Executive Master in Cultural Leadership

Curriculum

• Critical perspectives in the history of art and culture

  This core course introduces students to critical theories in the history of art and culture, including a range of academic and theoretical perspectives that have shaped our understanding of the creative and cultural sectors. It will consider how the arts, creative and cultural sectors evolve and change, looking at key trends today that will shape the future.

• Art business and cultural management

  Within this core course, students explore both classical theories of management and business, and their application to the world of arts and cultural sectors. The course will build on established management and business theories familiar in established business school curricula, with important adaptations relevant for the business, management and leadership of the arts and the cultural sectors.

• Collecting and collections management

  This course introduces students to the fascinating world of collecting, collections building and management. This is relevant both for the public sector (museums) and the private sector (galleries, dealers and client base of private collectors). Students will be encouraged to see the value in individual objects as well as in combination, and explore how something can be “greater than the sum of its parts”. Following on from the Critical perspectives and Art business courses, students will be encouraged to consider both the finance and economics of collecting, and the historic and social significance of collections.

• Art and Law

  This core course will consider the legal frameworks necessary for dealing with artworks and goods that have important cultural and heritage value but are also tradeable. A special challenge for the law related to art and cultural objects is the fact that the art trade (legal as well as illicit) is a truly international market. Since artworks are relatively easy to take across borders, objects can show up all over the globe. International and multicultural perspectives, as well as significant local knowledge, are critical.

• Personal leadership

  The leadership development trajectory is unique to the Executive MA. It is designed to tailor a participant’s individual requirements to challenges and goals, within their own cultural environment and organisation as well as internationally. Professional one-to-one coaching helps to reflect on current behavioural patterns, as well as develop leadership skills with a view to improving individual performance. Building upon the foundations of leadership theory and developing an interdisciplinary approach across the programme courses helps to formulate leadership skills central to business culture, differing across countries. Mixed-group work in the classroom, guest lectures from global leaders and professional one-on-one coaching form the integral blocks of this core topic.

• Technology and innovation

  This course will provide an exciting exploration and analysis of recent developments and current trends in the arts, creative and cultural sectors and the transformative opportunities, as well as risks, associated with new technologies and recent innovations. Because cultural firms operate within a rapidly changing, highly uncertain and dynamic environment, perspectives on some of the most innovative individuals and organisational players equip students with important know-how, enabling success across industries and organisations.

• Research methods

  An essential part of an MA-level academic programme is learning how to conduct and interpret leading research and analysis. The ability to conduct high-quality analytical research for commercial purposes is also at the heart of many successful businesses, although often underestimated. For knowledge-based organisations and in today’s information economy, research is central to competitive advantage and long-term success. This unit will introduce students to a range of important quantitative and qualitative research methods – highlighting both strengths and limitations and how they can be applied in practice to support strategic decision-making and operational efficiency.

• Events and exhibitions

  This course analyses how the culture of exhibition and display has changed over time, how exhibitions have helped to shape and define the creative sphere, and the way we look at and understand arts and cultural artefacts. Although location and display have affected the relationship between art and its public throughout history, planned temporary exhibitions –including public and private displays and staged encounters – are a relatively recent phenomenon emerging alongside the modern museum. From the 18th century onwards, the Royal Academy has played a central role in this history, including the earliest artist-led exhibitions and the staging of an annual temporary display of contemporary art, which has survived continuously for nearly 250 years. Known today as the Summer Exhibition, it provides a core case study that students will explore and experience as part of this course.

• Internship project and/or academic thesis

  Participants on the programme are encouraged to combine their dissertation with a professional internship, utilising either their own contacts or the extensive professional networks of both the Royal Academy of Arts and Maastricht University. They may also choose to write a purely academic thesis based on archival, secondary or primary research, if preferred. The thesis is on a topic of the student’s choice, passing through a rigorous topic-development process alongside academic faculty with practitioner advice and finally a dedicated supervisor. The final topic will be agreed upon by the programme directors, aiming to make an exciting and rigorous contribution to the existing body of knowledge. The thesis provides students with the opportunity to rigorously develop their own research and/or professional interests in relation to the realm of cultural leadership. It can either take the form of an academic thesis based on archival and primary research; or a professional project based on identifying and answering business needs and/ or managerial issues. Each student is assigned a dedicated supervisor. Upon validation of their choice by the programme directors and through a rigorous topic-development process, they will work on an exciting and original contribution to the topic of cultural leadership.