Together with the Academy for Theatre and Digitality - the sixth division of Theater Dortmund - Dortmund University of Applied Sciences and Arts is offering a new international study program starting next semester. The "Theatre and Digitality" Master's combines digital technologies and performing arts. The course provides extensive practical and application-oriented knowledge of digital narrative techniques and the dramaturgical possibilities of virtual and hybrid realities, motion capturing and machine learning, sensor technology and robotics.
"There is no comparable offer in Germany or Europe," emphasized Prof. Dr. Tamara Appel, Rector of Fachhochschule Dortmund, at the signing of the cooperation agreement between Theater Dortmund and Fachhochschule Dortmund. "This study program reflects our commitment to aligning education with the innovations of our time. Students have the opportunity to combine art and technology in a way that is both culturally enriching and socially relevant." Graduates will work as digital storytellers, creative coders or digital stage creators at municipal or state theaters, for festivals or in Business Studies, for example for events and trade fairs or in the gaming industry. The use of digital and performative narratives is also constantly increasing in museums.
Ina Brandes, Minister for Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia: "This course is in tune with the times. Art and culture are increasingly using digital means. The new Master's course trains students who combine artistic and technical skills. This successful combination of culture and science has an impact far beyond Dortmund."
The new Master's course is aimed equally at Bachelor's graduates from technical, design, stage and artistic disciplines. Teaching will take place both at the Fachhochschule Dortmund's Faculty of Design and in the new building of the Academy for Theater and Digitality in Dortmund's Hafenquartier as well as in the FH's own creative laboratory storyLab kiU in the Dortmunder U - and entirely in English. "Opening up the performing arts to new and digital technologies creates fluid transitions between the arts - similar to media art - and promotes international collaborations from various artistic, technical and scientific fields," says Marcus Lobbes, Director of the Academy for Theater and Digitality. "Students from Germany and abroad can benefit from the extensive regional and international networks in which the Academy has been successfully active since its foundation in 2019."