Content and structure

Course content

Where is culture created? Who shapes it? Who discusses and scrutinises it?  - And what exactly do we mean by the term culture? Media and digital language worlds permeate our cultural landscape and promote its complexity. More than ever, there is a need for personalities who creatively and critically relate to a dynamic cultural landscape through the practices of writing, producing and conceptualising. 

The Major in Cultural Publishing trains authors, critics and media designers who are committed to the basic values of research, observation and analysis. The focus is on a sophisticated examination of the world, culture and society. Cultural Publishing students have different study and practical backgrounds. They engage with their areas of interest in a research-based, creative and experimental way. In doing so, they explore their role as active creators of diversity, publicity and participation in diverse cultural fields.  

The course focuses on cultural journalism, authorship, organisational communication and media conception - in combination with media skills in the areas of film/video, audio/podcast, online journalism or print.  The degree programme promotes collective learning that draws on direct contact with the media, its gatekeepers and its audience. 

Structure of the degree programme 

The curriculum of the Major in Cultural Publishing is structured in four module groups/competence areas with the following content-related focuses: 

Reading/Interpretation
Reading, understanding and categorising texts and works/products of the arts and design 

Writing/Creation
Writing technique and writing strategy; different genres such as narrative nonfiction, literary, scenic and dramatic writing

Producing/Conceptualising
Practice-oriented thinking, conceptualising and implementing journalistic and/or communicative products - from text to publication to medium 

Discourse/research
Basic questions of research, with a focus on theory and methodology in the field of journalistic and cultural studies empiricism

Skills

The Major in Cultural Publishing enables students to position themselves according to their own strengths and interests in a dynamic field of cultural journalism, organisational communication, media conception and freelance authorship.

The Master's programme

  • teaches tools for writing, producing and conceptualising practices;
  • teaches methods for the cultural-critical analysis of media production and reception; 
  • enables students to envision, formulate and try out strategies of art and cultural mediation;
  • sharpens knowledge and skills in the context of post-digital publication strategies;
  • creates networking opportunities with peers and experts from various professional fields;
  • focusses on the targeted support of students in individually selected fields of practice. 

Admissions requirements

Students on the Major in Cultural Publishing speak and write correct German, and express themselves and communicate with subtlety and conviction in German. They want to make a career of writing and/or communication as a form of media discourse on the arts and culture and/or design the relevant media. They also want to be able to reflect on their own design and artistic experience through scientific methodology against a background of relevant discourse.  

As a formal requirement, they must have a Bachelor’s degree in a specialist subject area that can be linked to the field of cultural publishing.

Special features of the course

The programme is a partnership with a number of universities as well as media companies, organizations and festivals in the field of the arts and culture. These partnerships give rise to regular publications, which are co-designed and realized by students.