The Program

CORE COURSES

Studies in the Department of Cultural Technology and Communication last for eight (8) semesters. During the first four (4) semesters, the Core Courses cover the scientific field of Cultural Studies, with a special emphasis on Culture, Multiculturalism, Communication and Cultural Promotion and Management. The courses on basic principles of Informatics and Multimedia also begin in the 1st semester, combined with computer laboratory applications, and also last for four (4) semesters.

FIRST YEAR - FIRST SEMESTER

• Theory of Culture I 
  (ECTS Credits 4)
  This course introduces the key conceptual and theoretical framework for understanding the multiple, dynamic and transformative features of civilization process and cultural practices. The first part of the course discusses the "culture and civilization" tradition as well as the key theorizations of social sciences. The second part of the course provides an inter-disciplinary approach for discussing "mass culture" and "popular culture" both as a technology-based socio-cultural formation of modern society and as a transcription of notions of human life developed in premodern myths, rituals and literacy.
  
• Multiculturalism & Identities 
  (ECTS  credits 4)
  The course introduces the study of multiculturalism and intercultural communication as they are linked with a variety of dynamic systems in the social and cultural terrain where human identities are formed. Four dimensions of identity are analysed: nationality-race, gender, language and religion.
  
• Cultural Management 
  (ECTS credits 4)
  The course examines and analyses "Management", "Administration" and "Cultural Management" by taking into account the management of cultural knowledge and heritage in the 20th and the 21st century. It examines the different strategies and models of content management and focuses on content and Knowledge management (e.g. model D.A.P.A.P.) in the internet. It also analyses new ways of developing digital content in different Cultural sectors with regard to Communication, Policy and New Technologies.
  
• Introduction to Media Studies 
  (ECTS credits 4)
  The purpose of this course is to familiarize students with the structure of the mass communication industry and its evolution since the Gutenberg era. Mass communications industries change very rapidly worldwide. The class will address historical developments that brought the industry where it is today. By the end of the semester, you should be able to identify important characteristics of different media sectors, recognize different forms of communications and develop an understanding of ethics and effects pertaining to the mass media.
  
• Interactive Multimedia 
  (ECTS credits 4)
  The course is an introduction in multimedia and the technologies related to the development and use of the correspondent systems. In the first part of the course are introduced the primitives and terminology of multimedia technology as well as the techniques and the standards that concern coding, saving and rendering of different media: hypertext, graphics, sound and video. In the second part is described the hardware and the software necessary to develop, process and reproduce different media. Over and above, is provided reference in integrated multimedia authoring tools and the capabilities that they offer to the user. Finally the third part of the course refers in designing and development of multimedia applications.
  
• Introduction to Informatics 
  (ECTS credits 4)
  This course studies the basic design issues and concepts as well as the basic applications of computers. More specifically, it analyses the basic components of a computer framework like: hardware, software, operating systems, data processing, and networks. In order to achieve an efficient and comprehensive introduction to these concepts, the student training process is fulfilled in laboratory exercises, where the students participate in the development of specific projects.
  
• English I-Terminology: Aspects of Culture-New Technologies 
  (ECTS credits 3)
  This course is primarily directed towards advanced English language speakers, but beginners may attend it as well (although they'll have to attend a supplementary two-hour language class). The course's primary goal is to familiarise students with English cultural studies' terminology, in combination with relevant Multimedia terminology and contemporary art theory. At the same time, an attempt is made to approach authentic cultural expressions - literary texts, cinema and contemporary music (with lyrics in English) - with the aim to give rise to questions and arguments regarding matters of contemporary culture.
  
• French I 
  (ECTS credits 3)

TOTAL CREDITS: 30

FIRST YEAR - SECOND SEMESTER

• Theory of Culture II 
  (ECTS credits 4)
  The purpose of this course is to develop the student's understanding of the dynamic interconnectedness of personal-collective experience, technology and cultural theory. In this context, conceptualizations of "agency", "network", "heterogeneity", "flow", "mediation", "re-presentation" and "articulation" are analyzed with regard to: a) the multiple relations between the "human" and technology, b) the reproduction and transmutation of social ordering through its literal embodiment and c) the various ways of interaction that realizes, mobilizes and restructures social and cultural power.
  
