A first of its kind in the Arab region, the Master’s in Cultural Policy and Cultural Management is a two-year program taught in both Arabic and English. It is hosted by the Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Ben M’sik, at the Hassan II University in Casablanca, Morocco. Culture Resource established this program with Hassan II University and the University of Hildesheim in Germany and its UNESCO Chair for Cultural Policies for Arts in Development as a cooperating partner. The program is supported by the Ford Foundation and the British Council.
The Master’s degree in Cultural Policy and Cultural Management aims to develop a new generation of researchers, cultural managers, policy makers, and academics capable of contributing to cultural practices in their countries and in the Arab region, and working with a strategic approach in the public cultural sector, creative industries, and the independent non-profit cultural sector. The program seeks to build capacities that would enable the students to play an active role in promoting and supporting freedom of expression, wider access to culture, intraregional and international cultural collaboration, and professionalism.
The program courses are drawn from two fields of knowledge: cultural policies and cultural management. The content of these courses cover academic skills, such as academic research and writing methodologies; cultural policies topics, such as cultural policy models, cultural policies writing, cultural trends in the Arab region, and cultural legislations; cultural management topics including cultural mediation, audience building, human resources management in cultural institutions, strategic planning, cultural economy and marketing, cultural projects design and implementation.
The program is designed in accordance with recommendations presented in a feasibility study commissioned by Culture Resource about the development of an Arab academic degree in cultural policies and cultural management in the Arab region, and conducted by a team of researchers comprised of experts in cultural management and cultural policies. The team conducted field visits in Morocco, Egypt, Lebanon, and Tunisia between October 2013 and February 2014. The conception of this Master’s program is the result of accumulating experiences and expertise in cultural policies and cultural management gained through the Cultural Management program launched in 2004 and the Cultural Policy program launched in 2009 by Culture Resource.
