Course Objectives

The aim of the course is to provide candidates with the necessary skills to enable them to take on the various tasks and responsibilities of management within the sphere of culture.

The course is structured to ensure that the students will:

· acquire basic management skills and knowledge

· acquire insights and develop an independent perspective towards various aims, frameworks and responsibilities within the cultural sphere

· be able to assess and manage basic economic and organisational aspects of projects and cultural entrepreneurship

· develop competence in managing various cultural administrative tasks

· be able to master ICT as a tool in writing assignments individually and in groups

Course Description

The main focus of the course will be on culture and management. The course takes as its starting point cultural life and modern organisational development, focussing on management’s strategic and goal-setting role. The course will provide an introduction to basic ethical, research-methodological and scientific-theoretical issues within the subject in order to train students to reflect on ethical issues and carry out methodological considerations. The module is divided into six sections.

A: Cultural policies and public administration

B: Marketing, and contact with the media and public

C: Management theory and personnel administration

D: Cultural arrangements and management

E: Cultural communication and management

F: Organisation culture theory and management

A: Cultural policies and public administration

Through a presentation of the sphere of arts, voluntary organisations and cultural industry, students will be able to discuss current cultural-policy questions, visions and the ideologies behind them. Further, public administration and concrete examples of case procedures within the public and private sectors will be discussed. An explanation of the political/administrative system with regards to decision-making processes at various levels of administration will also be provided.

B: Marketing, contact with the media and public

The theme here is marketing, theory and practice in the cultural field. Formal and informal contacts with the media, as well as direct contact with political decision-makers and public authorities will be discussed. Network building in the cultural field will be discussed, as well as the role of culture manager.

C: Management theory and personnel administration

An explanation of the various historical views regarding management will be provided, together with examples of how one may use these as tools or instruments for one’s own management tasks. Personnel administration will be discussed in the context of tasks and responsibilities which are related to the administration and management of the staff in an organisation. An introduction to central topics such as interaction and understanding processes will be offered.

D: Cultural arrangements and management

An explanation and discussion of how plan processes and projects may be organised and managed will be given. Further, an analysis of various organisational contexts and choice of methods on the basis of this will be included. Process and change management and an understanding of various roles, for instance within a project, will be discussed. The producer role in various lines of business and legitimate authority will also be considered.

E: Cultural communication and management

Cultural communication builds on an introduction to what constitutes culture and what happens when different cultures meet considered from a management perspective in the context of intercultural and multicultural communication.

F: Organisation culture theory and management

The role of management in various contexts will be discussed, together with various views of organisations and how organisations are established, administered and evaluated. In particular, ethical and political dilemmas regarding actions related to organisations will be discussed, as well as how these may steer an organisational culture away from conflicts and towards creative circles.

Learning Methods

Lectures, seminars, internet-based supervision, group assignments and an individual assignment.

Assessment Methods

A written group assignment in the autumn semester which counts for 20%, a 5-hour individual examination on syllabus-related theory in the spring semester which counts for 20%, and a final written individual assignment which counts for 60%. Letter grades are used: A to E represent pass marks, and F a fail. All the assignments must receive passing marks in order for the student to receive a final passing mark for the course.

Minor adjustments may occur during the academic year, subject to the decision of the Dean