Arts, Enterprise and Development (MA)
Explore our Creative and Media Enterprises taught Master's degree.
This course examines how we use culture as a force for human, social and economic progress. Warwick's Centre for Cultural and Media Policy has expertly designed this programme to focus on ideas, critical thinking and research while enhancing your professional skills.
Course overview
This programme will give you the opportunity to explore the use of the arts and cultural approaches to local and global development challenges. It examines the impact of arts and culture in a range of contexts in ‘advanced’ and ‘developing’ countries, including post-communist societies, religious republics and conflict zones, and in small-scale local economies.
You will consider the rights and wrongs of using arts and culture within such contexts and explore how they can be used to further social justice as well as economic growth. You will develop your vocational direction and capacity for active involvement in development projects.
General entry requirements
Minimum requirements
2:i undergraduate degree (or equivalent) in a related subject
English language requirements
You can find out more about our English language requirementsLink opens in a new window. This course requires the following:
- Band B
- IELTS overall score of 7.0, minimum component scores of two at 6.0/6.5 and the rest at 7.0 or above.
International qualifications
We welcome applications from students with other internationally recognised qualifications.
For more information, please visit the international entry requirements pageLink opens in a new window.
Additional requirements
There are no additional entry requirements for this course, however we may ask you to write a short essay, attend an interview, or respond to a set of questions to satisfy the course selection panel of your suitability for the course.
Core modules
Culture in Development
This module examines the global policy frameworks for culture, arts and development: the ideas, aspirations, ethics and policy strategies for using the arts, culture and creative industries within human, social and urban development.
We will explore the place of culture, art and creative enterprise within the global discourses of Sustainable Development. We will assess how development projects have always had a ‘cultural’ dimension, whether this has been acknowledged or not. We use case studies to look at how global ideas and policies are interpreted "on the ground" — using business enterprise, arts curating and administration, project management and political protest.
Arts, Community and Enterprise
The core module Arts, Community and Enterprise considers the global policy contexts of the arts and culture in International Development. In this module we will focus on practice and local realities. How does enterprise work? What is creativity in practice?
To do this the module will tackle the questions of why have arts enterprise and culture been proposed as a solution to ‘development’ problems? What does this type of creativity offer that mainstream development strategy does not? What can the creative economy do that the mainstream economy cannot?
We will explore what creative/arts and/or cultural models of development have to offer whilst examining the limitations of the theories, policies and practices. The central purpose of this module then is to critically explore the tensions and contradictions in the use of economic models, models of business enterprise and entrepreneurialism for social, local and community development. You will be encouraged to develop both your theoretical knowledge and practical skills in order to understand the complexities involved with engaging the arts in community development problems.
Project Management for Cultural Enterprise
In this module, the student group will engage in collaborative practical work and 'apply' the theoretical or academic learning of the MA course. The subject of this module is Project Management (PM) as an established range of methods and tools, but here applied to a cultural event. The event will be situated either on the Warwick campus or the City of Coventry, and will afford the students a practical opportunity in (a) devising a PM methodology appropriate to the cultural industries (a creative process as well as experience), and (b) learning the skills required to apply their methodology — reflexively and in dialogue with a tutor(s), who will open the module with a series of coordinated lectures and seminars on PM and the challenges of cultural enterprise.
Research Design
This module aims to prepare you for your Major Project, which is a substantial piece of independent research on a topic of your choice. The module will equip you with a broad understanding of relevant research methods from which to select an appropriate approach for your own project. It will introduce you to ethical dimensions of research. It will provide you with the skills to write an effective proposal (including research questions, rationale, explanation and justification of research methods, identifying relevant literature and data sources).
By the end of the module, you should be ready to submit your proposal and have a broad understanding of research methods in the cultural, creative and media industries field.
Plus the following:
Major Project
The Centre for Cultural and Media Policy Studies is an interdisciplinary centre for teaching and research in the fields of cultural and media policy and the creative industries. The commitment to interdisciplinarity is reflected in our Major Projects, where you will be encouraged to draw on approaches from across the humanities and social sciences in producing your work. Successful projects can emerge from creative engagement with scholarly debates, from the design and analysis of original empirical work, or from some combination of these. This openness of approach is also reflected in how Major Project research can be represented.
