POLI.design

Master in Designing Culture, Art, Design, Cultural Enterprises

Educational Objectives

The Master trains new professional figures who create and communicate cultural projects in different fields: visual, multimedia and design arts (as project managers or curators of exhibition events and art interventions), the valorization of the territory based on cultural resources and tourism (as territorial development consultants for local authorities).

The main objective of the Master is to teach how to design and plan the actions necessary to create a coordinated cultural activity capable of using current languages ​​to open up to a wide audience. Through the tools most in line with the reference field, you learn how to take the steps necessary to identify the fundamental elements of a cultural project (analyze the target and quantify the economic and social impact), required for its sustainability.

The Master is therefore strongly interdisciplinary, focused on practices of cultural innovation and involvement of new audiences, also through digital languages, to create innovative formats of cultural ideation and fruition.

To this end, the Master in Designing Culture makes use of a network not only of professors but also of established professionals and young entrepreneurs in the cultural sector who, through their experience - in addition to covering the entire conceptual, organizational, economic sustainability and coordinated communication spectrum of a project - offer a fundamental update on the practices best suited to the current challenges of the world of cultural design and management.

Those who attended this Master's in previous editions have found with satisfaction their place in various institutions and companies, but have also been able to create their independent realities, which can propose projects and support institutions in the valorization of the territory and cultural heritage.

The Master in Designing Culture offers adequate preparation for professional profiles of:

• Project manager of cultural interventions for public bodies and private companies,
• Expert in corporate communication strategies through art events,
• Responsible for cultural planning for the development of the territory and for cultural tourism initiatives at local authorities and public institutions,
• Curator of exhibition events and art interventions.

The Master also allows the acquisition of skills for the creation of new cultural and social enterprises capable of operating in the territory. Currently, there are several opportunities dedicated to young people, public and private tenders, for the creation of innovative enterprises in this sector.

Frequency

Classes take place from Monday to Friday at the Università Cattolica; some workshops are held at POLI.design.

The course calendar includes 5 working days per week from 2:30 pm to 7:00 pm; some workshops may take place in the morning.

Attendance at 75% of class hours is mandatory.

Didactic Plan

The Master in Designing Culture is made up of 5 macro-areas:

• Cultural ideation
• Contemporary art
• Territorial enhancement
• Cultural Enterprises
• Communication

The teaching methodology is based on interaction with the world of cultural enterprise and with professionals with consolidated experience who offer participants a program full of practical projects, laboratory activities and visits to companies, museums, exhibitions and trade fairs to develop in the field the skills necessary for the management of cultural projects.

The main actors in the construction of a project meet in the classroom to bring the most up-to-date information in their area of ​​expertise: from the curator to the project manager, from the designer to those in charge of communication, fundraising and sponsorship, to the institutions that commission or welcome the project.

Teaching Modules

Educational Modules – 30 CFU

By ALMED – Catholic University

• Cultural ideation
• Contemporary art, exhibitions and museums
• Cultural Enterprises and Access to Finance

By POLI.design – Polytechnic University of Milan

• Design and design thinking
• Design for territorial enhancement
• Communication, new media and digital technologies

Seminars-laboratories – 10 CFU total

• Art interventions and urban transformation processes
• Cultural Tourism and Place Identity
• Self-entrepreneurship and cultural innovation
• Budget and Sustainability
• Fundraising and Sponsorship
• Elements of Contemporary Aesthetics
• Media and Visual Culture
• Museology
• Cultural Heritage Legislation
• Exhibition design project
• Visual design
• Press office
• Team building
• Open lectures

Project Work

• Project work – Mid Term 4 CFU
• Project work – Final exam 4 credits

Each Master's course involves an exam with a grade expressed in thirtieths; the training credits earned for each course may be recognized to those who intend to subsequently enrol in a congruent Specialist/Master's Degree course.

At the end of the course, students participate in the final Project work in which every year a real client is invited to submit a brief and evaluate the results of the group work.

Internship

An integral part of the training path proposed by the Master is the 400-hour internships (12 CFU).

The selected companies or institutions that host the intern actively involve him in the various phases of conception, management and communication of a cultural project.

The choice of internship for each participant in the Master is followed by the coordinator of the Master and by a coordinator specifically dedicated to internships; the orientation is aimed at evaluating in the best way the combination of the student's skills and aptitudes and the projects in progress at the companies and institutions offering their availability.