Master in Visual Studies and Art Education

Visual Studies and Art Education at Aalborg University is the Nordic Master's in Visual Studies and Art Education, known as NM NoVA. It is a double degree run with Aalto University in Finland. You study in Copenhagen and Helsinki, and you graduate with a master's diploma from both universities.

What you study

The programme mixes practical work with theory in art, education, digital communication and project management. The page names three key content areas:

• Visual and Digital Culture and Communication Developed in the Nordic region: creative and critical approaches to design and art making, with attention to openness, care and equality, plus social and cultural skills in ICT and online communication.
• Contemporary Approaches to Nordic Art Education and Learning: Nordic approaches to art and education, with emphasis on democracy, egalitarianism, socially just pedagogical practice, human rights and social and cultural sustainability.
• Project management, Administration, and Entrepreneurship: project management, administration, finance and entrepreneurship in cultural and educational contexts.

First semester modules are Art and problem-based research methodology, Aesthetics, visual culture and visual communication, and Art educational practice and theory. The methodology module opens with a compulsory five-day symposium on campus. Second semester adds the project module Change and intervention through communication and art pedagogical practice, Critical issues within art, education and visual culture, and Project management, administration and entrepreneurship.

How the programme is organised

All modules are co-taught between Aalto and Aalborg. Teaching can be in person on campus, hybrid lectures or online activities. The study is project-oriented and problem-based, and the NM NoVA community is treated as part of the programme.

You spend your first year at the Copenhagen campus and your second year at Aalto University in Helsinki. Students admitted through Aalto do the reverse. The third semester is a project module with three tracks to choose from:

• Track I: Academic practice-oriented course: a project-oriented course of at least 13 weeks in a company, organisation or institution.
• Track II: Visual project: a visual project of at least 6 weeks plus 1 to 2 optional courses at the host university, done with a company, organisation or institution.
• Track III: Theoretical project: independent theoretical and methodological work on a problem in the field, in collaboration with faculty projects at the partner university.

The fourth semester is the master's thesis on a topic you choose, with guidance from both universities and a methodology symposium.

Who it suits

Choose it if you like creative, problem-solving project work that crosses subjects, genres and borders. The programme is for students who want to work with Nordic visual and digital communication and culture, and with art education built on democracy, equality and social justice. You should be comfortable working in groups, with external stakeholders and in online and hybrid formats.

Admission, language and next steps

The programme is taught in English and starts in September. The page describes the first year as building a common academic curriculum on top of your bachelor's degree, but it does not list specific entry requirements, deadlines or documentation. Check the admission and requirements section of the official programme page for those details before you apply. Students from the EU/EEA and Switzerland study free of charge; other students pay a fee that the institution sets. Applications for master's programmes go directly to the institution.

Master’s applications go straight to Aalborg University, not through optagelse.dk, and the institution sets its own deadline. Entry requirements and language tests are set by the institution, so start from the official programme page. Our guides cover tuition fees, residence permits and housing.