Optional modules
Optional modules can vary from year to year. Example optional modules may include:
- Cultural Entrepreneurship
- Developing Audiences for Cultural Organisations
- Marketing and Markets
- Media, Policy and Markets
- Managing Creativity for Sustainable Development
All students will take one optional module. There are four core modules, one of which is a course specific applied management module. The bespoke applied management module for this MA is called ‘Project Management for Cultural Enterprise’ (see above), which gives you the opportunity to apply your learning in practice- or industry-related contexts.
Teaching
You will learn in an international environment through interaction with academic experts and industry practitioners.
The core modules are taught through a combination of lectures, workshops and student-led presentations and discussions. These sessions are complemented by self-directed learning and access to resources and activities in a virtual learning environment.
The course is designed to facilitate participation and critical reflection and in some modules you will have the opportunity to apply your learning in a professional context.
Class sizes
There are between 20 to 30 students on each of the four taught Master's courses.
Typical contact hours
Typical contact hours range between 6 to 10 hours each week for core teaching - this excludes additional tutorials, workshops, and research seminars.
Assessment
- All coursework
- Written assignments come in a variety of forms: essays, case studies, evaluations, reports, proposals, portfolios and business plans
- Group presentations and creative and practical projects
- A major project (written dissertation of 12,000 words) on a research topic of your choice
Additional course costs
For all MA courses, the cost of field trips or off-campus assignments are estimated to cost between £100-£200, although this will depend on which option module has been chosen or the nature of a project or placement undertaken for an applied management module.
Reading lists
Most departments have reading lists available through Warwick Library. Explore our Warwick Library web pages.Link opens in a new window
Your timetable
Your personalised timetable will be complete when you are registered for all modules, compulsory and optional, and you have been allocated to your lecture, seminar and other study groups. Your compulsory modules will be registered for you, and you will be able to choose your optional module when you join us.
Your career
Graduates from the Centre for Cultural and Media Policy Studies have gone on to work in television, film, communications, data analysis, theatre, museums, art galleries, events, festivals, UN agencies, NGOs, charities, arts and educational organisations, research, PR, publishing and have even set up their own businesses.
Employers for our graduates include: UNESCO, UNCTAD, BBC, UK government, local arts in Coventry, Birmingham and London, and around the world, city government, and start-up creative enterprises.
We have a dedicated professionally qualified Senior Careers Consultant offering impartial advice and guidance together with workshops and events throughout the year. Previous examples of workshops and events include:
- Discovering Careers in the Creative Industries
- Careers in Radio Film and Television
- Warwick careers fairs throughout the year
- A history and DIY Guide to setting up and running a Theatre Company
Centre for Cultural and Media Policy Studies
We are internationally renowned for our excellence in the teaching and research in the policy, management, development, enterprise and industry of culture, media communication and creativity. Our approach is based on a critical engagement with both the practical realities of working in the cultural sector and the ideological and conceptual questions which lie behind them.
Find out more about us on our website.Link opens in a new window
Our Postgraduate Taught and Research courses
Tuition fees
Tuition fees are payable for each year of your course at the start of the academic year, or at the start of your course, if later. Academic fees cover the cost of tuition, examinations and registration and some student amenities.
Taught course fees Research course fees
Fee Status Guidance
We carry out an initial fee status assessment based on the information you provide in your application. Students will be classified as Home or Overseas fee status. Your fee status determines tuition fees, and what financial support and scholarships may be available. If you receive an offer, your fee status will be clearly stated alongside the tuition fee information.
Do you need your fee classification to be reviewed?
If you believe that your fee status has been classified incorrectly, you can complete a fee status assessment questionnaire. Please follow the instructions in your offer information and provide the documents needed to reassess your status.
Find out more about how universities assess fee status
Additional course costs
As well as tuition fees and living expenses, some courses may require you to cover the cost of field trips or costs associated with travel abroad.
For departmental specific costs, please see the Modules tab on the course web page for the list of core and optional core modules with hyperlinks to our Module Catalogue (please visit the Department’s website if the Module Catalogue hyperlinks are not provided).
Associated costs can be found on the Study tab for each module listed in the Module Catalogue (please note most of the module content applies to 2022/23 year of study). Information about module department specific costs should be considered in conjunction with the more general costs below:
- Core text books
- Printer credits
- Dissertation binding
- Robe hire for your degree ceremony
Scholarships and bursaries
Scholarships and financial support
Find out about the different funding routes available, including; postgraduate loans, scholarships, fee awards and academic department bursaries.
Living costs
Find out more about the cost of living as a postgraduate student at the University of Warwick.
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Here is our checklist on how to apply for research postgraduate degrees at the University of Warwick.
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