Cultural Studies: Culture and Organization

The pro­gram­me in­tro­du­ces cul­tu­ral and so­cio­lo­gi­cal theo­ries as cri­ti­cal len­ses for stu­dy­ing con­tem­pora­ry or­ga­niza­t­i­on and or­ga­ni­zing. On this ba­sis, stu­dents learn to en­ga­ge empirically and analytically with or­ga­niza­t­io­nal and en­tre­pre­neu­ri­al prac­tices in dif­fe­rent sec­tors, sys­tems, fiel­ds and in­dus­tries of arts and cul­tu­re.

As a distinct feature, the Cul­tu­re and Or­ga­niza­t­i­on Masters is situated at the in­ter­sec­tion of the or­ga­niza­t­i­on of cul­tu­re and the arts and what is cal­led the ‘cul­tu­ra­liza­t­i­on’ of or­ga­niza­t­i­ons.

With mo­du­les de­di­ca­ted to cul­tu­ral and ar­tis­tic fiel­ds, in­sti­tu­ti­ons and di­gi­tal net­works, the programme studies cul­tu­re and organization as an em­pi­ri­cal set­ting and through field work.

The pre­sent and fu­ture prac­tices of work and or­ga­niza­t­i­on are in­ves­ti­ga­ted in their ur­ban, in­sti­tu­tio­nal and net­wor­ked con­texts. Cul­tu­re and the arts, and cul­tu­ral theo­ry, are the­re­fo­re stu­di­ed as cri­ti­cal agents for un­der­stan­ding and shaping our organizations and so­cie­ty.

• Degree awarded: Mas­ter of Arts, MA
• Application deadline: EU degrees: 1 June / Non-EU degrees: 1 May
• Highlights: Culture and the arts as organizational phenomena; theory- and practice-based teaching and learning; educating reflective practitioners for a career in scholar­ship, cultural organizing or cultural leader­ship
• Is aimed at: Graduates of sociology, manage­ment and the wider field of social science, cultural studies and the arts
• Type of programme: Con­secutive, restricted admission (entrance inter­views)
• Study places: 25
• Start date: Every win­ter term, Oc­to­ber
• Extent: 120 ECTS
• Duration: 4 se­mes­ters
• Language: Eng­lish, some electives in German
• Location: Lüne­burg
• Semester contribution: approx. 450 EUR

The cour­ses in­tro­du­ce stu­dents to cul­tu­ral so­cio­lo­gy, the so­cio­lo­gy of arts and cul­tu­re, the stu­dy of di­gi­tal cul­tu­res and new forms of or­ga­ni­zing and of ma­nage­ment and cul­tu­ral en­tre­pre­neurship. Steeped in the tradition of sociology and cultural studies, the programme takes a pronounced in­ter­na­tio­nal approach and en­ga­ges with up-to-date re­se­arch and methods. The programme is fully taught in Eng­lish; in addition, further elec­tives are of­fe­red in Ger­man.

The Master's pro­gram­me ap­proa­ches cul­tu­re in two ways – as an em­pi­ri­cal set­ting and as a cri­ti­cal and con­cep­tu­al lens. Stu­dents learn to stu­dy and un­der­stand dif­fe­rent in­sti­tu­ti­ons and or­ga­ni­za­ti­ons in cul­tu­ral and ar­tis­tic sec­tors (from ur­ban mo­ve­ments to the crea­ti­ve in­dus­tries and net­work cul­tu­re). Importantly, they learn to in­ves­ti­ga­te dif­fe­rent or­ga­niza­t­io­nal mo­des, en­tre­pre­neu­ri­al and so­ci­al prac­tices and tech­no­lo­gies and dis­cour­ses that shape the­se in­sti­tu­ti­ons and or­ga­niza­t­i­ons through fieldwork-based and artistically inspired approaches. Em­ploy­ing a broad un­der­stan­ding of cul­tu­re as a lens, the Masters also mobilizes cul­tu­ral and so­ci­al theo­ries in or­der to cri­ti­cal­ly re­flect on how or­ga­niza­t­io­nal prac­tices and dis­cour­ses are shaped by cul­tu­ral and tech­no­lo­gi­cal trans­for­ma­ti­ons.

This com­pre­hen­si­ve ap­proach to cul­tu­re and or­ga­niza­t­i­on is ba­sed on long­stan­ding re­se­arch tra­di­ti­ons and cur­rent re­se­arch pro­jects at Leu­pha­na Uni­ver­si­ty. The pro­gram­me is run by the Fa­cul­ty of Hu­ma­nities and So­ci­al Sci­en­ces in cooperation with the Fa­cul­ty of Management and Technology, and with local and international partners in the cultural and university sectors.

There are four components to the Cul­tu­re & Or­ga­niza­t­i­on pro­gram­me. In the core area of stu­dy, stu­dents ex­plore key to­pics in the fields of or­ga­ni­zing cul­tu­re and the arts, cul­tu­ral en­tre­pre­neur­ship and inter­ventions, di­gi­tal me­dia and cul­tu­ral so­cio­lo­gy.

