The 2026 edition of the Arts and Media Archaeology Summer School will focus on the interplay between media developments and performative culture, spanning from the late 18th century to the present day. Through lectures, artist talks, re-enactments, and interactive hands-on experimentation, the summer school programme aims to foster students’ ability to think through media by questioning their materiality, sensory properties, and their role as a historical source. Across five days, we will explore how hands-on engagement with media devices - from magic lanterns and anatomical models to panoramas and virtual reality environments – can activate new forms of historical understanding. This approach resonates with a broader turn in the humanities toward material and sensory epistemologies - ways of knowing that emerge from doing.

This Summer School is designed for research MA and PhD students, as well as more advanced scholars in the fields of Arts, Performance, Media, and Cultural History, from the University of Antwerp and other universities in Belgium and abroad. Successful completion can be awarded with 6 credits in accordance with the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS).

Deadline: 12 March 2026 for early bird and non-EU citizens, 11 May for regular registration

You can find more information and the registration link on the summer school website.