Executive Master in Cultural Leadership

Executive Master in Cultural Leadership

Quick facts

• 
March 2025
Application deadline: 5 January 2025
Language: English
Location: Maastricht & London
Duration: 2 Years
Fee: €39,000

Upcoming event:

Online Open Evening
10 April 2024

Contact

Danai Papathanasiou
Programme Manager (Maastricht)
+31 43 388 3838

Organised together with London’s Royal Academy of Arts, the Executive Master in Cultural Leadership empowers you to develop your business and leadership skills, as well as to enrich your understanding of how culture and creativity can inform and rejuvenate your practice.

Royal Academy - Maastricht University

What is the Executive Master in Cultural Leadership?

Cultural leaders understand the important role culture plays in business, and how to incorporate business ideas into the cultural sector. Maastricht University and the Royal Academy of Arts have partnered to offer this pioneering Executive Master in Cultural Leadership designed to prepare you for the challenges in the next step in your career.

This programme is aimed at those who are looking to develop their business and leadership skills, as well as those who want to enrich their understanding of how culture and creativity can inform and rejuvenate their practice. Taught in London and Maastricht, this international programme aims to foster inspirational leaders who bring a rich understanding of the creative process and innovation to their organisations within the arts, creative industries and beyond.

What can you do with the Executive Master in Cultural Leadership?

By completing all courses as well as assessed components and courseworks, you will graduate with a Master of Arts. An MBA status may also be earned by completing three extra courses (18 credits) of our MaastrichtMBA programme and successful completion of an extended thesis.

What’s more, one of the major benefits of this programme is the newly acquired network of brilliant minds to share your interests with. Through our network of academics, scholars and art world practitioners, you will be introduced to organisations you might want to work for, or you may be inspired to set up your own business or career idea that gives you the creativity and flexibility you desire.

Executive Master in Cultural Leadership Picture 1
Executive Master in Cultural Leadership Picture 2

Cultural leaders understand the important role culture plays in business, and how to incorporate business ideas into the cultural sector. Maastricht University and the Royal Academy of Arts have partnered to offer this pioneering Executive Master in Cultural Leadership designed to prepare you for the challenges in the next step in your career. This programme is aimed at those who are looking to develop their business and leadership skills, as well as those who want to enrich their understanding of how culture and creativity can inform and rejuvenate their practice.

Taught in London and Maastricht, this international programme aims to foster inspirational leaders who bring a rich understanding of the creative process and innovation to their organisations within the arts, creative industries and beyond.

EMCL students will be able to attend international art events, such as FRIEZE, TEFAF and BRAFA, gain access to a selection of VIP events and activities.

The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) was founded by King George III in 1768. It has a unique position in being an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is to be a clear, strong voice for art and artists.  Its public programme promotes the creation, enjoyment and appreciation of the visual arts and architecture through exhibitions, education and debate.

The Royal Academy of Arts is housed in one of the London’s grandest 17th-century mansions, which spans Piccadilly to Bond Street in Mayfair. The RA is at the heart of a vibrant cultural quarter, rich with world-class commercial galleries and private dealerships, and is within a short walk of many of London’s top landmarks and public museums.

For more information on the Royal Academy of Arts, please visit their website on the Executive Master in Cultural Leadership.

The programme draws on an international network of scholars, professionals and experts to provide a practical cutting-edge perspective on key cultural debates, as well as art business, finance and economics, law, strategy and entrepreneurship, and innovation fostering knowledge and leadership skills which enable long-term, ethical and sustainable business practices.

At the Royal Academy of Arts in London and at Maastricht University you will collaborate as a community with a group of peers, selected from a wide range of backgrounds and past experiences, to interact with world-class experts and distinguished faculty in the arts, culture, business and leadership.

The Executive Master in Cultural Leadership (EMCL) is structured over eight intensively taught courses alongside a professional project and/or academic thesis and a study trip. The programme’s modular structure means that you can work while you study or supplement your studies with extended experiences in a range of locations.

This programme is unique globally. Start your adventure here!

Collecting and Collections Management
Location: Royal Academy, London

This course introduces students to the fascinating world of collecting, collections building and management. This is relevant both for the public sector (museums) and the private sector (galleries, dealers and client base of private collectors). Students will be encouraged to see the value in individual objects as well as in combination and how something can be  ‘greater than the sum of its parts’. Following on from the Critical perspectives and the Art business courses, students will be encouraged to consider both the finance and economics of collecting but also historic and social significance of collections.

Art Business and Cultural Management
Location: Maastricht University, Maastricht
TEFAF

In this core course, students explore both classical theories of management and business and the specifics of their application to the world of arts and cultural sectors. The course will build on established management and business theories familiar within the business school curricula, with important adaptations relevant for the business, management in the arts and cultural leadership as well as a new generation of leaders for whom creativity, culture and the creative process is at the core of their practice.

Exhibitions and Events
Location: Royal Academy, London
FRIEZE & 1-54 RA Summer Exhibition

This course analyses how the culture of exhibition and display has changed over time and how exhibitions have helped to shape and define the creative sphere and the way we look at and understand arts and cultural artifacts. Although location and display have affected the relationship between art and its public throughout history, planned temporary exhibitions –including public and private displays and staged encounters – are a relatively recent phenomenon emerging alongside the modern museum. From the 17th century onwards, the Royal Academy has played a central role in this history, including the earliest artist-led exhibitions and the staging of an annual temporary display of contemporary art, which has survived continuously for nearly 250 years, known today as the Summer Exhibition, which is a core case study which students will explore and experience as part of this course.

Research Methods
Location: Maastricht University, Maastricht

An essential part of an MA level academic programme is learning how to conduct and interpret leading research and analysis. Being able to conduct high-quality analytical research for commercial purposes is also at the heart of many successful business and often underestimated. For knowledge-based organizations and in today’s information economy, research is central to competitive advantage and long term success. This unit will introduce students to a range of important quantitative and qualitative research methods – highlighting both strengths and limitations and how they can be applied in practice and to strategic decision-making and operational efficiency.

Technology & Innovation
Location: Royal Academy, London

This course will provide an exciting exploration and analysis of recent developments and current trends in the arts, creative and cultural sectors and the transformative opportunities as well as risks associated with new technologies and recent innovations. Because cultural firms operate within a rapidly changing, highly uncertain and dynamic environment, perspectives on who are the most innovative individuals and organisational players equip students with important know-how, enabling success across industries and organizations.

Critical Perspectives in Arts and Culture
Location: Royal Academy, London

This core course introduces students to critical theories in the history of art and culture, including a range of academic and theoretical perspectives which have shaped understandings of the creative and cultural sectors. It will consider how creative and cultural sectors and the arts and how these have evolved and changed in the late 20th and 21st centuries and key trends today which will shape the future.

Personal Leadership
Location: Maastricht University, Maastricht

The leadership development trajectory which is unique to the programme is designed to tailor a participant’s individual requirements to meet individual leadership challenges and goals within their own cultural environment and organization as well as internationally. Professional coaching helps to boost cultural leadership in a dynamic setting and to acknowledge current behavioural patterns as well as develop leadership skills that improve performance. Building upon the foundations of leadership theory and developing an interdisciplinary approach across the programme courses helps formulate leadership skills central to the business culture, differing across countries. Mixed group work in the classroom, guest lectures from global leaders and professional coaching form the integral blocks of this course.

Art & Law
Location: Maastricht University, Maastricht

This core course will consider the legal frameworks necessary for dealing with artworks and goods that have important cultural and heritage value but are also tradeable. A special challenge for the law related to art and cultural objects is the fact that the art trade (legal as well as illicit) is a truly international market. Since artworks are relatively easy to take across borders, objects can show up all over the globe and international and multi-cultural perspectives as well as significant local knowledge is critical.

Study trip

Location: TBC

Date: TBC

Academic Dissertation or Professional Project
Location: Location of choice

Participants on the programme are encouraged to use their final project to pursue their professional ambition, utilising either their own contacts or the extensive professional networks of both the Royal Academy of Arts and Maastricht University. They may also choose to write a purely academic thesis based on archival, secondary or primary research, if preferred. The thesis is on a topic of students’ choice, passing through a rigorous topic-development process alongside academic faculty with practitioner advice and finally a dedicated supervisor, with the final topic to be agreed upon by the programme directors and aiming to make an exciting and rigorous contribution to the existing body of knowledge.

Graduation

Location: TBC

Date: TBC

Self-Study
Location: Location of choice

Date: In preparation of and following all modules

Leadership skills are critical in sustaining a strategic advantage. Understanding how to drive change within a corporate environment or social enterprise is vital in providing a business climate that will enable companies to meet the challenges of the future. Effective leadership skills, competencies and capabilities have some universal qualities across all sectors of human endeavour but successful leadership must also be adapted to specific contexts. Core leadership skills will be introduced and developed in participants, and unique qualities needed for leadership in the arts, cultural sectors and organisations founded on creativity will be explored in depth. The personal leadership unit as well as keynote lectures from inspirational leaders throughout the year will complement class-based learning, individual and groupwork throughout the year.

 

By completing all 8 courses as well as assessed components and courseworks you will graduate with a Master of Arts. MBA status may also be earned by completing 3 extra courses (18 credits) and an international week (6 credits) of our MaastrichtMBA programme and successful completion of an extended thesis.

As a student in an international programme you will have all the advantages of two homes – one in London at the Royal Academy and one in Maastricht at the School of Business and Economics – with all the benefits of facilities in both, as well as a range of international study trips throughout the year. As a bonus, students also gain access to Maastricht University´s Brussels Campus.

London

With the Royal Academy of Arts as their home, ECML students get to experience buzzing and lively London from one of its prime locations. The RA is housed in a 17th-century mansion in the heart of a cosmopolitan cultural quarter in central London – between Piccadilly and Mayfair – a stone’s throw from St James’s and Buckingham Palace. It is a five minutes’ walk from Green Park tube and Piccadilly Circus as well as near some of the best bars, cafés and restaurants in the city.

Maastricht

Maastricht is a vibrant university town in southern Netherlands, nestled at the heart of Europe. It is notable for its medieval architecture with Gothic churches and picturesque cobbled old town bordering the banks of the grand Maas river. Great food, artisanal products and cultural presence are the key words of this town. It is surrounded by beautiful nature which is studded with historic castles and country houses. The historic architecture of the town is home to many of the university buildings transformed into modern educational facilities; libraries, classrooms and lecture theatres and student areas.

The School of Business and Economics is housed in a former Jesuit church and monastery, build respectively in 1868 and 1938. The building is located in the attractive city centre and was the first location of Maastricht University when it started, with only fifty students, in 1976. Nowadays, the insides of the building have been renovated in order to facilitate modern learning amenities for the 4200 students at the faculty. However, part of the historic function are still visible, for example in the buildings Aula which is housed in the former church.

Other
During the programme we will visit a number of Arts and Cultural Events. Some events we have attended in the past have included: Frieze, TEFAF, Venice Biennale, FIAC, BRAFA, and/or ArtBasel.

The EMCL’s mission is to educate the next generation of cultural leaders. In order to support this mission, the RA and Maastricht University School of Business and Economics are offering a €5000 grant for exceptional candidates. Applications are open to anyone who has applied to and been offered a place on the Executive Master in Cultural Leadership. In order to apply for the grant, please provide a detailed plan for the next five years, explaining how following the Executive Master in Cultural Leadership will help you to be influential in the cultural community. Your plan must be realistic in reaching the end goal. You can present the plan through a medium of your choice. Deadline is January 15th, 2024. For questions, please contact Professor Rachel Pownall through emcl-sbe@maastrichtuniversity.nl or +31 (0) 43 388 3838

Maastricht has a large number of hotels, however tends to get very busy at certain times of the year, particularly during the European Fine Art Fair (TEFAF) and when the Andre Rieu concerts take place. It is therefore a good idea to reserve early and we encourage our EMCL participants to stay close together. 

For your convenience we recommend that you stay at either of these hotels, at which we have arranged a special rate. Please reserve yourself using the links below. 

Maastricht Housing offers students accommodation at reasonable prices.

If you wish to stay elsewhere in Maastricht, we recommend using the following link to book a hotel or specifically during TEFAF use this link.

Hotel Les Charmes

Click here for more information

Book now:

Email info@hotellescharmes.nl mentioning Maastricht University Executive Master in Cultural Leadership

t: +31 43 321 2521

a: Lenculenstraat 18 6211KR Maastricht 

Prices: UM-EMCL rate exclusive of tourist tax 

Sunday to Thursday: €99 per night 

Friday to Saturday: € 120 per night 

Hotel Derlon

Click here for more information

Book now:

Email info@derlon.com mentioning Maastricht University Executive Master in Cultural Leadership

t: +31 43 321 6770

 
a: Onze Lieve Vrouweplein 6 6211HD Maastricht

Prices: UM-EMCL €152,50,- per room, per night, single use including the breakfast but excluding the city tax & service charge of €8,25 per person, per night. Upgrade to Premium Deluxe available at an additional charge of €25 per night.

The MBA status may also be earned by completing the 3 extra courses outlined below of Maastricht University MaastrichtMBA programme, the International Week, and successful completion of an extended thesis.

Students who want to combine the EMCL with the MBA as a dual degree programme are required to complete all modules of the EMCL programme and in addition:

  • Complete the MBA module “The International Environment of Business”.
  • Complete the MBA module “Understanding Organisations in Times of Change”.
  • Complete the MBA module “Corporate Finance & Accounting”.
  • Complete the MBA “International Week”
  • Write an extended EMCL-MBA thesis

Contact

Danai Papathanasiou
Programme Manager (Maastricht)
+31 43 388 3838

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