There are also three com­ple­men­ta­ry com­po­n­ents: elec­ti­ves, in­te­gra­ti­on modules and Com­ple­men­ta­ry Stu­dies. The elec­tives al­low stu­dents to both fo­cus and broa­den their stu­dy of cul­tu­re and or­ga­niza­t­i­on, e.g. with courses on or­ga­niza­t­i­on theo­ry, queer and gender studies, pheno­mena of migration and mobility, studies of media and tech­nology, art theory, en­tre­pre­neurship or busi­ness stu­dies. The in­te­gra­ti­on modules for cul­tu­ral stu­dies bring to­ge­ther stu­dents from all Master's pro­gram­mes at the School of Culture and Society to study and debate the his­to­ry of, and cur­rent de­ba­tes in, cul­tu­ral theory. The Com­ple­men­ta­ry Stu­dies enable students to deepen their studies metho­dically and con­ceptually, and to supple­ment them with cross-programme per­spectives from all faculties. Together, these four com­ponents prepare students for wri­ting their re­se­arch-ba­sed Master's thesis.

Here you can find further information on the course content of the Master's programme Cultural Studies: Culture and Organization.

Du­ring the fourth se­mes­ter of their Master's pro­gram­me, stu­dents em­bark on their thesis. Theses link ad­van­ced theo­ries to an in-depth en­ga­ge­ment with core em­pi­ri­cal pheno­me­na of cul­tu­re and or­ga­niza­t­i­on. A de­di­ca­ted Master's Fo­rum brings all stu­dents to­ge­ther with teaching staff and is a space in which stu­dents can pre­sent their work in pro­gress, learn about me­thods, and re­cei­ve peer-to-peer feed­back. As a collec­tive pro­cess or­ga­ni­zed around thesis-wri­ting, stu­dents will sha­re their ex­pe­ri­en­ces and re­cei­ve re­gu­lar sup­port from peers and teaching staff: the thesis is not simply an individual challenge.

The following link provides access to documents which set out the general conditions for examinations, an overview of the curriculum, as well as detailed and legally binding regulations.

General Assessment Regulations and the Subject-Specific Schedules

You can integrate a stay abroad into your studies in the 3rd or 4th semester, either as part of the Erasmus programme + or with one of our non-European partners. There are around 30 faculty-related exchange programmes to choose from. You can find more information on the partner universities on the pages of the International Center.

In addition, there are programme-specific international cooperations such as the European Haniel Program on Entrepreneurship and the Humanities (bringing together students and faculty from Bristol, Copenhagen, Lüneburg, Paris, St.Gallen and Venice), and an annual joint seminar with the Universiy of St. Gallen’s programme in Management, Organization Studies and Cultural Theory (MOK). Further specific international cooperations are in preparation.

As part of a German-Italian partner­ship with the University of Genoa, students can choose to spend the second year of their Masters at the Università degli Studi di Genova and acquire two Master's degrees (Double Degree) in two years on the basis of a specially co­ordinated curriculum.

• Click here for more information on the double degree programme

The Master's pro­gram­me gives stu­dents an un­der­stan­ding of the way in which or­ga­niza­t­i­on fun­da­men­tal­ly con­di­ti­ons cul­tu­re and so­cie­ty, and it teaches me­tho­do­lo­gi­cal and analytical skills for re­se­arch into the discourses, practices and technologies of organization. The programme provides practice-based knowledge of, and competencies for, organizing culture, and teaches stu­dents trans­fe­ra­ble skills in com­mu­ni­ca­ti­on and teamwork. All of the­se ca­pa­bi­li­ties and skills are in high de­mand in a wide range of oc­cupa­ti­ons.

The pro­gram­me is sui­ta­ble both for stu­dents seeking to pur­sue an aca­de­mic ca­re­er and for tho­se who would like to take on responsible roles in the cul­tu­ral and crea­ti­ve in­dus­try, in the arts, in the me­dia, in the pu­blic sec­tor, in ur­ban de­ve­lop­ment or in foundations and charitable organizations.

Qua­li­fied stu­dents with a par­ti­cu­lar­ in­te­rest in re­se­arch have the option of si­mul­ta­neous­ly re­gis­tering for the Doc­to­ral Track. Com­bi­ning the Mas­ter's and doc­to­ral pha­ses of­fers stu­dents a unique op­por­tu­ni­ty to join the scho­lar­ly com­mu­ni­ty at very ear­ly sta­ge. Doctoral students in the Doctoral Track programme are members of one of the Faculty's doctoral research groups in cultural studies.

As a student in our programme, you have the opportunity to start your doctorate early via the Doctoral Track.

Thus, you to become part of the scientific community of our doctoral research groups at an early stage, giving you the unique opportunity to combine your Master's and doctoral studies and, with your doctorate in sight, to obtain your Master's degree en-route.

You can find all information about the admission and require­ments, the application and the selection procedure on our "Admissions and Require­ments" page.

Please note that in the selection process for the study programme Culture and Organization, all applicants with degrees considered to be consecutive will be individually interviewed from 17th - 20th June or 10th and 11th July 2025. The purpose of this interview is to obtain a personal impression of your interest and your motivation as well as your suitability for the Master's programme in Culture & Organization. Hereby, you can achieve up to 18 additional points in the selection process and thus improve your prospects of a study place in Lüneburg. The 20-minute interviews are conducted online and in English. Invitations to the interviews are sent out by email approximately one week before the interviews.

The study programme matches your interests? Then you will find further information for prospective inter­national students on residence and social matters, such as visa, residence permit, health insurance or finding accommo­dation, on the following pages.

Please note that the information for incoming exchange students and inter­national degree-seeking students differs slightly.

Information for incoming exchange students

Information for inter­national degree-seeking students