Master's Programme in Nordic Visual Studies and Art Education (NoVA)

NoVA is a two-year masters programme that educates professionals and researchers of the best Nordic practices and traditions in art education and visual communication. NoVA provides relevant competencies and pedagogical interaction skills for working in cross-cultural and international educational situations and environments. The programme builds on Nordic expertise and is open for international students.

NoVA students engage in a variety of learning and teaching methods, including in-person, on-line, and whole group pedagogy, at home and host universities, and at retreats and international seminars. NoVA international faculty members cooperate in curricula planning and collaborative teaching, and employ the latest information and communications technology to actualize the curricula in a personalized and systematic manner. NoVA is entirely in English and is designed from beginning to end, with and through international partners.

In addition to Aalto University, collaborating universities and departments are: Department of Visual Arts Education at University College of Arts, Craft and Design, Sweden; Department of Art, Design and Drama at Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Science, Norway; Department of Communication at Aalborg University, Denmark.

Studying in another collaborating university or one or two semesters is a requirement of NoVA. For information on NoVA collaborating schools and faculty see www.nova-master.fi

Competences between and among institutions offer a broad range of areas of study, including critical pedagogy and social and cultural awareness; contemporary art didactics, digital technology, and ICT; project oriented, collaborative, problem-based, and participatory-based work; sustainable development; intercultural and social entrepreneurship; and double perspective - combining theory and practice. The choice of the exchange university guides the contents of studies. Depending on the combination, students may, for example, choose to emphasize media communication or contemporary artistic studies.

Students that graduate from NoVA will have strong intercultural understanding and experiences, and knowledge of teaching practices and theories in different Nordic countries. This cross-cultural study offers work opportunities internationally in different art, educational, and visual communicational areas, institutions, organisations, communities, and art and culture projects. Students may direct themselves toward teaching, guidance, and consultant tasks on different levels of schooling, or in the fields of art and visual and media culture, social sectors and corporate life. Through NoVA, students are prepared for doctoral studies and for the possibility to continue their research profession. The degree alone does not qualify as teacher competency.

For more information

Nina Sjölund
Study coordinator
+358 50 380 6541
nina.sjolund [at] aalto [dot] fi (​nina.sjolund@aalto.fi)