“The Art & Technology Program at Aalborg University” presented by Stenslie

The presentation give an overview of the Art and Technology Bachelors program offered at Aalborg University (AAU) in Denmark. The study is 8 years young, unique in Scandinavia and still in the making. Overall the study offers a comprehensive and intense hands-on and practice based approach to research in the field of Art and Technology. Much emphasis is given to provide the students with the necessary skills in order to produce functional prototypes, interactive designs, artworks and architectures. Several challenges have been encountered, such as both cultural and technological changes in the wider field relevant to art and technology. Job opportunities are another crucial measure that impacts the formation of studies within art and technology. Educations at Aalborg University is obliged to follow the Danish Ministry of Educations demands to educate students for the job market. Such demands impact how one can and must think in the short terms, but an open question remains whether such demands are also therefore short sighted. Technological as well as cultural and societal parameters make it hard to foresee what is going to happen within the field even a few years from now. How to prepare students for such instability of the future?