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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
