Media Studies and Research at the University of Lapland

Within the Media Studies Department, there are two separate programmes: the Audiovisual Media Culture Programme and the Graphic Design Programme.

The curriculum of both programmes combines theoretical studies and learning aesthetic and communicative skills in design and visual communication.The graphic design and media curriculum is based on teaching aesthetic and communicative skills in communication and design. There are BA, MA and Doctor of Arts programmes. In the Bachelor’s and Master’s thesis students practice research skills in combination with the design skills. The Bachelor’s thesis is about 20-30 pages long and is linked to design work. The Master’s thesis can be purely theoretical (minimum 75 pages) or theory linked to design work (about 40 pages plus the design work).

The Doctoral thesis is an academic theoretical work or an academic theoretical work combined with design work. The Doctoral dissertation must be published. The themes concern theoretical and practical questions in visual communication and visualization.

Audiovisual Media Culture Programme

The Audiovisual Media Culture Programme is located at the cross roads of art, science and technology. It tries to explain the role of computer-based media in modern society and in the future. The Audiovisual Media Culture Programme also offers artistic, theoretical and analytic tools for refining students’ own artistic expression and product applications. Students can concentrate either on multimedia or on video expression.
The areas of media studies are:
1) Multimedia
2) Visual communication
3) Dramaturgy
4) Digital video
5) Production
6) Video expression
7) Interaction between audiovisual technology and culture
8) Music video and sound production

Media research will concentrate on smart environments, multimedia, games, digital filing and media culture. Within the Audiovisual Media Culture Programme, a lot of experience has been gathered in the research of multimedia database development in connection with cultural heritage.

 

The Graphic Design Programme

The areas of graphic design studies and research are:

Visual communication
• Visualizing and making images (illustration, graphs, montage, cartoons, etc)
• Visualizing language = typography as a communicative and cultural phenomenon
• Narrative design (layout)
Design management
• Corporate identities, branding
• Managing graphic design and visualization processes
Minor studies can be from other faculties in the University of Lapland: the Faculty of Social Sciences (e.g., sociology, gender studies) or the faculty of Economics (e.g. marketing, management).