The curriculum for the major is structured to help students acquire knowledge and skills to design with both physical and digital media as well as a rich understanding of the role and functioning of design in society. The courses for the major are structured to simultaneously provide students with a scientific and theoretical foundation to reflect and analytically analyse their own work practices and those of others as well as the practical skills needed to address 21st century design challenges. Understanding – and being able to operate within – the broader societal and industrial context for design forms a foundational aspect of the curriculum in preparing students for a changing future and in developing their ability to work with others and impact the enviroment around them. The curriculum is accordingly designed to enable students to purposefully and expressively pursue their own interests as well as shape the content of projects and courses together with faculty. During the three years of study, students develop skills and knowledge to design in face of complexity and uncertainty as well as hands-on expertise to prototype ideas and materialize solutions in courses and studios. They learn to use contemporary tools, methods and processes for design as well as develop practices for acquiring new skills in the future. They also learn about design as a social, cultural and historical phenomenon as well as a subject for research. Building on the research in design and media at the
School of Arts, Design and Architecture, special emphasis is placed on the ability to work in teams and co-create with others to develop solutions that are more humancentred, societally relevant and environmentally conscious. Students are also encouraged to take part in academic research and trained to make more informed and responsible decisions as a designer by harnessing business acumen, new technologies and sustainable solutions.

Upon graduating from the major, students will be able to:

1. identify and generate interactive and speculative responses to future phenomena in society from a reflective design practitioner perspective.
2. recognize and apply emerging tools and practices for design, as well as participate in the construction of new ones.
3. create commercial, public and self-initiated proposals in relation to personal and societal values and evaluate and discuss the broader impact of their work.
4. plan, execute and organize their own professional practice within transdisciplinary conditions with a variety of stakeholders.
5. document their own work processes and results in both visual and textual form and contextualize it in relation to existing information sources and research.

General studies in the Aalto ARTS Bachelor's Programmes include art and theory studies, Aalto studies and language and communication studies. During the general studies courses students study knowledge and skills that are common to all departments and students of Aalto ARTS.

General studies in Bachelor of Arts degree 26 credits

Cross-school course 3 cr

Cross-school course means a course that is organised by some other school than ARTS in Aalto university. The student chooses a course (min. 3 cr) which is organized by another school at the university. 

Cross-school course can be

• course that is organised by another school or department than ARTS or department in ARTS.
• course that is organised by another school or department in Aalto in COLLABORATION with ARTS or department in ARTS.

Courses arranged by Language center are NOT accepted as a cross-school course

You can use the following as help to search for a suitable cross-school course:

• Suitable courses as cross-school course in 2022-2024
• You can browse suitable courses from Aalto univeristy's course selection

Education and studies in languages and communication for all Aalto students are provided by the Language Centre which is a university-level service unit. In the School of Arts, Design and Architecture language studies are studied in accordance with the language skills requirements of the field of arts. 

The language studies required for the degree are based on the Government regulation on university degrees (794/2004, sen 6 §, Kielitaito).

The requirements for language studies depend on the student's language of education*.

You can find language courses from the Language Centre's page. 

Students educated in Finnish or Swedish

^{*’Language of education’ refers to the language of the student’s education in comprehensive (grades 1–9) and upper secondary (grades 10–12) school in Finland, and is thus either Finnish or Swedish. The student’s language of education can also be defined by Finnish or Swedish as the second language in the Finnish matriculation examination if the student passes the examination with magna cum laude honours or higher.}

Students educated in other languages than Finnish or Swedish

For students who have been educated in a language other than Finnish or Swedish or who have been educated abroad the requirements are:

Students demonstrate proficiency in their language of education by writing a maturity essay in that language and taking any other related requisites specified in the degree requirements.  

Note:

• A student who completes the matriculation examination in Finnish or Swedish but whose comprehensive and upper secondary education was in some other language is not considered to have Finnish or Swedish as the language of education.
• Upper-secondary school Finnish or Swedish studies at an IB or EB school are not equivalent to studies in Finnish or Swedish as the language of education.
• Finnish studied as a mother tongue as part of the basic teaching of the German school in Finland does not qualify as equivalent to Finnish as the language of education.
• The language of education is not determined on the basis of a vocational degree.

A minor subject (minimum 18 credits) is a compulsory part of a bachelor's degree. The combined extent of the minor (18 cr) and the elective studies (max 25 cr) is max 43 cr. The students can also include two minors in their bachelor's degree.The minor is confirmed in the students personal study plan (PSP).

It is possible to choose a minor within Aalto University, from another Finnish university through the Flexible Study Right (JOO) agreement or from university abroad during a student exchange.

Here you can find listed all the minors 2024-2026 at Aalto University: Minors 2024-2026.