About This Project

Workshop on Joint Diploma Programme in Potsdam

PART I

The Turkish team and the German team got together on February 12 th at the University of Potsdam in order to meet and inform each other about their already existing media and communication programmes and the educational structure of their universities.

First, the German team introduced their European Media Studies BA and MA programmes at the University of Potsdam and the University of Applied Science Potsdam to the Turkish team. Both programmes in Potsdam are module based, which means, that the students need to collect a certain amount of credit points in every module in order to complete their studies successfully. The German team gave details about the European Media Studies BA programme by pointing out that it is divided into twelve modules. The BA programme combines both theoretical courses and practical courses. It was emphasized that this combination requires a lot of team teaching and collaboration between the lecturers. In this way, students combine their practical works with theoretical studies. The students are obliged to take practical as well as theoretical seminars. Under these seminars the same topics are studied from different perspectives. At the end of their studies, students can choose upon many possibilities from composing a dance performance to writing an academic paper in order to graduate.

After that, the German team presented the content and the structure of their European Media Studies MA programme. They explained and clarified the aims and the academic profile of European Media Studies as well as the module structure and the credit system of the programme. European Media Studies MA programme has nine modules and under each module there are theoretical and practical courses. The students have to start in their first semester with “module one” which is called “Medium and Mediality.” In the following semesters they are asked to combine modules which include theoretical courses with modules that contain practical courses. For example, “Module 2: Configurations of Analogue and Digital Media” can be combined with “Module 6: Media Environments” or “Module 3: Visuality, Narrativity, Performativity” can be combined with “Module 5: Non-linear Narration”. Every semester the programme specifies two topics and students choose one of them according to their interests. For instance, if a student chooses the topic that concentrates on ‘plays', he/she can work on designing and creating plays or the theory of philosophy of the play. Students create their own programs and course works by such combinations. They can also determine the number of credits they get from a course depending on the amount of work they do for that specific course.

At this point, the group started to talk about the difficulties they faced during the first semester. Everyone agreed on how hard it is to level students coming from different backgrounds. In order to do that the MA programme offers basic classes in the first semester, which are supposed to be taken by all the students. From the second semester on, the students are allowed to choose a field of study according to their interests.

Following the introduction of the German team, the Turkish team described the BA, MA and PhD programmes at Bahcesehir University , Istanbul . They explained that the Communication Faculty of Bahcesehir University has six departments, which are “Photograph and Video”, “Journalism”, “Visual Arts and Communication”, “Public Relations”, “Advertising” and “Cinema and Television”. Moreover, the MA programmes in the faculty are “Advertising and Brand Management”, “Marketing Communication and Public Relation”, “Advanced Acting” and “Cinema and Television” and the PhD programmes are “Advertising and Public Relations” and “Cinema and Media Studies”.

The meeting was finalized by remarking on the discussions above and talking about the topics of the next day.

PART II

The next day, the group got together at the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam and they proceeded the second part of the workshop. The discussion rolled around the ideas about aims, content, and structure of the joint Master Programme and possible job positions that would be needed for the new programme. Everyone agreed that narrowing down the subjects of European Media and Cultural Studies would be crucial. At the beginning of the meeting, the group decided that both of the universities have to hire an extra scholar who will only concentrate on the Master's programme and the programme should contain courses which will focus on migration, post-colonial studies, mobility, and flows. Therefore, the programme should largely focus on migration because student who will move between Potsdam and Istanbul will be at the center of the concept of migration themselves.

At this point, the group started to discuss what they understand from migration and proposed that the programme could examine geographical as well as temporal migration, hybrid forms, in-betweenness and in-between Europeanness under the framework of migration since in every culture there are migrating cultures/subcultures or images that are constantly transforming. However, because of the fact that departments of Sociology and Political Science concentrate on migration in Germany and Turkey , the new programme would better use the words “flows” and “mobility” rather than “migration”. These concepts may give the programme a unique image.

In the next stage, the group discussed the ways in which to bring together and level students from different backgrounds. The group agreed that there should be general theory and method courses as well as project courses that allow students from Istanbul and Potsdam to work together. However, funding is needed to bring students from different geographies. In order to build communication between students, the programme may provide them to work on the same materials or they can get together via video conferences. This method may also allow the students to meet new ways of communication and work. Therefore, deciding on how to get the students together and arranging visits between Istanbul and Potsdam became an important issue in this workshop.

Another issue of the second part of the workshop was the financial differences between three universities. Unlike University of Potsdam and the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam , Bahcesehir University is a foundation university which means that the students who enroll in Istanbul should pay tuition for the Master's programme. After long arguments, it was proposed that the Turkish part should try to find a supporter to provide students with partial or full scholarships. Furthermore, in order to increase the efficiency of the programme, everyone agreed that both universities should accept 10 to 15 students every year.

On the other hand, it was difficult to agree on an exact time to start the semester in all three universities but the group decided that this difference may turn into an opportunity. In this way, the students can come together in Istanbul or in Potsdam before the semester officially starts and they may be exposed to an intensive course. The intensive courses, which will last for 4 weeks may prepare them to the Master's programme and help the lecturers to bring all students to an equal level of understanding.

 PART III

During the third part of the workshop, the group discussed the time schedule of the MA programme and when the students from Istanbul and Potsdam will get together, the physical location of their meeting and the costs of their accommodation. Even though the ideal would be to bring students together as much as possible, due to high expenses those gatherings would be limited. The group agreed on the idea that it should be better if the students could get together on the off semester times because in this way, the dorms would be empty and they could accommodate with lower prices. Therefore, the meetings should be held at the end of September and at the beginning of October in Potsdam and in July in Istanbul concerning the availability of the dorms. Besides, between the semesters, in February, the students should get together and interact through a video conference.

On the other hand, although first-year students will gather two times physically and one time through Internet, they will never have the chance to meet with the second-year students. Therefore, it was proposed that after the second year, first and second-year students should get together in Istanbul . In this way, first-year students will have the chance to discuss their MA Thesis with the second-years and they may find the opportunity to interact.

When the subject comes to the credit system of the programme, it is proposed that the students earn 30 ECTS for their thesis, 30 ECTS for the first intensive course (15 for attendance, 15 for the project), 30 ECTS for the second intensive course, 10 ECTS for the elective course in the first semester and 10 ECTS each for the two elective courses in the second semester. In this way, they earn 120 ECTS credits to graduate.

After those discussions this schema was created:

Following this schema, the group started to work on the contents and names of the courses. Whether the programme will be organized under modules or courses, it was agreed that each unit should deal with the concepts of flow and mobility. Finally, the meeting is finalized with the decision that a video conference between two teams will be held on March to discuss more about the contents and the names of courses.