Description
This Master’s programme in Coordination of Cultural and Intercultural Projects (IPCI) comprises theory-based, methodology-based and applied course units. It is available as one single, vocationally oriented subject pathway. It aims at students’ direct entry into employment, but also offers those students who wish to puruse doctoral studies the opportunity to do so. This pathway brings together university learning and skills gained via experience in different socio-economic contexts in equal measure.
Objectives
With over ten years’ experience, the Master’s in Coordination of Cultural and Intercultural Projects has not only firmly established itself as a top programme in the field of cultural coordination, but is also one of the rare programmes to consider both European and intercultural contexts. Thanks to a careful balance between technical know-how in the field of cultural coordination on the one hand and a humanist approach on the other, this Master’s programme hopes to shape future leaders in the cultural world generally. The programme can be followed as an initial programme of basic study or as a programme of continued development.
This Master’s programme has been devised in partnership with Sciences Po Bordeaux (Institute of Political Science). Although it is firmly anchored in the field of the humanities, it also offers a demanding pathway that prepares students for entry into employment. An extensive network of public bodies, associations and private partnerships provides a constant point of contact with the changes underway in cultural professions.
The objective of this programme is to develop students’ flexibility and open-mindedness towards the world, enabling them to meaningfully position their own artistic and cultural action with regard to contemporary concerns and issues. This artistic and cultural action may be within the framework of regional authorities, the voluntary sector or within cultural bodies. This Master’s programme also prepares students for the ideation, launch, management and evaluation of cultural projects with an intercultural or international scope. Therein lies the particular appeal and originality of this programme of study.
The Master’s in Coordination of Cultural and Intercultural Projects is associated with the Université Bordeaux Montaigne research team for literature, politics and modernity (TELEM). The programme also maintains close links with the research laboratory for mediation, information, communication and the arts (MICA), with Université Bordeaux Montaigne’s working group for cross-disciplinary research on aesthetics and societies (ARTES) and with the centre for social and political science (Centre Emile Durkheim).
This Master’s programme is also behind the Université Bordeaux Montaigne’s centre for societal innovation (UBIC), which was created to provide services to private and public cultural stakeholders whilst also doubling up as a useful resource for students seeking entry into employment.
Training content
Two years of study: Master 1 (M1) and Master 2 (M2)
Master 1: First year of two-year Master’s programme
Designed with the aim of providing students with a solid foundation in general cultural knowledge and skills, the first year of this two-year programme introduces students to the key issues in contemporary cultural policies and the management of projects.
- Humanities and Intercultural Studies: multidisciplinary teaching where aesthetics meets art philosophy, and contemporary global literary approaches are crossed with an exploration of countercultures. The question of the ‘intercultural’ is also interrogated via course units on literature and modern languages.
- Digital Technology, Communications and Networks: in addition to the theory-based teaching on network communications and sociology, there are writing workshops, practice-based DTP projects and workshops for web tools, documentation and communications. There are also course units on practical theory, which focus on developing an understanding of the issues and problems surrounding the Internet (new collaborative and participative trends).
- Essential Knowledge for Cultural Coordinators: teaching on the history of cultural politics and the sociology of cultural practices lays the foundations for a classical analysis of public sector action. A refresher unit on law and political institutions reinforces this perspective. Classes on new perspectives in cultural and creative industries and on new European and international cultural models illustrate recent transformations within the cultural sector.
- Applied Unit: building on the methodologies learned for cultural project leadership, a further module is devoted to the observation of a structure (in a group and accompanied by a tutor). Students may also have the opportunity to observe real world ‘sites of construction’, thanks to social innovation projects being run by the Université Bordeaux Montaigne platform for collaborative research and action in social innovation (UBIC). This offers students a unique internal view. Students are able to develop their oral skills through attendance of regular conferences on method and technique, which also provides an opportunity to monitor students individually. There is a compulsory internship of two to four months.
Master 2: Second year of two-year Master’s programme
In the second year of this two-year Master’s programme, classes are reorganised in order to make space for the internship (duration: four to six months) and the production of the final dissertation. Classes last from September to February and are organised according to four unit blocks, as in Master 1. In Master 2 the goal is the acquisition of, and experimentation with, the knowledge and skills gained in class.
- Intercultural Studies: the study of European policies and the assembly of European projects, a critical perspective on cultural rights and diversity, particularly from a legal point of view.
The continued study of two modern languages is also compulsory.
- Digital Tools and Communications: in Master 2, priority is given to a practical approach via the study of digital tools, both their use for cultural coordination and as an organisational aid.
- Essential Skills for Cultural Coordinators: the unit block entitled Essential Knowledge for Cultural Coordinators takes a more specialised approach with regard to technical skills, including managing organisations, understanding economic models, handling accounting and budgets and becoming familiar with legal specificities in the field of culture.
- Applied Unit (workshops): this block is still structured around regular conferences on methods and techniques and gives students the opportunity to respond to external works ‘project orders’ for social innovation works. The block is arranged around the project ideation module, which is a student-led module (in groups). Students receive personalised support for their project. This project offers scope for the practical application of the theory-based learning described above.
The Master 2 degree is only awarded following the oral defence of a dissertation.
Access condition
Find information regarding enrolment procedures and the supporting documents to be provided, according to your profile and your level of studies :
Trainings
The tuition is spread out across three semesters, with a further semester dedicated to a long internship. Teaching is organised around four unit blocks.
- Humanities and Intercultural Studies: students consolidate their levels of general cultural knowledge and capacity for critical analysis, notably with regard to their understanding of cultural pluralism.
- Digital Technology, Communications and Networks: students acquire a good command of digital tools and understand the organisation, aesthetic and sociological changes underway linked to digital technology.
- Essential Knowledge for Cultural Coordinators: students – and future professionals – gain the practical know-how and theoretical knowledge necessary to successfully lead projects.
- Applied Unit: students implement their knowledge and skills within professional situations.
There are regular conferences, which are an opportunity for students to meet a range of professionals from the cultural community.
Career pathways
The extensive list of professions that students may access upon graduation is a reflection of the diversity of the fields of application and the range of situations observed in the field. The employment opportunities that may follow from a Master’s programme in Coordination of Cultural and Intercultural Projects might include on the one hand, positions linked to the management of a venue or the organisation of a festival, or on the other the management of a professional network or company. There are opportunities for employment as:
- project managers within a cultural operation or cultural facilities (voluntary or public sector)
- project managers/leaders for cultural policy within a local authority
- heads of regional touristic and cultural development
- administrators/managers of an artistic team or cultural event (festivals etc.)
- productions or broadcasting manager
- heads of educational services and facilities (libraries, museums etc.).
- cultural mediators.