• Cultural Areas & Globalization 
  (ECTS credits 5)
  The course analyses the globalization phenomenon. Specifically it deals with issues related to economic globalization in the context of a capitalist world, the establishment of a telecommunication and transportation based global infrastructure, and the development of global network of mega-cities (with population of more than 10-12 million inhabitants). In this global context, people, societies and local civilizations operate in the same chrono / historical context. Cultural objects circulate freely and messages are transmitted globally while forming common principles and fashions. Furthermore, cultural zones are formed corresponding to historical / cultural identities of grand scale and geopolitical spheres of influence.
  
• Cultural Policy: Organizations & Regulations
  (ECTS Credits 4)
  The course examines and analyses the relation of policy and culture, the Public Interest, the theories of Regulation and the role of regulating bodies in the 20th and the 21st century. It also outlines the cultural and legislative frameworks about the cultural industries and the cultural policy in Greece and European Community. It also examines the role of "Networked Government", the "Digital Culture" and "Digital Content". It moreover analyses the different cultural strategies by examining the cultural changes and cultural communication in the 21st century.
  
• Cultural Products and New Forms of Communication 
  (ECTS Credits 5)
  During the past fifteen years, the field of mass communications has evolved quite rapidly. The goal of this course is to introduce students to several communications technology systems, the needs they serve and their intended or unintended effects on members of the global society. By the end of the semester, students should be able to a) understand how various communication technologies were designed and how they operate, b) Explain how cultural and social factors affect technology creation, adoption and use, c) analyze how technologies might influence social institutions such as politics, the operations of government, the medical field and education, as well as how work and the work environment interact with them, d) critically evaluate the economic and political implications of communication technologies, e) understand how theories of diffusion, networking and convergence, and globalization explain certain aspects of communication technologies, f) explain the genesis and progress of certain policy problems including privacy, control, and security.
  
• Programming I 
  (ECTS Credits 4)
  This course consists of two levels. The first level is concerned with an introductory study of the algorithms and their applications, while in the second level the students are trained to use the Pascal language. The course includes laboratory exercises where the students are getting familiar with the DELPHI programming environment.
  
• Graphics - Animation 
  (ECTS Credits 4)
  This lesson introduces the principles of computer graphics, digital images and more specifically the processing of raster images. The lectures also highlight the principles of computer animation and the aspects related to 2D and 3D graphics as well. The lesson includes practice on the latest software related to image processing and computer animation.
  
• English II-Terminology: Aspects of Culture - New Technologies 
  (ECTS Credits 3)
  In this course, terminology-oriented texts are taught in combination with excerpts from contemporary fiction and theatre, song lyrics relevant to the subject being approached at each class, and films shown on video. All the above are used in ways that foreground the seminal concepts of multiculturalism and postmodernism, as well as the relationship between man and technology.
  
• French II 
  (ECTS Credits 1)

TOTAL CREDITS: 30

SECOND YEAR - THIRD SEMESTER

• Introduction to Art History 
  (ECTS Credits 3)
  The aim of this course is the general approach of fundamental concepts about art in the course of time. An overview of the forms and the means from Paleolithic Period to the present day is thus performed. The lesson is a basic introduction to any Art History courses taught in the next semesters.
  
