Department of Media Theories

The Department of Media Theories researches and analyses the aesthetic, cultural and political effects and contexts of use of media and art production. In this, the focus is on the increasing hybridisation of media and the resulting changes in communicative and artistic practices and formats. Current areas of research include experimental & digital storytelling, media_games and media knowledge cultures.

Media theory as a subject area is integrated into various art-oriented programmes as well as into the scientific master programme Media Culture and Art Theories at Kunstuniversität Linz.

Focuses

We pursue media science with a cultural studies slant; in this, our teaching and research activities are aimed at analysing problems, implementing projects and processes through selected examples and thematic areas. This makes for research-focused programmes that provide students with a clear reference to artistic practice. The development of novel scientific and artistic-scientific formats of publication and analysis is another element within this scope of research-driven studying and teaching.

Our activities target the interdisciplinary, cross-media analysis and coverage of culture, history and perception of media and media artists in a great variety of research and knowledge contexts: film/video, TV, analog and digital photography, interactive and performance art, sound and online cultures. Fundamental methodological aspects include theories of media-cultural systems, research approaches employing interdisciplinary methodologies, and the analysis of digital image, sound and sign-creating processes.

Career Options

Potential work and career options are related to both university and extramural research and teaching in the fields of film, TV and media studies, e.g. editing, scientific curating and the manifold activity areas of media publishing. The research-driven study approach, which allows students to set their own focus, moreover strengthens their competencies in positioning themselves in the emerging and continuously shifting professional environment of modern media, cultural and art production and to find their own career options.