The School of Art Studies
In terms of its range of subjects, the School of Art Studies of the University of Turku is the most diverse of all the university schools of art in Finland. Its departments include Art History, Comparative Literature, Finnish Literature, Media Studies, Musicology, and Women's Studies. The literature subjects have had a professorship since the university was founded in 1922. Musicology and Art History were added to the selection in the 1970s and 1980s, Women's Studies in the 1990s, and Media Studies was created in the year 2000 by merging Cinema and Television Studies with Communication Studies, which was originally formed from the combination of Speech Communication and Communication Theory and Mass Media Studies.
The profile of Media Studies, based on three different disciplines, is different from that of other similar academic institutions in Finland. Women's Studies also has a special characteristic: the University of Turku is the only Finnish university to offer the subject in close connection with art and media studies, which means that the focus of Women's Studies is in the humanities, even though it is by nature multidisciplinary, and thus serves the entire university. The latest undertaking in the School of Art Studies is the Creative Writing programme, which offers basic and intermediate level courses. Thus, the School offers both more traditional and modern subjects in Art Studies, such as creative writing and is thus well equipped to serve the constantly changing needs of contemporary society.
The School of Art Studies has been awarded the status of "Centre of Excellence in University Education" for the years 2007 to 2009.