BA Creative and Cultural Industries

This course unit will introduce students to concepts and practices in Cultural, Creative and Media Industries (CCIs) from the social development perspective. By studying the key theories and relevant contemporary examples, the course will give students a critical understanding of the cultural, social and economic value and ecology of different CCMIs, nationally and internationally.   The course unit will focus on the relationship between artistic and socio-economic values. This will include studies on public-private relationships, accessibility, well-being, intellectual property, diversity, inclusion, equality, popular and high culture, fair-trade, capital, digital culture, technology, power, and labour conditions. It will enable students to understand the intersection between the CCMIs, markets and politics, economy, and human and social development.

• Develop knowledge of the theoretical framework surrounding the field of Cultural, Creative and Media Industries and Economic Development.  
• Establish a critical ability to read and interpret the historical debates and critically assess the different interpretations of the impact of the Cultural, Creative and Media Industries on artistic and socio-economic development. 
• Develop tools of theoretical knowledge and contextual analysis so as to be able to actively participate in current debates relating to cultural value and multidimensional socio-economic development. 

The intended learning outcomes for this program create a robust foundation for students being introduced to Social and Economic Development concepts in relation to Arts and Culture. These outcomes also emphasise practical skills like research, presentation, and self-improvement through peer review. Moreover, they foster transferable skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving, and effective communication combined with relevant theoretical knowledge. The outcomes will equip students with a comprehensive skill set, enhancing their employability and readiness to navigate and contribute meaningfully to the policy and development debate in the scope of CCIs with emphasis in cultural and artistic industries.

The course unit consists of three parts:

Part I: Cultural Value and Cultural Industries: theoretical references on cultural value and critical studies in Cultural Industries;

Part II: Culture and Economic Development: an overview of the theoretical framework on Economic Development (and its possible dialogues with cultural and artistic value);

Part III: Policies in contemporary themes on Cultural, Creative and Media Industries and Multidimensional Development: including Culture and Urban Development; Culture and Human Development (well-being); Culture and Diversity: Gender, Race and Ethnicity; Cultural Wars; Cultural Rights; Culture, Identity and Globalisation

 

Part I Cultural Value in Cultural and Creative Industries

Week 1: Cultural Value and Economic Value: instrumental definition.

Week 2: Cultural Industries: Frankfurt school and its critics

Week 3: Creative Industries, Arts, and pathways for the development

 

Part II: Culture and Economic Development  

Week 4: Theories of Economic Development  

Week 5: The Economy of Symbolic Goods  

Week 6: Development as Freedom and Capabilities  

Week 7: Structural change, information, and innovation in the Creative Industries    

 

Part II: Policies in contemporary themes on Cultural, Creative and Media Industries and Multidimensional Development  

Week 8: Creative Industries: Policy and Ecosystem  

Week 9: Valuation in Economy of Culture: GDP and beyond  

Week 10: Culture, Diversity and Human Development  

Week 11: Cultural rights, identity, and globalisation

The course will be delivered over 12 weeks through weekly 1-hour lectures and 2-hour seminars (potentially involving field trips and workshop elements).  

During the 2-hour seminar sessions, exercises and group work will be proposed and stimulated to support peer learning and proactive critical engagement with the contents.    

Seminars will offer opportunities for individual feedback and monitoring student progress to support inclusion, alongside weekly office hours for academic advisement.     

E-learning: Students will prepare for lectures and seminars through asynchronous content on Blackboard and through e-learning mechanisms such as collaboration tools, online exercises, and self-directed reading guided by spark pages. The use of lecture capture and other recorded materials will support inclusion.

• Comprehension of the fundamentals of the Cultural, Creative and Media Industries and economic development studies.  
• Understanding the application of the basic economic thought to the arts, cultural creative and media industries, from an interdisciplinary perspective.   
• Demonstrating an ability to engage with contemporary debates on how culture can lead a strategy for socio-economic and human development.  

• Understand a multidisciplinary view of the relationship between socio-economic development and artistic value (and how to communicate it through a written piece). 
• Apply skills and ideas learned during the course unit to interpret the role of the Arts in a social context as well as its implications in policies while remaining aware of the complexity of the issues. 

• Write essays and literature reviews that demonstrate a BA level 1 competence in the organization of evidence and argument. 
• Retrieve, select and critically evaluate information from a variety of sources, including libraries, archives, and the internet. 
• Demonstrate independent learning ability suitable for continuing study and professional development.

• Demonstrate critical thinking and analytical skills in the context of debates over the use of arts for socio-economic development. 
• Solve problems related to the use of arts for social and economic development, in the context of global inequalities. 
• Present complex information clearly in verbal, visual and written formats.

Assessment task	Formative or Summative	Length	Weighting within unit (if relevant)
Essay plan	Formative	500 words	0%
Literature review proposed list	Formative	300 words	0%
Critical Literature Review	Summative	1500 words	50%
Essay	Summative	1500 words	50%

 

Feedback method	Formative or Summative
Written feedback on literature review	Summative
Written feedback on essay	Summative
Verbal, in class/written	Formative

Belfiore, Eleonora., and Oliver. Bennett. The Social Impact of the Arts :  An Intellectual History. 1st edition. 2008. London: Palgrave Macmillan UK, 2008 

Bourdieu, Pierre, Richard Nice, and Tony Bennett . Distinction: a Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste . Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, 2010. 

Brook, Orian, Dave O’Brien, and Mark Taylor. Culture Is Bad for You : Inequality in the Cultural and Creative Industries. Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 2020 

Crossik, G., & Kaszynska, P. Understanding the value of arts & culture: The AHRC Cultural Value Project. Arts and humanities research council, 2016 

Mazzucato, Mariana (2018). The Value of Everything. London: Penguin, 

Oakley, Kate., and Justin. O’Connor. The Routledge Companion to the Cultural Industries. London ;: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2015 

Throsby, D. (2001). Economics and Culture. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.  

Sen, Amartya (2001). Development as Freedom. Oxford: Oxford University Press.