Archive notice: This article was originally published on April 16, 2010. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
On April 7, the recently founded University of Popular Arts, or hdpk for short, officially began teaching operations in Berlin, according to its own information. Eighteen students in the “Sound and Music Production” degree programme and a further eight in the “Media Management” programme took their first expectant steps into university life. From the coming winter semester, the “Media Design” programme will complete hdpk’s offering focused on art and management.
One day before lectures began, hdpk invited guests to its opening event: following a welcome from Ulrich Wünsch, Rector of hdpk, the programme included a tour of the building, which is excellently equipped with sound, recording, design and photography studios, a shared lunch, and introductions by programme heads Robert Lingnau (Sound and Music Production) and Dr Matthias Welker (Media Management).
The new institution certainly feels committed to Berlin’s educational tradition, even though its degree programmes look consistently towards the future. “Educate yourself by taking an interest!” was Humboldt’s advice to his students, quoted by Rector Ulrich Wünsch. For all the commitment to practice, theory and research should not be neglected, nor should the foundation of a general aesthetic education. hdpk is located in the very heart of Berlin, in the immediate vicinity of art and culture as well as other educational institutions. Exchange with these institutions and the establishment of an exciting campus life for students and non-students are on the agenda. “We can shape what comes next. I warmly invite all of you to do so; I would like to do it together with you,” Wünsch urged the students in conclusion.
Further information is available on the university’s homepage at http://www.hdpk.de or in person at the monthly information days on campus. The next information days take place on April 17 and May 8, each from 2 p.m.
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