Master's Degree Programme in Cultural Policy

The Master’s Degree Programme in Cultural Policy provides students with analytical knowledge of the social, economic and political dimensions of arts and culture. The focus of this social sciences based programme lies on the ways in which culture in a wider sense changes and shapes people's lives. This includes changes in culture and art production, media technologies, language, education, economy, politics and policy. In the intersection of various transformation processes it is crucial to analyze how cultural institutions such as museums, art institutions, education, media and administration define their roles and reorganize their policies and practices. Furthermore, the programme addresses issues of cultural identities, such as ethnicity, race, national identity and gender, and examines how they shape and are shaped in the changing social landscape. The social, political and cultural changes also shape the ways in which collective identities and cultural memory are constructed.

The Cultural Policy program participates actively in the international networks, cooperates with leading scholars, and focuses on the most current and leading edge topics of the cultural policy field. The program plays a key role in contributing to the ongoing evolution of this field and is a primary player in the global cultural policy research community.
Through this programme students develop expertise and competences for research, strategy, management and creatively-oriented professional fields. The working life spectrum includes public, private and third sector organizations. There is an option to specialize in Finnish cultural policy, and complete part of studies in Finnish language. Successful completion of the programme qualifies students for PhD studies.