MA in Cultural Leadership (Research)
Groningen, Netherlands
DURATION
2 Years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
01 May 2025
EARLIEST START DATE
01 Sep 2025
TUITION FEES
EUR 18,700 / per year
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
Introduction
Culture and heritage are the sinews of society. In an era marked by rapid change, ambitious and critical cultural leaders are required to foster the cultural core of a sustainable society.
Culture defines humanity. Managing the valuation and transmission of culture through policy, entrepreneurship, and education across generations is, therefore, a key responsibility for a sustainable society. In our modern society, culture has to be negotiated as it is shaped by digitization and new media, ethnic and cultural diversity, changing audiences and economic circumstances, dwindling public funds, and a loss of shared historical awareness. The mission of the Research Master's track Cultural Leadership is to train its students to conduct academic research into processes of cultural leadership. We equip them with essential scholarly expertise as well as analytical and strategic skills, so that they may carry culture forward in a critical, sustainable, and creative manner, and ultimately become cultural leaders themselves.
In order to broaden our students’ outlook on their own cultures and provide them with the opportunity to exchange ideas with peers, we have joined forces with Roma Tre University. Students spend the second semester of the first year in Rome. This period ends with a Spring School at the Royal Netherlands Institute in Rome (KNIR).
Why study this program in Groningen?
The program's broad definition of cultural leadership and its multidisciplinary set-up distinguishes it from programs offered elsewhere in the Netherlands and abroad that only deal with specific areas of culture as well as from programs that primarily address the organizational and managerial aspects of the cultural field.
Research
The research master offers the possibility to contribute to an international research agenda on the topic of cultural leadership. Our research program identifies cultural leadership as any cultural practice creating or strengthening interactions between the arts and societal debates in a local, national, or transnational context.
We encourage transdisciplinary research on cultural leadership, exploring and including perspectives from Archaeology, History, Language and Culture, and Arts and Culture studies. We employ analytical, critical, and cognitive perspectives.
Curriculum
Year 1
In their first-year students do coursework.
The first semester is taught in Groningen. Students do one or two disciplinary electives (10 ECTS in total) depending on their BA-degree and further interests. They also follow the Cultural Leadership I and Cultural Leadership II courses plus Public Arts Policy in Global Context and The Global/Local Cultural Leader.
The second semester is taught in Rome. Students do one or more disciplinary electives (15 ECTS in total), again depending on their BA-degree and further interests. They also follow the Heritage, Media, and Sustainability & Cultural Awareness courses. Part of this last course is a five-day Spring School at the Royal Netherlands Institute (KNIR) in Rome in June.
Courses
- Theories of Culture and Research (5 EC)
- Cultural Leadership (10 EC)
- Disciplinary electives (Groningen) (10 EC)
- Public Arts Policy in Global Context (Groningen) (5 EC)
- Disciplinary electives (Rome) (15 EC)
- Heritage (Rome) (5 EC)
- Media (Rome) (5 EC)
- Sustainability & Cultural Awareness (Rome) (5 EC)
Year 2
In their second year, students do a research traineeship and write their thesis.
In the third semester students design their thesis research and start their six-month research traineeship with a cultural institution (in the Netherlands or abroad). In January they will participate in a two-day Winter School in Groningen related to the research project carried out at their host institution.
In the fourth semester, they finish their traineeship and write their thesis.
Courses
- Thesis preparation, including Methodology class (15 EC)
- Research Traineeship, including Winter School (Groningen) (30 EC)
- Thesis writing (15 EC)
Program options
Master's Honours Programme (honors program)
Study abroad
- Study abroad is required
- For an average of 24 weeks
- Maximum of 30 EC
All students spend the second semester of the first year in Rome, where they do coursework at Roma Tre University and participate in a Spring School at the Royal Netherlands Institute in Rome (KNIR). In the second year, a number of research traineeships are offered by partner institutions outside the Netherlands.
Admissions
Career Opportunities
Job prospects
Cultural Leadership graduates find jobs as:
- cultural entrepreneurs, designing, promoting, and organizing cultural events on a variety of scales: from (inter)national festivals to regional and local projects;
- cultural administrators, policymakers, and educators working on different levels of government, public foundations, and pedagogical institutions;
- cultural media critics, working in print, audiovisual, and electronic media.
Program Admission Requirements
Demonstrate your commitment and readiness to succeed in business school by taking the GMAT exam – the most widely used exam for admissions that measures your critical thinking and reasoning skills.
Download the GMAT mini quiz to get a flavour of the questions you’ll find in the exam.