In Favor of Bachelor and Master Degrees at the Academy

Sixyears ago, 29 European governments agreed on the creation of a unifiedEuropean Higher Education Area by 2010, the precondition being astandardized graduation system with bachelor and master degreesconferred according to the same criteria all over Europe. Thebaccalaureate program is to comprise a basic course of studies, whilethe subsequent master curriculum is to provide for specialization andin-depth learning. The 2003 "Berlin Communiqué" furthermore indicatesan extension of the two-cycle system by stating that "second cycledegrees should give access to doctoral studies."

Section 54, paragraph 2, of the Austrian University Act of 2002stipulates that - with a few exceptions such as teacher educationprograms - new courses of study shall be established in compliance withthe two-cycle system as bachelor and master studies (BMS) only. TheUniversity Act does not specify a deadline for the restructuring ofexisting programs into BMS. The 2003 Berlin Communiqué states thecommitment "to having started the implementation of the two-cyclesystem by 2005." Two years before that, the Prague Communiqué hademphasized that "Programmes [...] may, and indeed should, have differentorientations and various profiles in order to accommodate a diversityof individual, academic and labour market needs [...]."

In an article of 13 January 2005, the German weekly Die Zeit observesthat BMS opponents have meanwhile become a minority: "[…] the GermanBachelor and its bigger brother, the Master, are not at all in crisis.In fact, their introduction is on a better way than was expected."

At art universities, though, BMS remains a controversial issue. Criticsargue that there is a threat of schoolification; that the pettyknowledge taught in undergraduate modules is utterly insufficient tocontribute to the formation of a creative personality; that thesix-semester bachelor curriculum is too short to provide adequateartistic education; and, eventually, that the state might soon onlyoffer bachelor studies free of tuition fees, whereas master programsmight turn out costly for students.

General Considerations

The starting point of our considerations is the question of theadequacy of the diploma curriculum as it is. In the master-classsystem, the course of studies is not based on a consecutive curriculum.Rather, a community is established which students join when beginningtheir studies and in which they are supposed to find their own path:artistic ability is trained by way of the example given by professorsor elder fellow students. This is based on the idea that the ability ofpushing boundaries and innovative talent cannot be developed "by thebook" and on the basis of given knowledge.

This is an ideal of the creative human that dates back to the period ofRomanticism and no longer matches the realities of today.

A Changed Image
The Romantic notion of the artist sees the artist as a social outsiderwho is not integrated in society and whose works are neithercommodities nor instruments to some purpose. This image hasdramatically changed over the past hundred years, to which the Bauhaus- formative for the development of the Anglo-American art educationsystem - responded with the introduction of a course system. Today,artists participate in a market economy (though this may be regretted).They are closely involved in social developments and have found newfields of activity outside the museum business. Statistics show that inthe past decade only about two per cent of art school graduates inGermany were able to earn a livelihood from artistic activities. Wethink it is essential therefore to consider in art education thevarious different fields that have offered alternatives to artists andto help opening up new ones.

Professor Wyss, Rector of the Luzern College of Applied Sciences, wherea visual arts bachelor curriculum will be offered as from the wintersemester 2005, recently also made a statement to this effect: Wyss seesthe introduction of the baccalaureate at his school against thebackground of "transdisciplinary art": "The artistic idea needsmanagement skills for implementation, which are more or less equal tothose of an engineer without losing in creative ability. The artistalso needs social skills; he must have leadership and be able topersuade, since he has to ‘sell' what he has in mind. Teaching this atour school is part of the change that the school undergoes - not leastfor the benefit of the artists." (Neue Luzerner Zeitung, 13 Jan. 2005)

The consequence to be drawn from this is intensified preparation forthese different fields of activity in the sense of improved technicalabilities. Above all, these fields of activity and their socialrelevance have meanwhile been clearly determined and thus necessitatean adequate approach in the course of studies. The point is to provideAcademy beginners with an insight into these preconditions of theirwork as early as possible.

In accordance with this widened field of practice, the Academy will beoffering a basic course of studies in the future, followed by a stageof specialization which may even reach out beyond the boundaries of thetraditional field of practice. The master programs ofEducation / Communication, as well as of Media Studies and CulturalStudies, take account of fields of artistic activity as have evolvedoutside the gallery system over the past decades. The master programsare conceived as art studies and are not intended to distract studentsfrom art, but to open up alternative fields of activity. Unlike thegeneralist baccalaureate, the master studies are clearly contoured inteaching contents so as to contribute to the Academy profile and tokeep it competitive on an international scale. At the research anddoctoral studies level, interdisciplinarity will derive from thecooperation of different master graduates.

