Kultur der Metropole

Metropolises have always fascinated as places of cultural debate and cultural innovation. As diverse as the subject of the city is, as varied is the study programme Metropolitan Culture. As a novel combination of theory, project work and professional orientation, which takes place in close cooperation with cultural institutions, the Bachelor´s programme has been offered at HafenCity University Hamburg since the winter term 2009/2010.

In the three years of the programme, students acquire skills in the areas of ethnographic and artistic urban research, the basics of the theory and economy of the city, and cultural theory. Through holistic view of multi-layered urban phenomena and the confrontation with them, students learn to reflect, argue, and act in a well founded and critical manner. The programme is also constantly updated to meet the changes in metropolises and the new challenges that accompany them. For example, urban development processes and urban lifestyles have recently been characterised by the intertwining between analogue and digital movements, by constant translation between online and offline practices.

Parallel to the diverse urban culture changes, digitalisation also affects university theory and methodological training. Form a theoretical and conceptual point of view, therefore, more space is to be given to the critical reflection of technology and digitalisation processes in cultural studies, for example, following on from traditions in the field of science and technology studies. At the same time, the spectrum of ethnographic and social-scientific methods should be expanded by technical-digital components, such as those discussed in the transdisciplinary research field of Digital Humanities. With its academic, cultural, and practical-implementing aspiration, the degree programme is aimed at those who are interested in mixing urban research and cultural practice as well as the intersection between the two subjects.