A Summer Academy marked the end of the second round of the Master’s Degree in Cultural Policy and Cultural Management, a two-year program that Culture Resource established in partnership with Hassan II University which hosts the program in Morocco, the University of Hildesheim in Germany and its UNESCO Chair for Cultural Policies for Arts in Development. Held in Lebanon from 24 to 27 September 2022, the four-day academy was attended by 15 students of different Arab nationalities. Participants discussed their master’s theses as well as a range of pressing issues related to cultural policies and cultural management. They also had opportunities to get acquainted with various aspects of the cultural scene in Lebanon and to gain deeper insight into cultural policy and management practices in Lebanon and the Arab region as a whole.
Activities focused on the practical aspects of cultural project management and cultural policy, taking Lebanon as a case study of a country facing multiple economic and political crises. In the process, the MA students were introduced to an array of academic experts, cultural actors and artists from the Arab region and Lebanon in particular, presenting the opportunity to compare different systems and strategies for cultural management and policies and to gain exposure to new and different perspectives in order to deepen their understanding of cultural work and its challenges.
Most of the Summer Academy’s activities took place in Beirut. These included field trips to organizations involved in the arts and culture, such as the National Library, the Orient-Institut Beirut and the Arab Image Foundation, and a visit to the Allo Beirut art exhibition. In addition, students took a trip to Tripoli where they attended a roundtable of artists and cultural actors held on the sidelines of the Tripoli Film Festival. This activity enabled the Summer Academy participants to acquaint themselves with artists and civic cultural initiatives, and to engage in discussions on national cultural policies, the experiences of local independent organizations, artistic production and cultural management practices.
Suspension of the MA program
After two successful rounds in which 27 students followed the Master’s Degree in Cultural Policy and Cultural Management program, which Culture Resource launched in 2018 in partnership with Hassan II University in Morocco, the University of Hildesheim in Germany and the university’s UNESCO Chair for Cultural Policies for Arts in Development and which has been carried out with support from the Ford Foundation, Culture Resource and its partners in this program thought it best to dedicate the 2022/2023 academic year to assessing the future of the program. Towards this end, we will follow up on the results of the evaluation of the first two rounds, study the recommendations and then take the steps to redesign the program and relaunch it in a new format once the necessary resources and appropriate conditions are available. Therefore, we will not be accepting applications for this academic year. Any updates will be communicated through our channels.
The MA program team is keen to build on the experience so far and to forge new partnerships and collaborations so as to ensure the sustainability of the program and its goal, which is to build a new generation of researchers, cultural workers, cultural policy makers and academics equipped to contribute to the advancement of cultural activity in their countries and the Arab region as a whole.
*Photo of the students of Cohort II of the MA in Cultural Policies & Cultural Management in Tripoli, Lebanon during their Summer Academy – September, 2022.
