Universidade Católica Portuguesa – Porto Speciality : Performing Arts
programme: Sound and Image

Sound an Image is one of the 3 programmes from the School of the Arts. It is also, in my experience, the most neglected. This came in the form of less equipment available (priority given to the Cinema course), abysmal workshop conditions (very little space, missing or broken equipment) and not even a designated space where the Year 3 students could storage their Final Project material (I had to constantly fix or rebuild some of my materials).
The curriculum itself is very good. Sound an Image is not a full on technical course, and the theoretical classes do help in developing an artistic sensibility and vision – the professors are also, for the most part, engaged and helpful.
Lastly, we may have the poorest Student Association in Porto – low budget and little freedom.
It’s important to note that the programme has changed a lot along the years, recently going through changes on a yearly basis. Allegedly, upcoming students will have better conditions and equipment, as well as more practical projects.

Closing remarks: in all honesty, I wouldn’t go here without at least a half scholarship. I do not feel the full tuition matches the value of the course. However, Católica is more than a single programme. There’s a lot of talks with speakers from different areas, from artists to cientists and other professional backgrounds. There’s a psychology service with different workshops. There’s a weekly cinema session organized by the Cinema students. There’s all these extracurricular things that do bring their value to the school.

Unfortunately, my experience with this course was quite disappointing. I felt that the content taught was, for the most part, a repetition of what I had already learned in my undergraduate studies, without any real academic or professional value.

The course ended up essentially translating into a financial investment to obtain a degree, without this being reflected in any recognition in the job market. It did not open doors or provide any concrete opportunities in the field, which leads me to seriously question the practical value of the training.

I had the feeling that the monthly fees literally only paid for the paperwork on the title. I would not recommend this course to anyone looking for real professional development or differentiation in the market.