Introduction
This cut­ting-edge Master's pro­gramme­ is de­di­ca­ted to the re­la­ti­onship bet­ween cul­tu­re, the arts, and or­ga­niza­t­i­on. The pro­gram in­tro­du­ces cul­tu­ral and so­cio­lo­gi­cal theo­ries as cri­ti­cal len­ses for stu­dy­ing con­tem­pora­ry or­ga­niza­t­i­on and or­ga­ni­sing. On this ba­sis, you will learn to en­ga­ge with or­ga­niza­t­io­nal and en­tre­pre­neu­ri­al prac­tices in dif­fe­rent sec­tors, sys­tems, fiel­ds and in­dus­tries of arts and cul­tu­re.
The Cul­tu­re and Or­ga­niza­t­i­on Master's programme is situated at the in­ter­sec­tion of the or­ga­niza­t­i­on of cul­tu­re and the arts and what is cal­led the "cul­tu­ra­liza­t­i­on" of or­ga­niza­t­i­ons. With mo­du­les de­di­ca­ted to cul­tu­ral and ar­tis­tic fiel­ds, in­sti­tu­ti­ons and di­gi­tal net­works, the programme studies cul­tu­re as an em­pi­ri­cal set­ting. The pre­sent and fu­ture prac­tices of work and or­ga­niza­t­i­on are in­ves­ti­ga­ted in their ur­ban, in­sti­tu­tio­nal and net­wor­ked con­texts. Cul­tu­re and the arts, and cul­tu­ral theo­ry, are the­re­fo­re stu­di­ed as cri­ti­cal agents for un­der­stan­ding and shaping our so­cie­ty.
Topics
The cour­ses will in­tro­du­ce you to cul­tu­ral so­cio­lo­gy, the so­cio­lo­gy of arts and cul­tu­re, the stu­dy of di­gi­tal cul­tu­res and new forms of or­ga­ni­sing and of ma­nage­ment and cul­tu­ral en­tre­pre­neurship. This is done by taking an in­ter­na­tio­nal approach and en­ga­ging with re­se­arch from va­rious pla­ces and set­tings. Although the program overall is taught in Eng­lish, some elec­tives are of­fe­red in Ger­man.
The Master's pro­gramme­ ap­proa­ches cul­tu­re in two ways – as an em­pi­ri­cal set­ting and as a cri­ti­cal and con­cep­tu­al lens. You will learn to stu­dy and un­der­stand dif­fe­rent in­sti­tu­ti­ons and or­ga­ni­za­ti­ons in cul­tu­ral and ar­tis­tic sec­tors (from ur­ban mo­ve­ments to the crea­ti­ve in­dus­tries and net­work cul­tu­re). You will learn to in­ves­ti­ga­te the dif­fe­rent or­ga­niza­t­io­nal mo­des, en­tre­pre­neu­ri­al and so­ci­al prac­tices, and tech­no­lo­gies and dis­cour­ses that shape the­se in­sti­tu­ti­ons and or­ga­niza­t­i­ons. Em­ploy­ing a broad un­der­stan­ding of cul­tu­re as a lens, the Master's programme also mo­bi­li­ses cul­tu­ral and so­ci­al theo­ries in or­der to cri­ti­cal­ly re­flect on how or­ga­niza­t­io­nal prac­tices and dis­cour­ses are shaped by cul­tu­ral and tech­no­lo­gi­cal trans­for­ma­ti­ons.
This com­pre­hen­si­ve ap­proach to cul­tu­re and or­ga­niza­t­i­on is ba­sed on long­stan­ding re­se­arch tra­di­ti­ons and cur­rent re­se­arch pro­jects at Leu­pha­na Uni­ver­si­ty. The­se in­clu­de the so­cio­lo­gy of ar­tis­tic or­ga­niza­t­i­on and cul­tu­ral en­tre­pre­neurship, and in­ter­di­sci­pli­na­ry re­se­arch into crea­ti­ve in­dus­tries and di­gi­tal cultures. The pro­gramme­ is run by the Fa­cul­ty of Hu­ma­nities and So­ci­al Sci­en­ces in close cooperation with the Fa­cul­ty of Busi­ness and Eco­no­mics. Through dif­fe­rent for­mats of in­no­va­ti­ve stu­dent en­ga­ge­ment, the pro­gramme­ combines fiel­d­work-centred edu­ca­ti­on with re­se­arch-ba­sed teaching.
