Information for Incoming International Students

Class Schedule and the Weimar Model

At the Faculty of Art and Design, students study according to the Weimar Model, meaning that this is a project-based course of study. According to this model, projects represent the central unit of instruction. Students work intensively on one topic or one problem solution for the duration of the semester. A project auction (Projektbörse) takes place at the beginning of every semester just before classes begin. The results of this auction determine what classes the students will attend. This auction system thus makes it impossible to provide a list of concrete courses to the home university prior to this auction. Courses in the following disciplines are offered every semester:

Fine Art:

  • Experimental Painting and Drawing
  • Photography as a Medium of the Fine Arts
  • Object/Sculpture/Installation
  • Video, Media Art, New Media Installations
  • Performance
  • Art and Social Terrain
  • Concept Art
  • Contextual Works in Public Space
  • New Artistic Strategies

The degree programme is taught by Prof. Liz Bachhuber, Prof. Björn Dahlem (Sculpture, Object, Installation), Prof. Jana Gunstheimer (Experimental Painting and Drawing) and Prof. Christine Hill (Art and Social Terrain).

Media Art and Design:

Product Design:

Visual Communication:

The Project Auction (Projektbörse)

At the beginning of every semester a »Project Auction« (Projektbörse) takes place at the Faculty of Art and Design. This auction determines which projects and specialized courses the students will be able to attend. The Project Auction (Projektbörse) encompasses three sequential events: project presentations, professor consultations and the ultimate project and practical course selection process.

Project Presentations

During the project presentations, professors introduce their current courses in a series of short lectures and presentations. These presentations give the students an overview of the courses to be offered in the upcoming semester.

Professor Consultations

On the day after the project presentations, students have the opportunity to speak to the individual teachers in the form of a consultation. This gives the students a chance to gather more detailed information about the teacher’s projects and to present their own portfolio. The professors will be present and available for individual consultations in their respective rooms.

Course Selection Process for Projects, academic modules and and Practical courses (Fachkurse)

Following the project presentations and professor consultations the project, practical course (Fachkurs) and  academic course selection process begins. In order to select their desired project and courses, students will need to fill out one yellow paper, one blue and one green paper. The yellow paper has a list of all of the available projects, the blue has a list of all of the practical and the green of al the academic courses offered.
Each student has the opportunity to define their first, second and third choice by marking their choices with an »X« in the designated column.
The papers are then counted behind closed doors and the students are assigned to the respective courses.

Important: Marking only one project (i.e. your absolute favorite project) will NOT increase your chances of being able to work on this project!

Posting of the Lists

The day after the project and course selection takes place, the lists with the names of the students and the courses that they were admitted to will be displayed at the dean’s office of the Faculty of Art and Design (Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 7).

Project modules, practical modules and academic modules

Each student can attend a total of three courses:

  • 1 Project module
  • 1 Practical module (Fachkurs)
  • 1 Academic module

Due to the limited faculty capacities and the required teacher to student ratios, it is NOT possible to attend multiple projects or practical courses during one semester. Strict adherence to this rule is expected!

Credits/European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS)

After the successful completion of a semester at the Faculty of Art and Design, students generally receive a total of 30 credit points/ECTS. This number of credits is obtained by attending the following combination of courses:

1 Project module → 18 ECTS
1 Practical module (Fachkurs/Werkmodul) → 6 ECTS
1 Academic module → 6 ECTS

 → 30 ECTS

Language

All courses, unless otherwise specified, are taught in German. Academic staff may decide individually to what extent the lesson is conducted in English if and when international students participate in the project.

Workshops

For safety reasons and insurance purposes, you must first attend an introductory course before you may use any of the workshops at the Faculty of Art and Design. You can find out more information about these courses during a tour of the workshops designed especially for exchange students. The International Office will automatically provide you with timely information about this tour.

Learning Agreement and Transcript of records

The Learning Agreement should be obtained from your home university. It includes a list of courses, which the Erasmus student should attend at the host university. It represents an agreement between the student, the home university and the host university. As an exchange student, you will be advised by YOUR academic advisor from your home university about the courses offered at the Faculty of Art and Design.

As stated above, the courses offered at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar for the upcoming semester will not be published until just a few weeks before the semester begins. Furthermore, due to the unique system used for project assignment (i.e. the project auction) it is not possible to define the exact courses which a student will attend and therefore the Learning Agreement can only be filled out on the basis of the general disciplines offered in Weimar. The signature required from the Faculty of Art and Design for the learning agreement will be performed by Dr. Christa Billing.

The Transcript of Records documents a student’s performance by providing a list of the courses taken, the obtained ECTS credit points as well as the grades received at the host university and the equivalent ECTS grades. Transcripts are issued to all students by the respective faculty where they completed their study abroad.
At the Faculty of Art and Design Christina Dobritz is the person responsible for issuing the transcripts. Please contact Ms. Dobritz in a timely manner PRIOR to your departure in order to provide her with an overview of the courses you attended, as well as the address where the transcript of records should be sent, i.e. to your home university or to your private address.

Important: Transcripts can be issued only after the teachers have given notification of the results/grades for their respective courses.