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Arts and Culture: Media, Culture and Environment, Master Degree, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

the Netherlands

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Study options for this course

The award	How you will study	Study duration	Course start	Domestic course fees	International course fees
Master Degree	Full-time	1 year	September	EUR 2694 per year	EUR 24830 per year

About Arts and Culture: Media, Culture and Environment, Master Degree - at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

Are you interested in the dynamic interrelations between media, arts and the environment? Then choose the Master's specialisation in Comparative Art & Media Studies.

Audiovisual media are essential to our society. Platforms, interfaces and networked infrastructures have become ubiquitous and influence all aspects of private and public life, and media culture is enmeshed with politics and the living world like never before. Digital media have not only radically reconfigured how we sense the world and create, exhibit and interact with film, television, art and cultural objects. Media also represent, communicate and contribute to global environmental crises.

Comparative Arts and Media Studies is one of the tracks of the master's programme in Arts & Culture.

Five reasons to choose Comparative Arts and Media Studies at VU Amsterdam:

You will learn in a globally unique way to combine a focus on media, art, and environment.
You will have the opportunity to study cultural phenomena across various formats and art forms.
You will gain a strong conceptual and theoretical grounding.
You will learn to analyse concrete cultural, curatorial, and artistic practices.
You will gain media literacy skills to historically contextualise a fast-paced audiovisual culture

Summer School

Apply to VU Amsterdam Summer School and develop your academic skills in a focused and inspiring study abroad experience.

Learn more about Arts and Culture: Media, Culture and Environment, Master Degree - at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

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Entry requirements

1. Academic requirements

Your previous education needs to be deemed equivalent to at least a Dutch academic Bachelor’s degree (wetenschappelijk onderwijs, WO) obtained at a research university (nominal duration 3 years).

2. Programme specific requirements

Direct admission to the Master's programme in Arts and Culture, with a specialisation in Contemporary Art History, is possible with an academic Bachelor's degree (WO) in art history, MKDA, or an equivalent degree. If you have an academic Bachelor’s degree in the Humanities (history, media studies, philosophy, cultural studies), you must have completed a minimum of 60 ECTS in art history/theory. You must also submit a complete application for review by the Admissions Board.

Due to a lack of distinction between applied and academic universities abroad, the level of academic theory that you have studied will be determined based on your course descriptions, literature lists and a sample of academic writing.

How to demonstrate that you meet the above requirements

You are required to indicate in the course description section of the Application Form how you meet the programme specific admission requirements.

Whether you meet the admission requirements, is determined by the Admission Board based on your complete application.

3. English-language proficiency requirements

You will have to demonstrate sufficient English language proficiency. You can find an overview of relevant information to demonstrate your English language proficiency on the language requirement page.

Fees, Funding and Scholarships at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

Need financial assistance? Read about scholarships: Scholarships for Master's programmes

Student reviews of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

Find out what students say about Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

Masters Webinar

Each year, we organise an online session for aspiring Master's students that covers everything you need to know about the application process and beyond. This year, the International Master's webinar took place on Tuesday, October 15, at 16:00 (CET). You can watch the recordings all year.

During the webinar, you will have the opportunity to:

Discover what it is like to study at VU Amsterdam;
Learn everything you need to know about the admission and application process;
Get the latest insights on scholarship opportunities;
Hear first-hand experiences from one of our current international students about being a student in the Netherlands' dynamic capital city.

Bachelors Webinar

Each year we organise an online session for aspiring Bachelor's students that covers all you need to know about the application process and beyond. This year, the International Bachelor's webinar took place on Thursday 24 October at 16:00 (CET). You can watch the recorder version all year.

During the webinar, you will have the opportunity to:

Discover what it is like to study at VU Amsterdam;
Learn everything you need to know about the admission and application process;
Ask all your questions about the housing market in Amsterdam;
Hear first-hand experiences from one of our current international students about being a student in the Netherlands' dynamic capital city.