Культурная политика

Бакалавриат 2026/2027

Статус: Курс по выбору (Международная программа «Международные отношения и глобальные исследования»)

Кто читает: Факультет мировой экономики и мировой политики

Где читается: Факультет мировой экономики и мировой политики

Когда читается: 3-й курс, 4 модуль

Охват аудитории: для своего кампуса

Язык: английский

Кредиты: 3

Контактные часы: 40

Full Syllabus Ask Question

Abstract

This course introduces how cultural policy works and why it matters. We keep a political-theory lens, but speak the language of cultural studies and real cases. Students examine who makes decisions, how funding and institutions operate, and how values (like heritage, identity, access, and diversity) shape outcomes. We compare practices across regions and look at external dimensions such.

Learning Objectives

recognise when cultural issues become questions of public policy
compare how different institutions and countries organize cultural policy
analyse cases involving funding, heritage, censorship, cultural diplomacy or digital platforms
explain how cultural policy is connected to power, identity and representation
assess the effects of a cultural policy or programme, including its limits and unintended consequences

Expected Learning Outcomes

distinguish cultural policy from cultural politics and cultural diplomacy
identify who is involved in making cultural policy and what kinds of decisions are actually at stake
explain how cultural institutions participate in producing ideas of the nation and its past
look at a particular canon, museum or heritage institution and identify what it includes, what it leaves aside and how these choices are made
use P.Bourdieu’s ideas of cultural capital and distinction without turning every cultural difference into a class diagram
explain how access, recognition and taste are connected to social position and institutions
compare different ways in which public support for culture is organised
explain why cultural goods are economically unusual and why this matters for policy
analyse how copyright, ownership, platforms and markets affect cultural production
trace what happens around a concrete urban cultural project: who gains, who pays, what changes in the area
connect cultural investment with regeneration, tourism, branding and gentrification
analyse a cultural diplomacy project in terms of the institutions involved, what they want and what kind of relationship they are trying to build
explain how something becomes recognized as “heritage” rather than treating heritage as a self-evident category
follow what happens after such recognition (who gets authority, visibility, resources or new obligations)
distinguish legal claims from historical, political and symbolic ones, and see where they overlap
explain how platforms have become part of cultural governance
analyse how algorithms, platform rules and business models affect what is produced, circulated and seen
compare different criteria used to estimate whether a cultural policy or programme has worked
see what gets lost when success is reduced to one measure, whether attendance, economic impact, inclusion or visibility

Course Contents

1. What cultural policy is?
State, nation and canon
Culture, power and inequality?
Institutions of cultural policy
Culture as economy and industry
City and culture
Cultural diplomacy
Case: UNESCO, heritage and global cultural regimes
Memory, trauma and decolonization
Digital cultural policy
How cultural policy can be evaluated?

Assessment Elements

Seminars activity
Colloquium
The colloquium will be based on one cultural policy case. Students will receive the case in advance and will have time to prepare. The case can deal with a museum, a heritage dispute, a funding decision, an urban cultural project, censorship, restitution, cultural diplomacy, or another issue discussed in the course. During the colloquium, students will be asked to identify the main problem, explain who the main actors are and what their positions are, and use the course readings and concepts to analyse the case. We may also discuss what other policy options were available and what their consequences could have been. There is no single correct answer. What matters is whether the student can understand the case, use the course material and defend their argument.
Oral exam
The final exam is oral and is based on exam tickets. Each ticket includes two questions: one theoretical question and one case. Students have 10 minutes to prepare, followed by a discussion with the instructor. The first question is based on the concepts, arguments and readings discussed during the course. Students may be asked to explain an idea, compare two approaches or discuss a particular problem. There is no need to reproduce everything from the reading list. One or two readings used properly are better than a list of names. The second question is a cultural policy case. Here students are expected to work out what the problem is, who is involved and which parts of the course are useful for making sense of it. Simply naming concepts is not enough. The instructor may ask additional questions during the discussion, including questions that connect the ticket to other parts of the course. There may be more than one good way to approach the case, but students should be able to explain and defend the choices they make in their answer.
Midterm
The midterm is an individual written assignment completed in class. Each student gets one concept from cultural policy. First, they need to explain what the concept means. Then they build a small concept map around it, showing how it connects to other ideas from the course. These connections can be to other concepts, theories, authors, institutions or cases we have discussed. Not every possible connection needs to be included. The important thing is to show why the connections make sense. A definition on its own is not enough. The task is to show that the student understands how the concept fits into the course and how it can be used.

Interim Assessment

2026/2027 4th module
0.25 * Seminars activity + 0.35 * Oral exam + 0.25 * Colloquium + 0.15 * Midterm

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

9781351164238 - Cynthia Scott - Cultural Diplomacy and the Heritage of Empire : Negotiating Post-Colonial Returns - 2020 - Routledge - http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=2299963 - nlebk - 2299963
Beck, A. (2003). Cultural Work : Understanding the Cultural Industries. London: Routledge. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=137678
Bellavoine, C., Bouquillion, P., & Wiart, L. (2018). Digital Platforms and Performing Arts: Communication of Theatrical Institutions, Audience Development, and Platform Strategies of Industrial Players.
Bourdieu, P. (1986). Distinction : A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste. Taylor & Francis [CAM].
Cultural policy : management, value and modernity in the creative industries, O'Brien, D., 2014
Frug, G. E., & Barron, D. J. (2008). City Bound : How States Stifle Urban Innovation. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=671427
Jan C. Jansen, & Jürgen Osterhammel. (2017). Decolonization : A Short History. Princeton University Press.
Jerome de Groot. (2016). Consuming History : Historians and Heritage in Contemporary Popular Culture: Vol. Second edition. Routledge.
Kim, H. V. (DE-588)1144992745, (DE-576)495581577, aut. (2017). Bridging the theoretical gap between public diplomacy and cultural diplomacy / Hwajung Kim. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edswao&AN=edswao.493269568
Offenhuber D., Ratti C. Decoding the city: Urbanism in the age of big data. Birkhäuser, 2014.
Olga Goriunova. (2012). Art Platforms and Cultural Production on the Internet. Routledge.
Robinson, H. (2019). Interpreting Objects in the Hybrid Museum : Convergence, Collections and Cultural Policy. London: Routledge. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=2084548
Rose, M. V. aut. (2017). A new cultural diplomacy : the integration of cultural relations and diplomacy / Martin Rose. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edswao&AN=edswao.491786824
The social impact of the arts : an intellectual history, Belfiore, E., 2010

Recommended Additional Bibliography

Imagined communities : reflections on the origin and spread of nationalism, Anderson, B., 1991
Время, вперед! Культурная политика в СССР / под редакцией И. В. Глущенко, В. А. Куренного. — Москва : Высшая школа экономики, 2013. — 272 с. — ISBN 978-5-7598-1082-7. — Текст : электронный // Лань : электронно-библиотечная система. — URL: https://e.lanbook.com/book/65996 (дата обращения: 00.00.0000). — Режим доступа: для авториз. пользователей.
Пространственное воплощение культуры : этнография пространства и места, Лоу, С., 2024

Authors

Kuznetsova Elena Viktorovna
Zakharova Elizaveta Sergeevna
Vishniakova Nataliia Vladimirovna

Course Syllabus