We had a talk with the coordinator of the Media Communications department, Daria Tuminas, about the programme, as well as the state of media in today’s global world:
I am a freelance curator and researcher, working mainly with the medium of photography. At the moment, I work for half of the week as the Head of the Unseen Book Market for the photography festival and fair Unseen Amsterdam. The other half of the week, I work as the coordinator of the Media Communications department at Webster Leiden Campus / Webster University USA.
At the Webster Leiden Campus, I create the academic programme, plan the schedule and invite interesting experts to teach. Besides this, I also initiate collaborations between the department and other campuses and departments, as well as local cultural initiatives and organisations.
Currently, one of my most exciting assignments is developing the graduate programme in New Media Production, which will be launched in 2019. We will be focusing on digital storytelling and one of the most crucial aspects of media today - cohabitation of multiple media (like video, photography, text, design etc.) on a variety of platforms (like a book, an app, a website etc.) within one project.
That’s a big subject - some of the best minds, artists, philosophers, curators, media theorists etc. are discussing it today. I would like to bring up just two little aspects of this broad discourse.
First of all, due to the media fatigue, we stop actually looking at images, reading texts, and rather share, scroll, like. With the scary numbers of material being uploaded online, it simply stays largely unseen.
Secondly, if we talk about digital images, what is relevant is the data that they carry, not only what is on their surface, and this data is also something that people don’t see and are not aware of.
And thirdly, there is the whole political and economic dimension behind media, which is sometimes very intentionally hidden from mass users.
It’s also important to mention that on the 22nd of February 2018, Elon Musk launched the Falcon 9 rocket that included SpaceX’s first two "Starlink" internet satellites. This will kick off a new era of the global internet as we know it.
These are both exciting and challenging times for media - its role, perception, creation and distribution will change dramatically. People who work with media need to start thinking about the changes this initiative will bring.
The BA Media Communications programme is very hands on, practice-oriented and introduces three tracks - Film, Television, and Video Production; Photography; and Interactive Digital Media. Besides gaining skills in using cameras, light, visual storytelling etc., students also have a number of core courses related to the theory of media - Ethics in the Media, The Law and the Media etc.
What defines the programme, apart from its structure, is, of course, the people. We have a great faculty of experts who all actively work in their fields, are connected to both local and global networks and markets, and can introduce these to students.
To name just a few: the film / new media artist, researcher, and curator Tina Bastajian, who has exhibited internationally in festivals, galleries, museums, and symposia from San Francisco International Film Festival or CinemaEast NYC in the USA to IDFA and the Pompidou Centre in Europe. She teaches Experimental Film and Video and Introduction to Media Production, and is actively taking students on field trips to festivals and events.
Or John Loughlin, who was the founding chair of cinematography, a year-long master’s-level programme at the New York Film Academy. He currently operates the Amsterdam Cinematography Lab, and teaches Camera and Light and Introduction to Film, Television, and Video Production at Webster Leiden Campus.
At the moment, we have 28 students studying at the department, which makes the educational process very personalised.
Groups are normally composed of around 7-10 students. The Global Citizenship Programme courses, such as, for example, Introduction to Media Production or Cultural Diversity in the Media, welcome students from other departments, so these classes may be slightly fuller (around 15 people in total).
Students have very diverse cultural backgrounds - you can find people from Ghana, Kazakhstan, Finland, France, South Africa, Malaysia, the Netherlands, the USA, and any other country you can imagine, in one class.
Special activities are simply necessary to connect students with the outer world and with the experts working within media. I’ll just name a few initiatives:
The BA Media Communications programme is very hands on, practice oriented and introduces three different tracks!
Graduates with a degree in Media Communication have many career options:
Webster ensures high-quality learning experiences that transform students for global citizenship and individual excellence. For more information about their BA Media Communications programme or any other questions you may have, feel free to contact them.