Innovative Ability
The Romantic notion of creatio ex nihilo today has been supplanted bythe idea that creative work is done by inducing shifts within systems -in verbal language, imagery, and forms of action. Correspondingly, thetheoretical and systematic basis of art practice must be provided so asto make innovation at all possible. The crucial revolution in theintroduction of BMS is that artistic knowledge is, to some extent,defined as cumulative so that master graduate students should have amore comprehensive knowledge than bachelor graduates. Moreover,teachers are required under BMS programs to define certain areas ofindispensable prerequisite knowledge. On leaving the Academy in 2001,Professor René Green noted a lack a basic knowledge on the part ofstudents and advocated a more clearly structured course of studies: "Ifind that one can have both discipline and artistic freedom at the sametime; I even see them as inseparably linked." (Annual Catalogue2001/02, p. 6)

In collaborating for a development plan, students of visual artdemanded in a discussion on 6 June 2004 more introductory, survey andobligatory lectures. In addition, they articulated their wish thatprofessors should be "more often present in class." Throughout anorientation phase in the first three years of study, BMS warrants moreinstruction and basic orientation and - because of the course system -requires more regular presence on the part of professors and teachingassistants.

The Threat of Schoolification, Preservation of Artistic Leeway
BMS does not at all imply schoolification. Comparison with thecurricula of major American colleges has shown that there is muchleeway in defining curricula under BMS programs. Thus, for example, therenowned Cal Arts in Los Angeles has far less hours of obligatorycourses and lectures than the present-day Academy diploma curriculum inarts, while the Chicago Arts Institute requires all-day presence on thepart of students (which still is only 27 hours more than the ViennaAcademy requires under the current diploma curriculum.)

Talks with professors from other art universities (Prof. S. Shore, BardCollege, N. Y.; Prof. T. Ruff, Düsseldorf Art Academy) suggest acombination of the Anglo-American course system with the liberties ofthe European master-class system as the most effective solution. BMSallows of such a combination: students are introduced to thedisciplines in basic courses (bachelor studies). With the bachelorgraduation, they are once more given an opportunity of reconsiderationand, perhaps, reorientation. Master studies should then be entirelydedicated to the development of an artistic project of one's own, withall liberties of the current master-class system guaranteed. Finally,university courses and doctoral studies offer possibilities of furtherdevelopment and relativize the limited scope of the bachelor curriculum.

In its own planning games, the rector's office assumes that, in thebachelor curriculum, two days a week will be dedicated to practicalworkshop or studio exercises (equivalent to today's Arts Major) and oneday a week to art theory courses and lectures (art history, media andgender theory, aesthetics etc.). One day will be dedicated toindependent student work. Professors will not only take entrance examsbut will also be involved in the bachelor programs. Under masterprograms, the percentage of theoretical studies will differ accordingthe type of master curriculum and academic objective (doctorate).Master curricula in arts will offer colloquia only where students candiscuss their work among themselves and with professors. Both underbachelor and master programs, the so-called Art Major remains in thecenter of teaching and warrants individual artistic work andinstruction.

Will the Academy Isolate with BMS?
Since the 2002 University Act went into force, students from artuniversities abroad and from other Austrian schools have to take anentrance exam if changing to the Academy. The Vice-Rector for Teachingand Research can then decide on the basis of study records which yearof study newcomers will be placed in. It does not make any differenceif this entrance exam is for diploma or bachelor programs. Given theabove considerations of adapting curricula to contemporary artpractices, BMS and teachers of these curricula there can in fact beexpected to be rather attractive for students.

Exchange students that come to the Academy for one or two semestersonly under the Erasmus Program, have to submit a portfolio, but do nothave to take the entrance exam. Department coordinators decide inconsultation with professors about class assignments. Of 25 guests inthe study year 2003/04, a majority of ten came from Germany, three fromFrance, three from Poland, and one from the Czech Republic, Greece,Italy, and Bulgaria, respectively. All of these countries still havediploma curricula. Four guests came from Great Britain and one fromDenmark where the two-cycle curriculum is already in effect. Thedifferent curricula did not make any difference as regards theintegration of these guests in the Academy system. It can be assumedthat, after the introduction of BMS, the Academy will become moreattractive for students from two-cycle countries such as Great Britain,Denmark or Sweden.

Given the European framework, it can be assumed that other artuniversities - as the example of music conservatories has shown whichintroduced BMS nation-wide in Austria also for artistic curricula -will also introduce BMS within a period of three to five years.

Will BMS Lead to Prolonged Duration of Studies?
Current diploma programs have a prescribed period of study of foursyears while BMS will take five years. However, this argument is basedon the prescribed minimum period of study which is drastically exceededby about 50 per cent of all students of visual art (17-21 semesters).The clear objectives that characterize both bachelor and mastercurricula will therefore lead to a de facto reduction of the durationof studies or warrant better qualification within the same period.

Who Will Pay the Extra Cost?
It can be assumed that throughout a transition period in which diplomacourses will have to be offered alongside the bachelor curriculum someextra cost will be incurred which, though, can be reduced byCreditability Regulations so as to make bachelor courses also count forthe diploma curriculum. Moreover, government is obligated to cover anyadditional expenditure incurred through the implementation of the 2002University Act.

The introduction of BMS also positions the Academy in the appropriationnegotiations with the Ministry of Education scheduled for 2006. As faras 2005/06 is concerned, the Rector's office expects an initiativetoward implementation of the Bologna agreements - as the introductionof BMS particularly for the visual arts - to release additionalfinancial means of about 2.5 million Euros from funds retained inaccordance with section 141, paragraph 5, of the University Act of 2002.

Office of the Rector of the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna
4 April 2005