Theory and History

The Theory and History Department provides an interdisciplinary approach to art and cultural studies, art history, design and media theory, aesthetics, curatorial practice, and philosophy. Students engage with both contemporary and historical discourses, including postcolonial, gender-theoretical, memory-political, and sustainability-related issues, and develop their own scholarly projects at the intersection of art and theory.

The program combines theoretical reflection with artistic practice and fosters the ability to formulate individual research questions, present them, and discuss them in public. Seminars, interdisciplinary projects, publications, and collaborations with institutions provide practical experience, while international exchange programs open perspectives within a global context.

Within the Bachelor’s program + –

The Theory and History Department addresses questions at the intersection of art and cultural studies, art mediation, design history and theory, art history, art theory, aesthetic theory, curatorial practice, philosophy, and media theory. It engages with discourses such as gender theory, postcolonial perspectives, memory politics, and emerging relevant issues, including sustainability across various fields of art, culture, and their institutions. The department provides an interdisciplinary approach to questions at the boundary of art and scholarship and is studied in conjunction with a practical or artistic discipline.

Over the course of four years, depending on the emphasis of the theoretical-historical studies within their overall program, students acquire:

In-depth knowledge of historical and contemporary artistic practices and theoretical discourses within the relevant disciplines;
The ability to relate different theoretical approaches, make them productive in an interdisciplinary manner, and develop their own, potentially new research questions;
The ability to engage publicly through their own papers, publications, and projects, thereby opening up professional opportunities with an art- and culture-theoretical background.

The department is modular in structure. Its courses are as diverse as they are interconnected and can be combined in various ways, allowing students in particular to develop their own research questions. Special attention is given to the conception, presentation, and publication of theoretical work, which can be applied in professional contexts such as exhibitions, cultural institutions, publishing, media, and related fields. Within this framework, collaborative scholarly work can also be explored and promoted.

Students gain the necessary experience through seminars, interdisciplinary projects, publications, and collaborations with institutions outside the university. International exchange with HFBK Hamburg’s partner universities, as well as participation in international scholarly project collaborations, is highly valued.

Within the Master’s program + –

The Master’s program in the Theory and History Department provides students with the opportunity to develop a theoretical and/or historical research project, to deepen it according to their chosen theoretical approach, to discuss it exemplarily within the context of art and culture, and to present it appropriately. Students can design their research project so that artistic work forms a constitutive part of it, with the integration of theoretical and practical elements leading to both thematic and formal engagement.

Each semester, students are required to attend a course aligned with their research project. In addition, they receive guidance and supervision through colloquia and individual mentoring from faculty members. It is also possible to structure the research project in a way that allows it to be expanded into a doctoral dissertation in the future.

International exchange with HFBK Hamburg’s partner universities, as well as participation in international scholarly project collaborations, is highly valued.