The Department of Media and Culture Studies provides education on and carries out research in the fields of film, television, games, new media and digital culture, theatre, dance and performance, gender and ethnicity, music and cultural policies. Culture is a dynamic mix of artistic, creative and everyday practices with which people shape their identities and actions, and within which societal structures and institutions take shape. Media (old and new) are crucial factors in these processes.

Education

The department is the home base for all the lecturers who teach in the Bachelor’s programmes Media en Cultuur and Muziekwetenschap. They also teach in the various Master's programmes, including Applied Musicology, Arts and Society, Contemporary Theatre, Dance and Dramaturgy, Film and Television CulturesGender Studies, Gender Studies (research), Media, Art and Performance Studies, Musicology and New Media & Digital Culture.

Research

The scholars in media and culture studies from the various research groups often work together to explore issues surrounding different facets of the role played by art, culture, and media in present-day society. The research focuses on a broad range of media and cultural and artistic performances, which are studied within their intermedial context. We pay particular attention to the relation between historical and contemporary developments, transmedial and intermedial phenomena, cultural diversity, emancipation, heritage and the digital humanities.

Credits header images: Bring Your Own Beamer by SETUP and Nederlands Film Festival (left and middle). Tabita Rezaire Studio (right).