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Part V. Digital Media and Storytelling in University Courses | 163
socio-economic backgrounds. Narrative elements can also be collected from
personal letters, diaries and the aggregation of public opinion polling.
CHAPTER 2.
HUMANITIES AND ART STUDIES
2.1 Creating Narratives in Humanistic and Art Studies
In the humanities, storytelling is found in philology, philosophy, and art
theory courses which focus on the analysis of narratives in the visual or
moving arts, music, literature, and film from different periods. In addition
to interpretative courses, however, a number of universities offer courses
in creative writing and academic writing, which provide students with an
insight into the formal and stylistic characteristics of fiction and academic
publications. The themes of such courses include the creation of texts within
a given formal framework.
However, universities of arts offer students a wide range of courses from
which they can learn about the aesthetic conventions of representation
in their discipline and how these are suitable for self-expression. In these
courses, students can learn about the effects of the formal characteristics of
self-expression and the tools by which they can communicate their emotions
and ideas in a way that is understandable to their audience. Art theory
courses complement these creative courses with a historical approach and
an interpretative reflection on artifacts.
Courses in which students themselves acquire skills or knowledge through
creative work are particularly common in arts higher education. In the
visual arts, such as sculpture, photography, printmaking, and architecture,
students learn technical methods of representation and the use of tools
for self-expression through creative activities which are studio-based and
master-facilitated. A large proportion of music courses aim to develop a
high level of technical reproduction of composed music in their students,
and performing arts courses are also aimed at students’ skill development
in plays and choreography by well-known artists. There are also experiential
course themes which support individual and group creation in the form of
master-led workshops similar to visual arts training. Such courses typically
include composition exercises, counterpoint courses based on score exercises
and choreography creation exercises. In addition, improvisation exercises
are included in the course offerings of performing arts universities, both in
theater, music and dance.
Narrative structures can also be created in screenwriting courses. In
creative exercises, students use screenwriting tools to develop their film ideas
into a finished screenplay. Knowledge of film narrative is useful in writing
fiction screenplays and also for documentary studies. In the documentaries