• Cultural Heritage 
  (ECTS Credits 3)
  The concept of cultural heritage was formed in the 70s and since then it is continuously broadening, covering modern fields, themes and practices. Developing policies for cultural heritage arise from combined actions of the nation-state, the local communities and the audience. Protecting and preserving the testimony of the past entails a series of choice criteria defined by the acceptance of the dominant cultural identity. Within the course, certain notions are being explored such as tangible and intangible heritage, cultural goods and cultural property, monuments, world heritage, protection, preservation, conservation, management. Thematic categories integrated into cultural heritage are being presented (museum collections, archaeological sites and outdoor monuments, cultural landscapes and historic places, industrial heritage, historic cities, vernacular-indigenous heritage, oral tradition). Finally, there is a discussion on modern issues and problems concerning heritage documentation, protection, management and representation.
  
• Advertising and Marketing 
  (ECTS Credits 4)
  The course examines the concepts of "Advertising" and "Marketing" and analyses the Advertising Industry and the different strategies of marketing in the 20th and the 21st century. It also examines the role of advertising and marketing as means of communication in understanding the developments of Cultural Industries in the 21st century.
  
• Mass Communication Theory 
  (ECTS Credits 4)
  This class deals with media influences and effects on mass audiences. In our era, the pervasive nature of the media has become a cause for controversy and heated public discussion. It is the objective of this class to tackle some of those issues, while approaching the mass communication phenomenon from a critical perspective and assess its influences and effects on modern societies. There are major repercussions of those media issues for media consumers, communicators, educators, legislators and parents. The course is designed to help students: a) understand the major approaches to communication theory, b) appreciate the political context of social science, c) understand the scientific method as applied to communication, d) discuss critically major controversial issues related to media effects and e) assess the extent of media influences in society.
  
• Qualitative Research Methods 
  (ECTS Credits 3)
  This course is based on the principle that what is observable within human societies is not necessarily measurable. Within the social sciences we examine often how specific cultural notions are created and how they move through different social environments. Such phenomena are not necessarily approached and analyzed through quantitative methods. This course will present observation and analysis techniques and methods in relation to contemporary social phenomena.
  
• Web-based Multimedia Applications I 
  (ECTS Credits 4)
  The purpose of this course am to introduce students to the design of web-based multimedia applications. Specifically students in this course acquire programming skills in HTML and JavaScript and become acquainted with design techniques for using these skills in the design of web-based multimedia. The course also provides the students with a general overview of web-based multimedia with an emphasis on educational and cultural applications.
  
• Bitmap Graphics 
  (ECTS Credits 4)
  This lesson is about digital image processing. However, it emphasizes on bitmap image analysis, in order to improve the quality of the image and to extract all the useful information. The latest techniques of image acquisition, segmentation, binarization and compression are also discussed analytically in the lectures. In the laboratory the students are learning useful techniques in image processing software for practical and productive applications.
  
• Culture and Theories of Art from the Renaissance to Contemporary Times 
  (ECTS Credits 4)
  The course is taught in parallel to "Introduction to Art History" focusing on the general theories of culture and a range of theories on art, especially those formed from the Renaissance period to the 20th century. The aim of the course is the inclusion of the phenomenon of "Art" to the entirety of the cultural phenomena and the cultural expression of each period, as well as the comprehension of the broader socio-political conditions that formed the ideological context and influenced art as a form of cultural expression.
  
• French III 
  (ECTS Credits 1)

TOTAL CREDITS: 30

SECOND YEAR - FOURTH SEMESTER

• Material Culture and Cultural Industries 
  (ECTS Credits 3)
  This course analyses the nodal significance of cultural production and cultural industries in the ongoing socio-economic changes of the information society. It develops an inter-disciplinary approach for assessing the agents, the structures and products of particular industries in relation to: a) the reorganization of cultural practices, of identity construction and of the cultural labour market, b) the development of digital technology and the new media, and c) the re-emergence of the "local" and the "place" as quasi global communicative networks. The practices, the spaces and the agents of cultural production would also be examined with regard to cultural policies at local, regional, national and international level.
  
