Greetings from Canada!

I have spent my autumn semester as an exchange student in Toronto, Ontario College of Art & Design on The Faculty of Art. Studying in another country has been an eye-opening experience that has helped me to concentrate to develop the content of my artistic work as much as improve technical part of artistic process.

Best part in my exchange has been interaction with the people from different cultures. An exchange has enriched my ways to express myself on the field of photography and refresh my perception through interesting conversations with other students and faculty members.

I have been also lucky enough to get some custom-works to do. That has really improved my financial situation.

Besides working in here I have continued my studies in Finland with art project Route Couture, which was part of AVO – Cotton Wool Revolution in Tampere 24.10- 22.11.09. Route Couture presented a fur-fashion collection made of the fur and skin of the Finnish roadkill. By showing the skin of a roadkill as an expensive piece of high fashion, Route Couture questioned general opinions on beauty, luxury, marketing values and truths, and justification of the use of “common” space.

Karoliina Paappa

Read more about the exhibition:

Route Couture (in English)
Article on Fifi (in Finnish)

Picture: Series: Tyttö on kova suustaan, untitled, 2009.

Pre-task for Media Programme Application Now Online

Next application time for our BA programmes run in English is January 11 - February 12.

For the Media Programme it is not enough that applicants fill in the online form and send the certificates, they also have to complete and send by the deadline a pre-task with three assignments.

60 applicants with best points for the pre-task are invited to the entrance exam in April.

The focus of the programme is in interactive media content design and production. The students learn about current digital media issues and they specialise in visual design, interaction design or project management.

The areas of application include web design and services, games, mobile media, multimedia, cross media and interactive installations.

The Degree Programme in Media started this autumn at TAMK School of Art and Media. The working language of the programme is only English. The first edition of students are coming from China, Iran, Peru, South Africa, Greece, Serbia, UK and most of them from Finland. The programme is also known as IMP.

Download the pre-task
Media Programme home
Media Programme blog
TAMK Admissions website

Picture: A tag cloud based on interests and dream jobs of the present Media Programme students. (Design by Wordle.net)

Knowledge Sharing across Cultures – a personal view of Debby Swallow’s presentation

Why is it that serious attempts at sharing knowledge across cultures frequently end in frustration, disappointment and a sense of aggrievement on all sides?

According to Dr Deborah Swallow, who gave a presentation at TAMK on November 16th, the problem is that people from different cultures have fundamentally different beliefs about the proper roles of bosses and subordinates, teachers and students, and even about the nature of knowledge itself.

Dr Swallow is a leading expert on intercultural communication and cultural diversity in the modern workplace. Drawing on research in the fields of intercultural communication and knowledge management, Debby Swallow presented two alternative sets of knowledge-related concepts. Both sets, she emphasised, are valid within certain cultural settings, but neither of them can be easily transferred to another culture. To prove the point, Dr Swallow enlivened her presentation with numerous stories of knowledge-sharing failures in families, in businesses, and in marketing communications.

But there were success stories, too. Debby Swallow reminded us that in the 1980’s, for most people a telephone was as mobile as the length of its wires allowed. But in 1987, Nokia enjoyed a marketing coup when Mikhail Gorbachev, leader of the (then) Soviet Union, was photographed in Helsinki using a Nokia mobile phone to make a call to Moscow. The picture appeared in newspapers around the world, and thus a new concept - “mobile phone” – was created in the minds of millions.

But what can we, in the serious business of intercultural education, learn from master marketers?

Well, as teachers, we need to realise that ideas like “critical thinking is good”, “plagiarism is bad” (and many others) are elements of our own particular brand of education. For students who join us from very different educational traditions, such brand-related concepts may need to be created from scratch.

Secondly, even when foreign students are aware of our brand, they will naturally prefer their own. So if we believe our brand has merit, we need to promote its consumer benefits vigorously.

Finally, if we ever venture into foreign markets (as exchange teachers, for example), we should not expect our brand to be universally admired and appreciated. The most successful brands, from Nokia to Coca Cola, are customised for each local market.

Ann Seppänen

Pictured: Deborah Swallow
Photo: Kaisa Kukkonen

Greetings from Wales!

Greetings from rainy but beautiful Wales! I’m in the University of Glamorgan, in the Pontypridd campus!

I’ve been here for over 3 weeks now (time certainly flies!), doing research about e-learning and group work, both in e-learning environments as well as in more “traditional” learning contexts. I’ve interviewed several local teachers who use group work in their teaching, both on-line and in classroom situations. I’ve also given a questionnaire for a group of students, and the aim is to have the same questionnaire completed by a group of TAMK students next year as well, so we can see if there are any cultural differences in the way students do group work. In addition, I’ve shared my own experiences in e-learning with the local staff, and have learned a lot from their experiences.

So, I’ve spent my time here writing research and just getting to know the life in Wales and living in the campus. Although it has rained quite a bit, there have been several beautiful days here as well! The month has gone by really quickly, so it’s really hard to imagine I’ll be coming back home in about a week or so! I really need to come here again, in order to continue my research and to meet the wonderful people again!

Welcome to the 1st meeting for TAMK's own ecological school garden -project

The day is set, the time is set, now it is time for you to set your minds for a

FIRST MEETING FOR OUR OWN ECOLOGICAL SCHOOL GARDEN,

Wednesday, 25th of November, at 17.00 in TAMK at B6-33


Absolutely everyone is welcome, you can also bring friends with you if you want, this is going to be fun!

What we are going to do is to plan a school garden where we students, especially the ENVEs but I don't see a reason why others cannot join, will have the chance to grow our very own, ecologically correct food, where we can spend some time outside, where we can try out everything we want (first ideas are rainwater harvesting system, own ecological fertilizer, permaculture, garden on the roof...), where we can relax and follow our roots and dig in the mud.

The end of the ready packed carrots and salads has come! No imported food anymore, no unknown chemicals in our meals!

This first meeting will be for gathering ideas, sharing knowledge, and setting up a first timeplan and a strategy. I am more than willing to put lots of energy into this project, but I cannot do this by myself, so I need every single one of you!

The planning period will be during the winter so that we can start in springtime to get into action.

So put your rubberboots on and get ready for next Wednesday!

I cannot wait to hear what ideas you all have!

post by Magdalena, student at TAMK, IENVE08

pictures: Aino-Maija Kyykoski
picture above from organic apple farm Hostetin, Czech
picture below from permaculture and organic farm, Taranaki Environment centre, New Zealand