Structure of the programme
The Major programme comprises a total of 150 credits and consists of five module areas:
Module area 1: Projects (63 credits)
Projects are usually individual and/or collective artistic or creative endeavours of varying scope. They are guided at the outset and receive ongoing support. As the programme progresses, projects become extensive, question-driven endeavours characterised by a fundamentally research-oriented approach. This results in increasingly independent academic work.
The projects are conducted in parallel in three tracks, which relate to the diverse requirements in the field of art education in terms of their orientation, content, approaches, reflection and transfer processes, media/materials/techniques and the corresponding teaching/learning concepts. The lecturers of the tracks/practices in Art & Design A / B / C formulate the specific characteristics for guidance.
- Track/Practice A promotes artistic processes in image and space. In particular, drawing, painting, sculptural and installation design are used to explore possibilities of expression and experiment with media-intertwined and open approaches that go beyond these. Special attention is paid to reflection, conceptual differentiation and contemporary contextualisation.
- In Track/Practice B, media are examined in terms of their potential for communication, communication modes and modes of action. The medium as an informed manifestation that creates and communicates effects in analogue or digital space – one's own body, language, organic, ephemeral or artificial, digital material, etc. Practice B also promotes the use of narrative and performative approaches as well as temporally structured modes of action and expression.
- Track/Practice C promotes an understanding of design processes and focuses on the teaching and reflection of workshop-related procedures and skills. Competencies in craftsmanship, three-dimensional design and the use of materials are developed, addressing issues of everyday and material culture.
Module area 2: Studio (15 credits)
Studio covers formats for developing technical and artistic skills and an introduction to scientific methods. In the case of creative studio courses, there is a compulsory elective from several possible parallel courses with different content orientations.
Module area 3: Discourses (26 credits)
The Discourses module area combines theory formation, contextualisation, practical analysis and reflection in the fields of art, design and media theory as well as cultural analysis. Students are introduced to discourses in the subject and its related disciplines, learn to orient themselves within heterogeneous fields of knowledge and generate their own questions from this engagement, which then influence other module areas. Insights are taken up and developed both in artistic and mediating practice and at the level of reflection on these practices. In the case of art/design theory and cultural analysis, there is a compulsory elective consisting of two or three parallel seminars with different content orientations.
Module area 4: Professionalisation (29 credits)
The module area Professionalisation covers study content from the fields of education and educational science, general didactics and, in a narrower sense, topics and practices related to the profession and professional field. Some of the modules are part of the professional training required to obtain a teaching diploma for upper secondary schools (in accordance with the EDK regulations on the recognition of teaching diplomas for upper secondary schools). Professionalisation provides insight into the diverse professional field of art education through work shadowing and internships, reflects on experiences and develops initial subject-specific skills in subject didactics, leading to the development of a critical and reflective understanding of the subject. These and other insights from the areas of discourse, studio and projects come together to form a unique artistic teaching approach. A significant part of the vocational training takes place in the area of professionalisation.
Diploma project (17 credits)
In the final project module, students develop their bachelor's thesis with a high degree of personal responsibility and person-centred support. The thesis consists of three parts:
- project work with a self-defined focus to deepen the targeted final competencies,
- written documentation, and
- communication and contextualisation of the project work in the context of a public exhibition and a colloquium.