Cultural Studies: Culture and Organization

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. This is done by taking an in­ter­na­tio­nal approach and en­ga­ging with re­se­arch from va­rious pla­ces and set­tings. Although the programme overall is taught in Eng­lish, some elec­tives are of­fe­red in Ger­man.

The Masters 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). They learn to in­ves­ti­ga­te the dif­fe­rent or­ga­niza­t­io­nal mo­des, en­tre­pre­neu­ri­al and so­ci­al prac­tices and tech­no­lo­gies and dis­cour­ses that shape the­se in­sti­tu­ti­ons and or­ga­niza­t­i­ons. Em­ploy­ing a broad un­der­stan­ding of cul­tu­re as a lens, the Masters also mo­bi­li­ses 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. The­se in­clu­de the so­cio­lo­gy of ar­tis­tic or­ga­niza­t­i­on and of cul­tu­ral en­tre­pre­neurship, and in­ter­di­sci­pli­na­ry re­se­arch into crea­ti­ve in­dus­tries and di­gi­tal cultures. The pro­gram­me is run by the Fa­cul­ty of Hu­ma­nities and So­ci­al Sci­en­ces in close cooperation with the Fa­cul­ty of Busi­ness and Eco­no­mics. Through dif­fe­rent for­mats of in­no­va­ti­ve stu­dent en­ga­ge­ment, the pro­gram­me combines fiel­d­work-centred edu­ca­ti­on with re­se­arch-ba­sed teaching.

There are four components to the Cul­tu­re and Or­ga­niza­t­i­on pro­gram­me. In the core area of stu­dy, stu­dents explore key to­pics in the field of or­ga­niza­t­i­ons and or­ga­ni­zing cul­tu­re and the arts, cul­tu­ral en­tre­pre­neurship, 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 mo­du­les on or­ga­niza­t­i­on theo­ry, di­gi­tal cul­tu­res or cri­ti­cal stu­dies. It is also pos­si­ble to choo­se en­tre­pre­neurship or busi­ness stu­dies mo­du­les as electives. The in­te­gra­ti­on modules for cul­tu­ral stu­dies bring to­ge­ther stu­dents from all Masters pro­gram­mes at the Fa­cul­ty of Hu­ma­nities and So­ci­al Sci­en­ces and familiarise them with the his­to­ry and me­thods of and cur­rent de­ba­tes in cul­tu­ral stu­dies. Com­ple­men­ta­ry Stu­dies enables stu­dents to take clas­ses bey­ond their im­me­dia­te field of stu­dy in or­der to broa­den their un­der­stan­ding of key con­tem­pora­ry chal­len­ges for cul­tu­re and so­cie­ty. These four components together prepare students for wri­ting their re­se­arch-ba­sed Masters dis­ser­ta­ti­on and participating in the Masters Fo­rum, the accompanying col­lo­qui­um at which they pre­sent and dis­cuss their dis­ser­ta­ti­on pro­jects.

Du­ring the fourth se­mes­ter of their Masters pro­gram­me, stu­dents em­bark on their dis­ser­ta­ti­on. Dis­ser­ta­ti­ons link ad­van­ced theo­ries to an in-depth en­ga­ge­ment with core em­pi­ri­cal pheno­me­na of cul­tu­re and or­ga­niza­t­i­on. A collec­tive pro­cess or­ga­ni­zed around dissertation-wri­ting me­ans stu­dents will sha­re their ex­pe­ri­en­ces and re­cei­ve re­gu­lar sup­port from peers and teaching staff: the dissertation is not simply an individual challenge. The de­di­ca­ted Masters 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.

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 Office. In addition, there is a programme-specific cooperation with the University of Groningen. Further specific international cooperations are currently 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 Masters degrees in two years on the basis of a specially coordinated curriculum. To get to Culture, Language, Literature click here.

The Masters 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 Mas­ters and doc­to­ral pha­ses of­fers stu­dents a unique op­por­tu­ni­ty to join the scho­lar­ly com­mu­ni­ty at very ear­ly sta­ge.

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

Please note in particular: In the selection process for the study programme Culture & Organization, interviews will take place in the week of 28 June to 2 July 2021. 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. Preparation is not necessary.

Degree awarded: Mas­ter of Arts, MA
Application deadline: 1 June
Type of programme: The­ma­tic re­le­van­ce
Study places: 25
Start date: Every win­ter term, Oc­to­ber
Extent: 120 ECTS
Duration: 4 se­mes­ters
Language: Eng­lish, some electives in German
Location: Lüne­burg
Contribution per semester: 360 EUR *

*sub­ject to chan­ge