Visual Culture (Pori)

The application period for Master’s Degree Programmes has ended 15 Feb 2012. Next application period will start at the beginning of 2013.  

Who can apply
This programme is meant for graduates of BA or polytechnic degrees in art, media, design or another applicable field, and students who have otherwise acquired comparable basic skills and knowledge in the area. 

Aims of the degree programme
The Master’s Degree Programme in Visual Culture deepens the students’ understanding of visual culture, media and art, as well as their personal skills in art and production. The programme gives students good skills in aesthetic and critical analysis, as well as the production of art and media. Graduates are independent experts with multiple skills in art and visual culture, who can work in the field of visual culture.

Description of the degree programme
Visual culture is a cross-disciplinary and multiartistic experimental subject that investigates new forms and contexts in art and the media, as well as operating methods and changes in visual culture. The programme offers comprehensive tuition across media boundaries, and develops the students’ independent, critical thinking in issues related to art and visual culture. The Pori department stands out from other institutions offering teaching in visual culture thanks to its artistic research and philosophical approach.

Students can focus on either artistic studies, visual culture theory or media production. Even students specializing in theory are expected to have sufficient skills in carrying out artistic/production-related projects in one of the areas of visual culture.

Essentially, students become familiar with visual culture and artwork and with the various areas of related research. This opens new cross-artistic and cross–scientific perspectives, contacts and networks for the students. The teaching emphasises dialogue, theory, research and a multiplicity of tools.

Structure of the programme
The programme is a two-year, 120-ECTS entity leading to a Master of Arts qualification. The programme comprises studies common to all students, specialist studies in artistic and/or visual culture theory and/or media production, and optional studies. Tuition forms include workshops, projects, assignments, intensive courses, lectures and personal tutoring. Optional studies can be taken from other departments at the School of Art and Design, other schools in Aalto University, other units at the University Consortium of Pori and other Finnish and foreign universities, in line with the personal study plan. Optional minor studies at the University Consortium of Pori include landscape studies, museology, cultural heritage research, marketing and sociology, among other subjects.

The biggest module in the programme consists of the independent Master’s thesis. It can be an artistic work or production, such as an exhibition or a media project; alternatively, it can be a theoretical study. Artwork must also include a written element.

Course languages
Finnish, with some teaching in English.

Employment prospects
The programme produces experts in the fields of art and media, who can take on various educational, research or expertise tasks in visual culture. The graduates’ careers are largely directed by their earlier studies, their choice of specialisations and minor studies, and their own proactivity. 

Selection Process 2012

Portfolio
See general portfolio instructions. 

Required Application Documents
See Required Application Documents.

How to Apply
Read the application instructions carefully: How to Apply.

Evaluation criteria in applicant selection
Students are selected for the programme in a two-stage selectionprocess. At the first stage, applicants send in an application with copies of certificates, their CVs, an A4-length study plan and a portfolio of work which may also include digital attachments. Based on the portfolios and applications, some applicants are invited to the second stage, an interview where they will present their portfolios. The second stage also involves a short essay.

In their portfolios and in the entrance examination, students must demonstrate talent, motivation and ability to develop in art, design, media or another applicable field of visual culture, as well as a capacity for critical and analytical thinking.