Arts and Culture Studies

Are you passionate about culture? Do you like sitting front row at music festivals, theatre plays and art-house films, watch television series, visit exhibitions and attend poetry slams? Would you like to develop skills for analysing and reflecting on your experiences from a range of theoretical perspectives? Are you ready to join the social and political debate on the arts? Then Arts and Culture Studies at Radboud University might be just the programme for you.

This Bachelor’s programme focuses on art in its various forms: fine arts, literature, music, theatre, film and digital media. The approach is both interdisciplinary and multi-medial: you will not only analyse these art forms in and by themselves, but will also learn to compare and contrast them. You are invited to explore art and culture from a number of theoretical, historical, political and social perspectives, incorporating European, North American and global views on (the value of) culture. In the Arts and Culture Studies programme you will learn to:
• Discern differences between art forms, and between contemporary and historical valuations of art.
• Explain how arts and culture are socially, politically and ideologically constructed.
• Apply theoretical notions to analyse works of art or cultural phenomena.
• Formulate a clear and well-founded vision on art and (popular) culture.
• Write academically sound essays that contribute to current debates on art and culture.

Arts and Culture Studies is offered by the leading programme in cultural studies in the Netherlands. This programme has been ranked first in the authoritative Elsevier ranking seven times in a row (2009-2015) and is rated as Top Programme in the Dutch university information guide ‘Keuzegids Universiteiten 2016’.

Characteristics of the programme
• You will be trained by an international staff of leading researchers in the humanities.
• As a first-year student, you will have your own lecturer-mentor who will help you to find your way in your studies and to settle down in Nijmegen.
• The programme includes skill learning courses (Academic Writing, Academic Communication and Professional Skills) in which you learn how to present, discuss and write academic papers and how to participate in current debate.
• Throughout the programme, you will engage in a variety of research projects conducted by yourself and in groups;
• During class, you are encouraged to actively participate in discussions with your fellow students.

Year one: The first year of our BA programme introduces you to a comparative history of the arts (considering literature and theatre, music and fine arts, film as well as digital culture), to theories of culture, and to methods of analysis. It also encourages you to consider the question of the importance of art: how to appreciate the value of art and culture in today’s society.

Year two: The second year broadens your scope and includes courses offering both European and North American perspectives - on popular culture, American music and art, cultural diversity, globalisation, and intertextuality.

Year three: The third year deepens your understanding of culture, with three in-depth courses on visual, mass and urban culture, and three courses reflecting on different aspects of the culture industry: Popular Aesthetics, Screen Cultures and The Culture of Fashion.

Language requirements
You should have sufficient proficiency in the English language in order to be admissible. No proficiency in the Dutch language is required. Should you have obtained a high school diploma from a European country in which you have taken English in the final examinations, then in some cases you do not have to provide a separate language certificate. You will find a list of these diplomas on the specific programme web pages. Proficiency in the English language can be proven by meeting one of the following conditions:
• You have a diploma from the list of European diplomas, as mentioned above.
• You have a Dutch VWO diploma.
• You have a German ‘Zeugnis der Allgemeinen Hochschulreife’ with English as ‘Grundkurs’ or ‘Leistungskurs’ in the ‘Abitur’.
• You have an International Baccalaureate.
• You have a European Baccalaureate with English Language 2 or 1.
• You have obtained a diploma equivalent to or higher than the Dutch VWO level from an institution where the language of instruction is English in one of the member states of the EU/EEA, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, or the USA.
• You are a citizen of Australia, Canada (with exception of Quebec), Ireland, New Zealand, the UK, or the USA. Should you not meet one of the conditions mentioned above, then, in general, you should provide one of the following language certificates. Some programmes may have further language requirements, so please check the web page of the programme you’re interested in carefully. 
• IELTS Academic: A minimum overall score of 6.0, apart from Chemistry and Molecular Life Science, which require an minimum overall score of 6.5. Please check programme specific web pages for information on minimum sub-scores.
• TOEFL iBT: A minumum overall score of 80, apart from Chemistry and Molecular Life Sciences, which require a minimum score of 90. Please check programme specific web pages for information on minimum sub-scores.
• Cambridge Certificate of Advanced English (CAE): minimum mark of C.
• Cambridge Certificate of Proficiency in English (CPE): minimum mark of C.

Governmental student finance: EU/EEA students might qualify for a student loan from the Dutch government. To be entitled to this loan, you need to work for fourteen hours a week (56 hours a month) in the Netherlands (next to your studies). If you are entitled to receive the student loan from the Dutch government, you may receive up to € 1,000 per month, in addition to your salary. After graduation, you will need to pay back the loan. In order to determine how much you need to pay back each month, the Dutch government will take your financial situation (such as income) into account. More information is available on www.duo.nl