Professional Doctorate in Arts and Cultural Management
" Are you working in the arts and cultural sector and want to make space to reflect on, explore and develop your practice through advanced academic research?
" Would you like to improve your knowledge and skills in research, evaluation, analysis and writing for publication?
" Do you want to undertake supervised research on creative and cultural practices, management and policy that will provide critical insight transferrable to your own practice and that of your professional and organisational base?
We are now accepting applications for the September 2012 entry of the Professional Doctorate in Arts and Cultural Management. This pioneering doctoral programme, which was launched in September 2011 is specifically designed for people working in the arts and cultural sector who want to undertake advanced research which builds on their professional knowledge and practice. The structure of the Professional Doctorate is devised to enable you to develop your career while simultaneously studying for a doctoral qualification.
It is relevant to anyone working at a senior level, as a leader, employee or freelancer in the arts, who wants to develop research and analytical skills through an advanced, bespoke research project which is based on professional practice. The programme is designed to provide appropriate resources and a support structure for learning and reflection, and brings together academic and professional contexts to develop new research outcomes in arts and cultural management, communications, development, engagement, economy, leadership, production and policy. It runs concurrent with your own practice —whether continuous employment in one professional context or contract-based employment across a number of contexts — which provides the basis for your practice-based research project.
Alongside the Professional Doctorates in Museum Practice and Applied Theatre, the programme facilitates structured, individualised professional development providing access to a peer cohort, and the conversion of institutional knowledge into rich and diverse research outputs. Students are introduced to a range of challenging interdisciplinary concepts and methods, enabling professional contexts to become primary research resources and producing critical, reflexive and evaluative research within an informed academic supervision context, supported by professional mentoring.
Some FAQs below:
What is a Professional Doctorate?
A Professional Doctorates takes explicit account of the professional practice-base of the candidate and integrate this as a central knowledge base for an advanced research project.
The Professional Doctorate in Arts and Cultural Management supports the development of reflective practice that can respond to, influence and become embedding in the complex social and cultural contexts for the broad field of activities comprising arts and cultural management. The programme introduces students to a range of dynamic and challenging concepts and methods with which to reflect critically and constructively on their professional practice.
How does it work?
The structure of the programme is designed to support people who are embarking on advanced research for the first time and/or who are combining doctoral study with a career. Students join together in a learning environment to investigate the principles of reflective practice, practice-based research and enquiry based learning. This pedagogical approach enables students' professional context to become their primary research resource.
Students will receive individual supervision from an academic supervisor with a specialism related to their field of research as well as opportunities to develop reflective enquiry into practice via group-based learning exercises with other practitioners at two long residential weekends per year.
It is envisaged that this programme will be most appealing as part-time study. However, a full-time option is included as there may be applicants with special circumstances that would make full-time study a viable option.
Module details
Students receive six individual supervisions a year. Taught units will be facilitated via two long residential weekends annually (Thursday 9am - Sunday midday, to take place in the Autumn and Spring).
After completion of the first 12 months of study each student will be assigned a 'professional mentor'. The professional mentor will be a reputable, competent and experienced professional in a field related to the candidate's practice-based research.
Progress will be monitored primarily via individual supervisions, checking students' progress against key milestones. The key milestones are represented by the assessment for each stage of the process. These are:
Year 1: literature review and research essay (12,000 words in total)
Year 2: conference paper and publishable article (6-8000 words)
Year 3: research proposal and portfolio of reflective practice (12,000 words in total)
Year 4-6: individual targets appropriate to the completion of the thesis research
Year 6: thesis of 40-45,000 words OR practical outcome accompanied by a 20-45,000 word dissertation.
Duration: 36 Months (Full-Time) or 72 Months (Part Time)
Degree awarded: Doctor of Arts and Cultural Management
Entry requirements
Minimum of IELTS 7 for students whose first language is not English.
A Master's degree in Arts Management or a discipline relevant to the proposed PhD (eg. marketing, finance, business studies, education and learning, public affairs, community development &c); or a Bachelor's degree (1st or 2:1) plus appropriate professional training and experience.
All candidates much be able to demonstrate evidence of a competent level of professional expertise in an appropriate aspect of museum practice (eg. collections management, exhibition curation, interpretation, education, documentation, policy formation). Professional experience must be equivalent to at least 36 months continuous employment. Candidates without a Masters degree must demonstrate evidence of a competent level of professional experience, based on appropriate professional training and equivalent to at least 48 months continuous employment.
Programme Fees
For entry in 2012, the fees are likely to be no less than £5,000 (£2,500 for part-time) per annum for home/EU students and £12,300 for international students. Full details of fees found here. These figures may be subject to change.
Scholarships/sponsorships: See details for Fees Bursary opportunities for entry in 2012.
Interested?
For more information please contact Abigail.Gilmore@manchester.ac.uk