Arts, Festival and Cultural Management

This course is suitable for graduates who wish to add a vocational management emphasis to their first degree and for those with equivalent professional qualifications or experience. You may find it particularly suitable if you studied the arts and humanities at undergraduate level and want to move into arts and cultural management. The course also works well for people with significant workplace experience who want to gain a formal qualification in a flexible manner.

The work of arts and cultural managers is becoming more complex and significant in our rapidly changing domestic and international environment. Cultural organisations and festivals are in a period of fundamental, pervasive and long-term change; managers must deal with a host of dramatic and often contradictory demands and challenges. There is a growing need for graduates with more holistic and integrated perspectives regarding the management of cultural organisations and the political, economic, social and environmental conditions in which they function.

This course has been developed in response to this need and is rooted in a belief that great leaders in the cultural sector will recognise the value of management while acknowledging that approaches may need to be adapted to meet the particularities of cultural organisations and festivals.

By encouraging you to become critically reflective, the course will develop your knowledge of the contemporary issues affecting the management of arts organisations and festivals while equipping you with the practical management skills that are essential for developing a career in the field. Mindful of the need for students to develop vocational skills, a number of assignments are orientated towards developing the knowledge and skills required to become an effective practitioner in the field. In addition, students are required to arrange and undertake practical experience within cultural organisations to complement their studies.

Around 17% of students attending the university are from outside the UK. The Recruitment and International Liaison Office is the first place for international students to contact regarding matters around their studies. They are available to provide a range of information and assistance on subjects that commonly are encountered when coming to the UK including immigration and visas, accommodation, bringing family members with them, fees, and funding issues. In addition, there is English language support for those students who don’t speak the language as their first language. The student union is on hand to offer a range of advice and support for students as well as organising extra-curricular activities, volunteering opportunities and even services such as entertainment venues. One of these is Maggie’s the student union bar and café where students can meet friends, have a drink or a meal and make use of the pool tables. It is also used as a venue for special events from parties to fundraising events and much more. There are a host of sports on offer at the university ranging from traditional team sports such as basketball, football and rugby to solo sports such as badminton and tennis. There are even special Scottish sports on offers such as Camogie and Gaelic football. The societies on offer are equally diverse and range from interest groups such as the Anime Society to cultural and religion groups such as Christian Union and into the arts such as the Drama or Dance Societies. These also include volunteering and charity groups.