Please email us ASAP with your intent to apply.

The Graduate School of Social Sciences (GSSS, previously International School for Humanities and Social Sciences) is pleased to present the second summer course: Popular culture and the city. This two-week programme will serve as an intensive course for undergraduate students who have an interest in media, cultural and urban studies.

Amsterdam is a vibrant city with a rich cultural-historical heritage, a substantial creative industry and a diverse cultural life. Its inhabitants are a colourful mix of different subcultures and lifestyles. In short, Amsterdam is the perfect testing ground to study and to explore popular culture in the city.

We will examine theories and concepts on media, entertainment and popular culture in an urban setting and explain the different research methods used in media, cultural and urban studies. We will discuss how city life is represented in popular culture and how popular culture moulds and forms urban life. We will describe the different subcultures among urban youth and take a closer look at the creative industry and the music scene. In addition, we will give the students the opportunity to explore the popular culture and the city themselves by giving them several assignments on Amsterdam and even their hometown. Also, these themes will be illuminated through meetings, discussions and excursions. Cem Göm"say and Pauline van Romondt Vis will be leading the programme for the second year.

This course asks an active approach of the students to experience and study urban popular culture in totality. We hope to teach the students our excitement and enthusiasm about urban popular culture.

Students should come prepared with a research question that they will focus on during the programme. Admitted students will be asked to send in a short (no longer than one page) description of their interests and ideas at least two weeks before the start of the programme.