art trade. In addition, the transhistorical perspective has become increasingly relevant in museums and education in recent years: How do artworks from different periods, cultures or areas relate to each other?

Students are trained to become fully fledged art historians, capable of conducting academic research, presenting knowledge, and defining their position in the cultural field. Besides the final thesis, the programme includes a compulsory museum internship in which students can put the knowledge and theory they have learned into practice. In varied ways, students will gain a set of varied, scholarly skills, preparing them for a professional career as a curator or exhibition maker in museums and other cultural institutions, in museum education, but also in secondary or higher education, or in journalism.

Art Policy and Patronage programme

In this specialisation, students examine current financing problems in the field of art and culture. The courses explore the dynamic between government, the arts and the public. To answer the questions ‘How is the cultural sector organised?' and 'Who pays for the arts?’ students research the value of art for society and who feels responsible for that value. Private and corporate donors and collectors have become increasingly important in this respect in recent years. In this specialisation, new scientific questions will be posed regarding the legitimacy of their role. Based on these questions, Art Policy and Patronage students will examine the way in which art is organised and financed, explore the role played by public and private funders in the arts, and critically reflect on the scientific theories and explanations in this field. They also delve into museum business and the art trade (and academic questions on these subjects). This will help them develop into academics with an in-depth understanding of the cultural field and the ability to assume their own well-informed position within it. The Art Policy and Patronage programme has clear similarities to the faculty research programme SCARAB: Studying Criticism And Reception Across Borders.

Creative Industries programme

As a student of the specialization Creative Industries, you will tackle the most urgent challenge of today: can the creative industry help to make the future more sustainable? Sustainability pertains to the realm of the ecological (climate change, biodiversity) as well as the social (gender and diversity, poverty reduction; democracy). You will explore how culture can help or hinder sustainability. The focus on cultural sustainability is often forgotten or ignored. Yet, culture plays a huge role in the logic of continuous change, innovation and growth. As culture is central to the creative industries, you will explore how this sector can play a role in bringing together culture and sustainability. The programme focuses on the tension between creativity, sustainability, and commerce. The programme looks at fashion, music, film and television, but also (social) media and education. In the course of the programme, you will develop the reflexive, critical and curious attitude necessary to work in the field of the creative industries. You will learn to come to grips with relevant research questions, but also with the methods to weigh those questions, put them in context and provide them with an answer. After completing the programme, you will have the ‘soft’ skills you need to contribute to the development of the young and dynamic creative sector. The programme is linked to the work of the faculty research groups Memory, Materiality and Affect, Critical Humanities, and REACH-Lit.

Tourism and Culture programme

Before Corona tourism had developed into one of the prime industries in the global economy. According to the World Travel & Tourist Council, the tourism sector supported 1 in 10 jobs on the planet. The pandemic evidently heavily affected this industry, but it is rapidly reinventing and restoring itself. Travel agencies, governments, heritage centres and publishers are increasingly looking for academically trained professionals who can creatively and critically reflect on tourism as a cultural phenomenon, and who are capable of nourishing the cultural interests of tourists with enticing ideas and well-informed stories. There is a growing need, among both young adults and older generations, to include new types of travel experiences. At the same time, traditional destinations for cultural tourism, such as cathedrals, palaces, museums or ruins face the challenge to adapt to rising levels of education conflicting with shortening attention spans. By combining historical, literary, art-historical and other disciplinary approaches, and by integrating academic research with practical challenges, this programme will train you to become an academic expert in cultural tourism. This master's programme has a clear link with the RICH-research group Tourism, Travel and Text.

Honours Programme

The Radboud Honours Academy offers motivated and talented students from Radboud University the opportunity to follow a challenging academic programme alongside their regular study programme. Honours programmes are available for both Bachelor's students and Master's students.

Visit the website for more information about the programmes. You can also make an appointment with a programme director.

Radboud Honours Academy Erasmusplein 1, 19th floor, room 19.06 Phone: +31 24 361 59 55 E-mail: honours@honours.ru.nl Website: www.ru.nl/honoursacademy