Malmö University

Mission Statement

The significance of media in society is ever increasing, and this holds in particular for new media such as the web, blogs, mobile services, online forums, and virtual worlds. The increase is deeply related to technical developments in the field of information and communication technology offering possibilities for new forms of expression and new media actors. The relations between producers and consumers, between professionals and amateurs, are thus reshaping in quite drastic ways, enabling a variety of communication practices and numerous public spheres, transnational as well as domestic. Research at the School of Arts and Communication aims at exploring this development by combining the theoretical and conceptual study of digitally enhanced mediated communication and its properties with design-oriented material experiments with a special emphasis on participation and coproduction in the public sphere.

International Role

The faculty is internationally highly qualified, many of which also have foreign background and experience from working abroad. Situated in a vibrant part of Europe, in the "Greater Copenhagen area", the school has developed close collaboration with several major international networks and associations, such as the DESIS network, including companies and outreaching institutions in the region.  Internationalization is prioritized; the teaching and research environment is highly diverse with a number of programs run entirely in English, a high ratio of international faculty, an international body of students, and a number of collaboration projects with international partners including exchange agreements for both students and staff. 

National Role

With its focus on participatory design process, the School has developed close collaboration with the City of Malmö, through a number of joint research projects both with national and EU funding. Other successful collaborations include joint platforms such as, The Institute for Sustainable Urban Development, and collaboration with major local cultural institutions, the above mentioned Malmö Live Consert and Congress including Malmö Symphony Orchestra; Media Evolution City, the Region of Scania, the Public Transport Authorities, SUS/the regional university hospital, major companies such as SVT/Swedish Television, Ericsson Mobile, Arduino, IKEA among others.

Main Focus

At K3/The School of Arts and Communication we combine academic scholarship with artistic methods and practical skills. In our teaching and research, art, technology, design and communication converge in new and innovative ways. We focus on thematic education and research through collaborative and project-based pedagogy that challenges traditional disciplinary boundaries. As initially formulated in its Digital Bauhaus Manifesto (1998) the vision of the department has been to constitute “an arena, a meeting place, a school and a research centre for creative and socially useful encounters between art and technology”. Our aim is to build on the legacy of Scandinavian participatory design and liberal arts education and to combine this with material sensitivity, critical analysis and social consciousness. All our programs therefore require conceptual, practical and critical skills, including linguistic skills.