Study

The task of media studies is the historical and theoretical examination of the emergence of technical media, their structures, their development and the intermedial and cultural processes of change that accompany the emergence of new technologies - especially the current dominance of digital media.

The formal object "media" or "mediality" is the guiding principle; the objects of investigation are - in essence - the material objects of media history from the transition from orality to writing, through the long dominance of print media (in word and image) and then the dissolution of their monopoly by differentiating competing media for text, image and sound (telegraphy, photography, gramophone, cinematography, etc.) to the present day of the so-called new media (computers, digital television, multimedia, etc.).

In terms of media culture studies, the subject is particularly dedicated to the question of the media of knowledge; at the intersection of formal-theoretical and material-historical media analysis, the history of media theory (in its interactions with apparatus) plays an accentuating role.

The degree programme in media studies aims to impart general - and thus flexibly applicable - basic knowledge of media theory as well as the ability to independently explore and work on new problem areas (whether of a practical or academic nature). It combines the acquisition of historical knowledge with the acquisition of theoretical and methodological principles as well as the training of analytical skills in dealing with media techniques, media products and institutions of media communication. This qualifies students for a further academic career in the field of cultural studies media research as well as for professional fields in which culture, new technologies and the public sphere intersect: Activities thus in cultural and media management, in the field of media consulting (in politics and business), in editorial offices of newspapers, radio and television stations, in media publishing houses and online journalism, in continuing education, in public cultural institutions (theatres, museums, archives).