Structure
There are four components to the Cul­tu­re and Or­ga­niza­t­i­on pro­gramme­. In the core area of stu­dy, you will explore key to­pics in the field of or­ga­niza­t­i­ons and or­ga­ni­zing cul­tu­re and the arts, cul­tu­ral en­tre­pre­neurship, di­gi­tal me­dia, and cul­tu­ral so­cio­lo­gy.
There are also three com­ple­men­ta­ry com­po­n­ents: elec­ti­ves, in­te­gra­ti­on modules, and Com­ple­men­ta­ry Stu­dies. The elec­tives will al­low you to both fo­cus and broa­den your stu­dy of cul­tu­re and or­ga­niza­t­i­on, e.g., with mo­du­les on or­ga­niza­t­i­on theo­ry, di­gi­tal cul­tu­res or cri­ti­cal stu­dies. It is also pos­si­ble to choo­se en­tre­pre­neurship or busi­ness stu­dies mo­du­les as electives. The in­te­gra­ti­on modules for cul­tu­ral stu­dies will bring you to­ge­ther with stu­dents from all Master's pro­gramme­s at the Fa­cul­ty of Hu­ma­nities and So­ci­al Sci­en­ces and familiarizee you with the his­to­ry and me­thods of and cur­rent de­ba­tes in cul­tu­ral stu­dies. Com­ple­men­ta­ry Stu­dies will enable you to take clas­ses bey­ond your im­me­dia­te field of stu­dy in or­der to broa­den your un­der­stan­ding of key con­tem­pora­ry chal­len­ges for cul­tu­re and so­cie­ty. These four components together will prepare you for wri­ting your re­se­arch-ba­sed Master's dis­ser­ta­ti­on and participating in the Master's Fo­rum, the accompanying col­lo­qui­um at which you will pre­sent and dis­cuss your dis­ser­ta­ti­on pro­ject.
Master's Dissertation
Du­ring the fourth se­mes­ter of your Masters pro­gramme­, you will em­bark on your dis­ser­ta­ti­on. Dis­ser­ta­ti­ons link ad­van­ced theo­ries to an in-depth en­ga­ge­ment with core em­pi­ri­cal pheno­me­na of cul­tu­re and or­ga­niza­t­i­on. A collec­tive pro­cess or­ga­ni­zed around dissertation-wri­ting me­ans you will sha­re your ex­pe­ri­en­ces and re­cei­ve re­gu­lar sup­port from peers and teaching staff: the dissertation is not simply an individual challenge. The de­di­ca­ted Master's Fo­rum will bring all stu­dents to­ge­ther with teaching staff and is a space in which you can pre­sent your work in pro­gress, learn about me­thods, and re­cei­ve peer-to-peer feed­back.
Career Prospects
The Master's pro­gram­me will give you an un­der­stan­ding of how or­ga­niza­t­i­on fun­da­men­tal­ly con­di­ti­ons cul­tu­re and so­cie­ty, and it teaches me­tho­do­lo­gi­cal and analytical skills for re­se­arch into the discourses, practices, and technologies of organization. The programme provides practice-based knowledge of, and competencies for, organizing culture and teaches you trans­fe­ra­ble skills in com­mu­ni­ca­ti­on and teamwork. All of the­se ca­pa­bi­li­ties and skills are in high de­mand in a wide range of oc­cupa­ti­ons.
The pro­gramme­ is sui­ta­ble both for stu­dents seeking to pur­sue an aca­de­mic ca­re­er and for tho­se who would like to take on responsible roles in the cul­tu­ral and crea­ti­ve in­dus­try, in the arts, in the me­dia, in the pu­blic sec­tor, in ur­ban de­ve­lop­ment or in foundations and charitable organizations.
Qua­li­fied stu­dents with a par­ti­cu­lar­ in­te­rest in re­se­arch have the option of si­mul­ta­neous­ly re­gis­tering for the Doc­to­ral Track. Com­bi­ning the Mas­ters and doc­to­ral pha­ses of­fers you a unique op­por­tu­ni­ty to join the scho­lar­ly com­mu­ni­ty at very ear­ly sta­ge.
At a Glance
Degree awarded: Mas­ter of Arts, MA
Application period: April 1 - June 1
Type of program: The­ma­tic re­le­van­ce
Study places: 25
Start date: Every win­ter term, Oc­to­ber
Extent: 120 ECTS
Duration: 4 se­mes­ters
Language: Eng­lish, some electives in German
Location: Lüne­burg
Contribution per semester: 360 EUR *
*Sub­ject to chan­ge
