The visual turn in academic research and university study programs in Lithuania

Abstract

Visual turn and replacement of linear sequential communication with visual analogues cause growing variety of scopic regimes and interest in the topic of visuality. This interest is particularly apparent in Lithuanian academic magazines Santalka (Coactivity) and Creativity Studies (former Limes), which are devoted to the topics of philosophy, creative industries and communication within the creative society. The role of images in mass medias, creative industries, advertisement, urban planning, social mapping, various scopic regimes are often analyzed in Lithuanian academic discourse. Traditional university disciplines (art history and theory, culture studies and philosophy) are replaced by new, unconventional study programs, such as Creative Industries, Entertainment Industries, New Media Art, Visual Communication etc. Students are learning how to generate images and to understand how they function in mass media, advertising, public relations, public show organization, creative project coordination and other creative industries.