Aesthetics and Culture Studies

The artist's cognition is the human cognition of the highest kind. T. G. Masaryk

Degree programme objectives

The aim of the Ph.D. study programme Aesthetics and Culture Studies is to prepare graduates for a career in the academic sphere or in commercial sphere, at positions where a high qualification is required with the specialization in the field of art and culture, journalism, politics, and education (theoretical approaches to translation, art, and digital humanities etc.). During their studies, students will get acquainted with theoretical approaches to modern aesthetics and semiotics of culture that reflect the situation of art from both synchronic and diachronic viewpoints. The Ph.D. study programme is organized within several sections corresponding to the scholarly orientation of members of the Department of Aesthetics (analytical aesthetics, history of aesthetics, semiotics, structuralism, philosophical approaches, experimental and empirical research etc.). Ph.D. students are required to participate in work of several of the sections, within which they work on their Ph.D. projects. Besides acquiring knowledge from the sphere of contemporary study of culture, they also learn elementary techniques of a research in humanities. Under the supervision of experts, students in higher courses of the Ph.D. study programme participate in teaching at the Department of Aesthetics, thus gaining elementary competences of a university teacher.

Study plans

Aesthetics and Culture Studies

full-time, single-subject

Aesthetics and Culture Theory

combined, single-subject

Studies

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Objectives
The aim of the Ph.D. study programme Aesthetics and Culture Studies is to prepare graduates for a career in the academic sphere or in commercial sphere, at positions where a high qualification is required with the specialization in the field of art and culture, journalism, politics, and education (theoretical approaches to translation, art, and digital humanities etc.). During their studies, students will get acquainted with theoretical approaches to modern aesthetics and semiotics of culture that reflect the situation of art from both synchronic and diachronic viewpoints. The Ph.D. study programme is organized within several sections corresponding to the scholarly orientation of members of the Department of Aesthetics (analytical aesthetics, history of aesthetics, semiotics, structuralism, philosophical approaches, experimental and empirical research etc.). Ph.D. students are required to participate in work of several of the sections, within which they work on their Ph.D. projects. Besides acquiring knowledge from the sphere of contemporary study of culture, they also learn elementary techniques of a research in humanities. Under the supervision of experts, students in higher courses of the Ph.D. study programme participate in teaching at the Department of Aesthetics, thus gaining elementary competences of a university teacher.
Learning Outcomes
After successfully completing his/her studies the graduate is able to:
- to deal with practical issues on the basis of theoretical knowledge of how art and culture with their traditional values communicate in the contemporary society and in the changing world of technologies
- to formulate relevant hypotheses and to check them empirically and studying them with the tools for structural and analytical description
- to interpret different works of art and broad cultural phenomena from both historical and contemporary viewpoints, showing the way to their understanding and to cultural exchange
- to share their knowledge of the particular discipline in pedagogical activities, lectures and published works;
- to work in a team of scholars and to learn the virtues of respect and co-operation
- to solve independently new scholarly tasks, using reliable sources; to conduct a long-term independent research (including the possibility to participate in long-term projects or in conducting them);
Occupational Profiles of Graduates
The graduate is got ready to work at a wide range of cultural, social or Art- institutions, at boards of cultural or artistic journals, as a teacher or lecturer. In all mentioned places he/she can aply acquired deeper knowledge about art or culture in contexts but also practical skills in identifying, describing, analyzing and proposing how to solve problems in art or everyday practice at institutions promoting social interaction with art and culture.
Practical Training
The obligatory parts of the doctoral programme consist of individual practical training at some institution or social establishment, a stay abroad for the term of one month (min.), and a semestral teaching course under supervision. Longer teaching periods are not desiderable, for overcharging doctoral students.
Goals of Theses
The standard extension of the Ph.D. thesis is at least 200.000 signs including typographic space, footnotes, title page, content, index, bibliography and annotation. Student in collaboration with his/her tutor chooses a branch topic, transform it into a question and the thesis is further understood as an answer to such a question. Students use branch literature, the thesis is not a case of an empirical research. Students prove an ability to handle branch text critically, to utilize concepts or theories found there and find relevant answers to the original question. Instructions for study completion can be found at www Seminar of Aesthetics and are defined by faculty norms and rules.