Arts and Culture Studies, B.A.

  • N/A
    Application Deadline
  • 36 months
    Duration
  • Tuition
    6957
    Tuition (Year)
    2006
    Tuition (Year)
  • English (take IELTS)
    Language
Are you passionate about culture? Do you like sitting front row – be it at music festivals, Shakespearean tragedies, art-house-films, television series, cutting edge exhibitions or poetry slams? And are you interested in developing new skills for analyzing and describing your experiences from a range of theoretical perspectives? Are you ready to join the social and political debate on the arts? Then the Bachelor's programme in Arts and Culture Studies at the Radboud University Nijmegen is just the thing for you.

About

Characteristics of the Radboud Arts and Culture Studies 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 find your way in your studies and 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 are encouraged to engage in small but challenging research projects of your own, individually or in small groups;
  • During class, the academic staff enjoys and encourages discussion and student participation.
Career Prospects

The jobs you might find yourself doing after graduating from the Bachelor's programme in Arts and Culture Studies are extremely varied. The cultural field is as diverse as it is big and it’s continually expanding, creating lots of new potential jobs. We therefore expect there will be and more and more demand for people with an expertise in arts and culture.

To give you an idea of possible jobs, here a sample of jobs our graduates are now doing:

  • Trend watcher for companies
  • Consultant art education for an educational organisation
  • Consultant ‘quality television’ for a national commercial television station
  • Cultural policy-maker for the government
  • Festival organiser
  • Webmaster at a museum
  • Journalist
  • Programme organiser at a film festival

Accreditation

Master's programme

During our one-year Master’s programme in Creative Industries you will get hands-on knowledge of a field that is buzzing with creativity: where art meets commerce, and where culture generates innovation and social cohesion. We approach the creative industries with a strong focus on culture: we put the creative object, product or process itself at the centre of the study. This emphasis makes our approach unique in the Netherlands. We look at many areas of the creative industry: not just fashion, music, film and television, but also (social) media, tourism and education. Our programme is hands-on, with several assignments a week challenging you to develop the ‘soft skills’ to be successful in the labour market. We have close contacts with art and cultural organisations in and around Nijmegen. You can use these contacts to get a real taste of the industries you’re going to be working in.

Or you could opt for our Master's programme in North American Studies, which prides itself on its dynamic, interdisciplinary, student-oriented teaching. We combine national and transnational approaches to North American culture (including popular culture, film, theatre, music, digital media, literature and art), as well as global politics, transnational movements (from hackers to terrorists to animal rights), religion, border studies, Native American and Afro-American history and culture. We offer two MA programs in North American Studies: Literatures and Culture of North American Studies in an International Perspective and Transnational America: Politics, Culture and Society. Students in the program have done internships in broadcast media, government agencies, cultural festivals, Dutch embassies, human rights organizations, North American archives, and museums.

Detailed Programme Facts

  • Full-time duration 36 months
  • Study intensity Full-time
  • Credits
    180 ECTS

    The 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 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. Arts and Culture Studies teaches you 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 analyze 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 the leading programme in culture studies in the Netherlands: it has been ranked first in the authoritative Elsevier ranking seven times in a row (2009-2015).

  • Languages
    • English
    Take IELTS test Find English Courses

Programme Structure

Year one

The first year of the Bachelor's introduces you to the history of the arts (from literature to theatre, music, fine arts and film, and from the classics to digital art), to theories of culture, and to methods of analysis. It also encourages you to consider the question of the importance of art: how to truly appreciate the value of art and culture in today’s society?

Year two

The second year broadens the 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 culture and mass culture, and three courses reflecting on different aspects of the culture industry: Popular aesthetics, Screen cultures and The culture of fashion.

English Language Requirements

This programme requires students to demonstrate proficiency in English.

Take IELTS test

Academic Requirements

Dutch educational qualifications

The only Dutch educational qualification that gives access to the English-taught Bachelor's programme in Arts and Culture Studies is a pre-university diploma (VWO-diploma in Dutch). If you have obtained a VWO-diploma, language requirements do not apply.

International educational qualifications

If you have completed, or are about to complete a study programme abroad, then your diploma will be assessed on an individual basis in order to determine whether your previous education allows for admission. Should your diploma allow for admission, then you could be directly admissible or additional conditions may apply (such as language requirements or an interview). You will receive more information on these additional requirements during your application procedure.

English language requirements

As the language of instruction in our programme is English, you will need sufficient proficiency in English.

  • a Dutch vwo-diploma;
  • an International Baccalaureate diploma;
  • a European Baccalaureate diploma, with at least the course English Language 2 or Language 1;
  • a diploma in which English has been part of the final examinations from European countries mentioned in the a list (pdf, 34 kB);
  • a diploma equivalent to or higher than the Dutch VWO level by completing an English-taught educational programme at an institution in one of the member states of the EU/EEA, Australia, Canada, New Zealand or the United States.

If you don't meet the above language conditions, you must satisfy one of the following minimum requirements:

  • a TOEFL score of >=80 (internet based), >=213 (computer based) or >=550 (paper based). For interned based test each sub-score should be min 17, for computer based test - min 45 and paper based test - min 117.
  • an IELTS Academic overall score of >=6.0 and min 5.5 on each of the four sub-scores;
  • Cambridge Certificate of Advanced English (CAE) or Certificate of Proficiency in English (CPE), with a mark of C or higher;
  • a TOEIC test score of >=785 and modules 'Speaking and Writing' and 'Listening and Reading' completed successfully.

English language requirements do not apply to citizens of Australia, Canada (with exception of Quebec), Ireland, New Zealand, the UK, or the USA.

Tuition Fee Per Year

  • EUR 6957 International
  • EUR 2006 EU/EEA

Funding

There are various scholarships available for studying at Radboud University. Please check which scholarship is applicable in your case.

Radboud Scholarship programme

The Radboud Scholarship Programme offers a select number of talented prospective non-EU/EEA students the opportunity to receive a scholarship to pursue a Bachelor's degree at Radboud University. The Radboud Scholarship Programme is very selective and is only intended for talented students who have obtained outstanding study results and are highly motivated to pursue a Bachelor's degree at Radboud University.

Visit our programme website for more information!

StudyPortals Tip: Students can search online for independent or external scholarships that can help fund their studies. Check the scholarships to see whether you are eligible to apply. Many scholarships are either merit-based or needs-based.

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