Virtual and creative: Looking back at HMKW's first online semester

Whether online matriculation ceremonies, lectures via zoom or the virtual semester shows of the Department of Design: The past semester at the HMKW has not only confronted the students but also the university with unusual but also exciting challenges. Here we have a look back on this semester, which was extraordinary in every respect.

Finding creative solutions and making the impossible possible: These were only two of the core competencies that were required in the summer semester of 2020. The Design Department at the Frankfurt site, for example, under the direction of Martin Lorenz, fully exploited the possibilities of digital teaching by putting together a creative relay race in which a variety of poster series were created. In Cologne, despite Corona, important events such as the lecture series could be published on the Internet and the latest editions of the PlanTV program went live.

"It was a very exciting adventure. The longer you think about it, the more you realize the full creative potential, which also lies behind it,"

says Prof. Dr. Lorenz Pöllmann, who spontaneously moved offline events like the MEM event week at the HMKW Berlin into virtual space and thus discovered new creative possibilities in media production and event planning.

Most of the students also gave a positive report to HMKW about the agility in times of Corona.

"Here I take off all my hats to the HMKW. Nobody knew [...] what was going on, but the university was always transparent, honest, understanding and friendly. [...] In retrospect, there were only a few days when I didn't like coming to the university or turning on my Mac to be taught virtually,"

says a student from the Department of Journalism and Communication at Studycheck.

Here are some highlights of the summer semester 2020 at a glance: