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.
