MAKE SHIFT
Product Design (Prof. Mathias Hahn & Prof. Ineke Hans) and ‚Visuelle Kommunikation‘ (Prof. Barbara Kotte & Prof. Fons Hickmann) set up a multidiciplinary Master talks program.
International designers and guests in the field of design will talk to and discuss with the mixed Masterclasses. As in the previous Summer semester, also this winter term live talks are planned on Mondays or Tuesdays, see more
Target audience: Master’s in Visual Communication & Product Design
External guests are welcome to attend the lectures!
About
MAKE SHIFT is a program within the INTER-initiative (Interdisciplinary Navigation und Transformation as Educational Reform). It is supported by the Foundation for Innovation in Higher Education and designed to foster exchange between disciplines and creative spaces.
Combining a lecture series with a guest colloquium, the format invites international designers and researchers to offer insights into current discourses beyond the curriculum. Students and faculty discuss perspectives, reflect on master’s theses, and collaboratively develop new forms of cooperation and networking in interdisciplinary teaching.
MAKE SHIFT serves both as a working title and a concept aimed at strengthening the exchange between students and faculty in the Master’s programs in Product Design and Visual Communication.
* What’s happening outside Berlin and beyond the UdK?
* What topics are currently the subject of heated debate?
* What trends from international practice and research are currently sparking interest among students and faculty in both programs?
* How can these topics be linked or integrated into artistic and academic approaches within the master’s theses?
Wintersemester 2026/2027
After a very successful pilot phase during SoSe 2026, MAKE SHIFT is taking the next step with a new cohort of master students at its core focus. Designed as a combination of a lecture series and guest colloquia, the format aims at strengthening discourse and supporting individual research within the different master programmes. This term four talk events are offered. The speakers represent a wide range of perspectives and approaches within the field of design and are selected equally by students and faculty members. The guests will offer insights to their practice and a critical view on current themes. Within a linked upfront seminar master students get the chance to discuss specific topics with our guests and receive tutorials on their own master’s thesis. Reflecting these with external voices, students contribute their ideas for future teaching formats through documentation. The lectures are followed by joint discussion sessions. Through MAKE SHIFT insights are opened into topics that are not necessarily covered by the curriculum.
Time & Dates
11.01.2027, 14 h: Laurent Ungerer *
19.01.2027, 14 h: Erwan Bouroullec **
25.01.2027, 14 h: James Shaw **
26.01.2027, 14 h: Golgotha *
* Grunewaldstr. 2-5, 10823 Berlin, Medienhaus UdK, room 210
** Straße des 17. Juni 118, 10623 Berlin, room 401
Credits
In accordance with the regulations for master’s degree programs