• Methods and Practices for Preserving Cultural Heritage 
  (ECTS Credits 4)
  This course presents the factors threatening tangible cultural heritage today and discusses modern methods and practices implemented in order to preserve it. In the first part, there is a description of the current conditions for the preservation of tangible heritage in Greece followed by an analysis of the most important contemporary threats -in a global scale- (e.g. pollution or biological threats). The second part examines methods and practices for the preservation of open-air monuments (e.g. pollution of marble monuments). Finally, in the third part, methods and practices for the preservation of museum collections (e.g. textiles, paper collections, metals, stone, wood, clay, leather, glass) are being presented.
  
• Cyberspace & E-commerce 
  (ECTS Credits 3)
  The course examines the basic concepts of cyberspace, internet and Electronic Commerce in the 21st century. It analyses the electronic communication, the communication and informative systems, the Info-Communication Industry and the Digital Communication and Knowledge Society (info-com Society). It also examines the electronic commerce strategies (e.g. the Strategy of Digital Transformation), the new economy and the globalization of electronic business. It analyses the role of "Networked Government" (e.g. Electronic Government, Electronic Governance and Electronic Democracy), the public interest and examines the electronic signatures, the cyber-security and the role of private and public sector in the information and the knowledge society.
  
• Quantitative Research Methods 
  (ECTS Credits 4)
  In this class, students are exposed to the basic methods and techniques utilized by social scientists to deal with social problems and issues. Although large epistemological issues are explored, most the course is allocated for the examination of surveys, experimental designs and quantitative content analysis. By the end of the semester, students should be able to read, comprehend and evaluate research that appears on popular or scientific media.
  
• Multimedia Applications II 
  (ECTS Credits 3)
  The module focuses on the development of visual content for the Web and studies the requirements for visual content presentation. It deals with data compression issues, colour strategies, development and presentation platforms, basic navigation structures and web pages development. It also studies special subjects like user centered design and usability analysis. There is an introduction to networks and communication protocols with main focus on network protocols, as well as service management of networked multimedia applications.
  
• Design of User Interfaces 
  (ECTS Credits 3)
  This module addresses the area of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). A basic aspect of this interaction is the user interface, that is the devices / components of a system that the user comes into contact with (e.g., computer input and output devices, application menus and forms, multimedia, virtual reality, etc.). A good user interface is the basic precondition for the successful integration of an application into the production line and its acceptance by its users. The objective of this module is to introduce students to the theories, principles, paradigms and guidelines aiming to assist the successful design of interactive applications that are fit for the purposes of their diverse users. The students will also be equipped with practical knowledge on evaluating how well user interfaces fit their users.
  
• Introduction to the Digital Video and Audio Processing 
  (ECTS Credits 4)
  The subject of the course is the analysis of analogue and digital video techniques. In the first place, the fundamental concepts of analogue video such as video systems (NTSC, PAL, SECAM), image scanning, image resolution, analogue signal bandwidth, frame rate, video signal transmission and video performance are studied. Moreover, the composite and component systems and the high definition television (HDTV) are analytically described. In the second place, the basic concepts of digital video such as sampling, quantization, interlacing, sampling of chrominance and luminance values, image formats (CCIR-601, SIF, CIF) and video quality evaluation are analysed. Also, digital audio techniques are described, while the MPEG video coding is studied in detail. Finally, laboratory lectures and exercises help the students to be familiar with commercial digital video and audio software.
  
• Contemporary and alternative forms of visual arts. From Photography to the 9th Art 
  (ECTS Credits 4)
  The course examines 20th century art, initially under the prism of the relation between Modernism and Photography, as it is generally accepted that the advent of photography changed visual expression. All other contemporary art forms that followed, based on photography and its evolution to moving image (cinema, television, video, digital video), are also examined (installation, video art, et. c.). Finally, "9th Art" (Comics), a fundamental for the cultural expression of the last decades of the 20th century art form, is examined, as well as its cooperation with art forms that derive from cinema and photography (animation) and also their influence to the formation of the so-called "youth culture".
  
• French IV 
  (ECTS Credits 1)

TOTAL CREDITS: 30