Arts & Culture: Design Cultures

Interiors, fashion, artefacts, graphics and digital design define affect every aspect of our lives. Learn about how design shapes our world.

Design Cultures takes a Humanities perspective on the study of design. In this program you explore the history and theory of design, but also discover how design intersects with contemporary issues such as identity, mobility, ecology, overconsumption and inequality. Other programs train students to design objects. On this program you learn to interpret, reflect and write about design.

This programme raises these questions: What makes a design iconic? How is design used to construct national identity? How can we approach design from a post-colonial, ecological and feminist perspective? How do designers think and work? How can the very same object mean different things to different users? What is the future of design?

Amsterdam

The opportunities for collaboration between the design sector, cultural institutions and social enterprise in Amsterdam are endless. Through our wide-ranging academic courses, taught by our international team of distinguished researchers, you can explore the dimensions of these contexts and combine them in unique and exciting ways.

Design Cultures is one of the tracks of the master's programme in Arts & Culture.