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Make the connection between art, architecture, design and media

Humanities Research: Critical Studies in Art and Culture

The Critical Studies in Art and Culture track focuses on current developments within four main disciplines – visual arts, architecture, design and media – from both a theoretical and a historical perspective.

Boundaries

In a globalised cultural world in which art, architecture, design and media are ever more closely integrated and packaged as ‘creative industries’, disciplinary boundaries are called into question and challenged. But a thorough grounding in older and newer disciplines such as art history, architectural history, design culture and media studies is a prerequisite for asking these questions.

Contexts and networks

Since cultural artefacts and media are produced and circulated in specific social, institutional, economical and ideological contexts and networks, Critical Studies in Art and Culture will equip you with the analytical and critical tools necessary for analysing these. Each of the four main disciplines bring specific theories and methods to the table, and the programme highlights their transdisciplinary interconnectedness, with reference to their specific potential as well as their possible limitations.

Critical Studies in Art and Culture is one of the tracks of the Master's programme in Humanities (Research).

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Thursday 26 November 2026

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Discover your Humanities Research programme

In this Master’s programme, you’ll focus on the analysis of visual objects: artefacts in various media that function (primarily or partially) as images. This ranges from landscapes, cities and buildings to artworks in various media, as well as film, television, design and games. Notions such as inter-, cross- and transmediality play an important role.

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Radha D'Souza and Jonas Staal Court for Intergenerational Climate Crimes at Framer Framed Amsterdam 2021 Photo: Ruben Hamelink

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