Master Arts and Cultural Management

Upcoming dates: September 16th - 20th, 2024: On Campus Week and start of studies // January 11th, 2025: Online information day

Degree: Master of Arts (M.A.)
Credit Points: 2 variants (60 and 90 CP)
Length of Study: 3 or 4 terms extra-occupational
Language: English
Type of study: online studies
Start Date: September, flexible entry opportunities all year round
Application Deadline: Mai 31st 
Costs: 7,710 Euro (60 CP variant, subject to the formal amendment resolution) or 9,760 Euro (90 CP variant) plus the current term contribution of 210 Euro per term, instalment payments possible
Programme Directors: Prof. Dr. Sigrid Bekmeier-Feuerhahn, Prof. Dr. Volker Kirchberg

Over the course of your cultural management degree, you will study the operation of cultural institutions, and various players and stakeholders on the culture market. The programme covers different factors and environments affecting applied cultural management in an international context. You will explore issues such as

• Social, political and cultural transformation processes
• Management and finance
• Culture marketing; communication and branding
• Organisational development
• Audience development
• International partnerships
• Market and business analysis
• Reception of culture and cultural theory
• Law in cultural organisations
• Sustainability and social responsibility
• Culture policy

A wealth of choice: the programme to meet your needs

We offer various versions of the Arts and Cultural Management Masters to meet your specific professional development needs. You can take a 4-semester course worth a total of 90 credit points or a 3-semester course worth a total of 60 credit points, and choose from a range of mandatory electives. The curriculum includes a total of three certificates, and you can also study for these individually:

• Arts and Cultural Consumption and Audiences
• Arts and Cultural Producation and Cultural Organisations
• International Cultural Management in Transition

Detailed information on the course options and modules can be found on the Course content page.

A key aspect of the Cultural Management Masters is honing your practical skills. That is why case studies and projects in which you develop solutions to real scenarios in global practice are an integral part of the programme. This practical aspect also gives you the opportunity to raise and explore problems from your everyday work. Students are therefore not just learners: you are an expert in your own institutional and cultural environment and share your knowledge of practice with others on the course.

Discussions, group work and interdisciplinary projects further promote the exchange of knowledge. Teaching staff with experience in international roles and experienced culture managers for example from the Goethe-Institut will provide valuable practical insights.

The Arts and Cultural Management course is run by the Leuphana Professional School in close collaboration with the Goethe-Institut. The Goethe-Institut is Germany’s global cultural institute and has extensive expertise in the field of cultural management. It has a role both in programme development and in teaching on the Master of Arts in Arts and Cultural Management. This ensures the programme’s strong link to practice, in particular as regards the many different contexts in which cultural management operates globally.

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The interdisciplinary Cultural Management Masters is an opportunity to add an understanding of management and a detailed knowledge of market processes and strategic management to your cultural studies qualifications.

A Master of Arts in Arts and Cultural Management

• qualifies you for key management roles in the broad culture sector
• enables you to secure and develop smaller and non-subsidised cultural institutions in particular with creative, sustainable solutions that reflect institutions’ artistic direction and goals and national particularities
• enables you to identify, control and develop business processes in cultural organisations and adapt them to market processes and audiences
• gives you an in-depth understanding of the specific dynamics of the culture market and the internal structures of a range of cultural organisations
• teaches you the effective and targeted application of scientific methods, for example market and resources analyses
• develops your practical skills, in particular in the establishment and development of cultural organisations

The Cultural Management Masters is aimed at candidates with practical experience from the culture sector, for example as part of organisations or as independent artistic and cultural players; at candidates who want to develop their expertise in cultural management, learn how to deal sustainably with current opportunities and challenges in cultural management, and actively drive forward their careers by building up their academic profile. Applicants should already hold a relevant undergraduate degree and provide proof of proficiency in English.

Applications for the Arts and Cultural Management Masters can be submitted online at any time up to May 31st each year. Our online application system allows you to complete your application simply and easily online and upload any accompanying documents. You can also save your draft application for completion later. Once the deadline has passed, all documents are reviewed and the admissions process starts. You will be notified by mid-July of whether or not you have been accepted.

You can also start by taking a certificate programme of module studies with the option of continuing to the Masters.

For more information on admissions requirements, necessary documents and the admissions process, please see the Application page.

The distance-learning Arts and Cultural Management (M.A.) course includes a total of two block seminars in Lüneburg of one week each but otherwise runs online. This means that you will prepare and review content by working through course material and using online learning tools such as Webinars. Live online sessions will be scheduled in line with students’ time zones so that are all able to take part. This will allow you effectively to combine university with professional life in your home country.

An e-tutor and the programme coordinator will be available to help during your studies.

Unlike for standard full-time or part-time Masters programmes taken at university, fees are payable for continuing education programmes such as the Arts and Cultural Management Masters. This is because the entire course has to be funded from fees as the state does not subsidise such programmes.

The fees for the professional Arts and Cultural Management Masters are 7,710 euros for the 60 CP option and 9,760 euros for the 90 CP option. A semester contribution, currently around 210 euros, is also charged each semester. Instalment payments possible.

A range of funding options are available for professional programmes. Which ones are open to you will depend on your individual circumstances. We have put together a list of funding options for you on our website. You can also use our financial advisory service.

• Innovative, applied cultural management course
• Leads to a professional Masters degree in 3 or 4 semesters with just 2 block seminars
• Strong partner: the Goethe-Institut provides comprehensive expertise in international cultural management
• Exchange with fellow students from around the world
• Global network
• Free and expert advice
• Distance learning for maximum flexibility in your learning schedule and location and for combining work and study
• Network of lecturers with international experience in research and practice
• Flexible entry options

This programme received external accreditation by the FIBAA.