Cultural Policy
| Code | School | Level | Credits | Semesters |
| CULT4019 | Cultural, Media and Visual Studies | 4 | 20 | Spring UK |
- Code
- CULT4019
- School
- Cultural, Media and Visual Studies
- Level
- 4
- Credits
- 20
- Semesters
- Spring UK
Summary
This module equips students with the most appropriate theoretical and analytical tools (from the disciplines of Cultural Studies, Sociology of Culture and Public Policy), with which to critically address questions relating to key cultural policy issues and current cultural policy debates. By engaging with cutting-edge research, primary sources of evidence and contemporary examples, the students will reflect on the relationship between theory and practice, and will apply theories and analytical frameworks to specific case studies and projects.
Particular reference will be made to:
- rationales for government intervention in the cultural sphere,
- objectives and instruments of cultural policy-making,
- issues of access and participation,
- issues of ownership,
- criteria for decision-making,
- scope of cultural policy-making, and
- methods and sources available for mapping, studying and evaluating cultural policies.
Target Students
Only available to students on MSc Cultural Industriesand Entrepreneurship.
Classes
- One 3-hour workshop each week for 11 weeks
The School of Cultures, Languages and Area Studies operates an attendance policy. The details of this policy can be found in the student handbook on Workspace and in module handbooks. Breakdown of hours: Direct contact: 20 Directed reading: 140 Class and assessment preparation: 140 Total: 300
Assessment
- 100% Coursework: Coursework - 4,000 words portfolio of written work and equivalent
Assessed by end of spring semester
Educational Aims
The module aims to cultivate reflective practitioners in the field of arts and culture by providing students with a range of analytical frameworks, concepts, principles and practices in the area of cultural policy, and their application to the cultural and creative industries. This requires an address to issues: concepts of ‘cultural value’; funding, censorship and regulation in the cultural sector; the protection of the national heritage; the social and economic impact of the arts; conflict solving and reconciliation with the tools of cultural policy; cultural policy for social cohesion; multiculturalism, interculturalism and gender issues; cultural leadership; and cultural planning. The module will enable students to develop frameworks for understanding cultural policy environments, to undertake a critical analysis of policy problems and strategies, to develop sound policy strategies, and to act as future policy actors. In the context of the course as a whole, this module provides students with understanding of the relationship between culture and power by focusing specifically on the workings of the administration of culture by government.Learning Outcomes
Knowledge and understanding: on completion of this module, students will demonstrate:
• An understanding of the relevance of academic debates on the relationship between culture and government
• A knowledge and understanding of a number of critical theoretical paradigms suitable to the study of the relationship between culture and government
• An ability to apply a variety of theories and analytical frameworks to current principles in cultural policy
• An awareness of the principles and practices of cultural policy and their application to the cultural industries
• Specialist knowledge and understanding of a range of research methods and cultural policies supplemented by specific empirical examples
• Specialist knowledge of the key features of contemporary cultural policies in their regional, national and global contexts with reference to their application to the cultural industries
Intellectual skills: students of this module will have developed:
• The cognitive skills of critical thinking, analysis and synthesis, including the ability to identify assumptions, evaluate statements in terms of evidence, to detect false logic or reasoning, to identify implicit values, and to define terms adequately and to generalise appropriately
• An appreciation of the complexity of the concepts of ‘cultural policy’
• The ability to gather, assess and interpret evidence
• The ability to make reasoned arguments
• The ability to reflect critically on the production of knowledge
Transferable skills: on completion of this module, students will demonstrate:
• The capacity to conduct library and internet-based independent research
• Enhanced written and oral communication skills
• The capacity critically to evaluate different sources of information (historical accounts, media reports, visual and written narrative forms, research and reports from governmental bodies and NGOs, academic research)
• The ability to apply abstract theoretical paradigms to empirical examples and to evaluate their value
• Self-management in terms of time planning and management