Module overview
How are the arts getting back to work again after Covid-19? This is a critically important question for everyone who cares about them, artists and audiences alike. If you’re a student considering a career in the arts you’ll want to know where fresh opportunities are likely to open up and where perhaps they won’t. Will things return to “normal”, or are we living through a revolution from which there is no going back?
Key concepts in cultural economics will be introduced to you. You’ll discover their explanatory power and use them (cautiously!) to predict the future. You will engage with art – live where possible, now also online – and you’ll review a selection of “real” and virtual arts events. Alongside lectures you’ll watch a series of specially-produced video conversations with artists and programmers who work in music, theatre and the visual arts – sharing their knowledge and passion, hopes and sometimes fears. We’ll keep government policy under review and see what difference policy interventions make if and when they happen. You’ll get seminar support either face-to-face or online, and the usual opportunities to discuss your written work with the module co-ordinator before handing it in.
You’ll meet colleagues from the John Hansard Gallery and Turner Sims concert hall (both venues run by the University of Southampton and supported by Arts Council England): you’ll learn how they put programmes together, how they collaborate with other promoters nationally and internationally, how they reach out to audiences, and how you can get involved with the work they do.