About this Program
Cultural entrepreneurship is an emerging discipline that examines how cultural products (such as art, theater, and literature) and cultural activities (like sports, music, food, and film events) have an impact on the growth of local, national, and global economies. The degree program is designed for Arts, Humanities, and Social Science students to develop the critical business, entrepreneurship, creativity and intercultural skills necessary to participate in the booming culture and creative economy. We do not expect all students with this degree to start new ventures. Instead, the major helps students with a unique and valued skill set and mindset that can be applied in intrapreneurial ways throughout their careers.
- A "One-of-a-kind" Major: UMD is the only school in the United States offering an undergraduate major in Cultural Entrepreneurship. The creative economy is a growing industry in need of diverse talents. Cultural industries provide an exciting field of employment in creative startups, event management, cultural and agritourism, marketing, and citizen diplomacy-- just to name a few.
- The Perfect Blend of Theory and Hands-on Practice: Our students are active both on- and off-campus: launching their own projects, working for startups, and being leaders on campus. The major integrates knowledge from a variety of disciplines in order to enhance the value of cultural and creative activities at the individual, community, and organizational levels.
- Our students report finding their "fit" with us. With interests spanning the arts, humanities, business, and STEM, our students develop personal networks with diverse talents and interests who all share a common enterprising spirit.
- A Major for a Global Society: Our students learn about global cultures, perspectives, and languages. They are also encouraged to do short- or long-term study abroad programs that offer an orientation to the local culture and creative industry and foreign language learning opportunities.
Acquired Skills
Students in this interdisciplinary program:
- Develop an entrepreneurial mindset involving creative problem solving, risk-taking, action-orientation, and proactivity among others
- Acquire functional communication skills in world languages
- Receive in-depth training in design-thinking process and in using design-thinker’s toolkit
- Learn approaches useful for managing cultural organizations
Career Possibilities
Our students pursue a wide range of careers, such as advertising, marketing, event management, environmental conservation projects, customer research, customer service, and designing back office processes. The major prepares students for careers across private, non-profit, and public sector organizations, but more importantly those in need of startup mindset calling for flexibility and leadership.
Recent UMD Graduates Job Placement Data
Our curriculum trains those interested in either running their own business or contributing to the operation of one in the following areas. What these occupations and employment fields have in common is that in addition to business and entrepreneurial skills, they require quick thinking, creative solutions, adaptability, and the ability to express yourself in word and picture. They require unconventional, outside of the box thinking and creative skills.
- Advertising, Marketing, Public Relations, Digital and Television Media Production and Consulting
- Tourism, City Management and Location Marketing
- Event Management
- (Digital) Arts and Humanities Advocacy and Leadership
- International Affairs and Citizen Diplomacy
Admissions and Scholarships
CAHSS is proud to be able to offer over 90 alumni and donor funded scholarships to our students each year. In total over $190,000 is awarded out to CAHSS majors and some minors as well. Each department facilitates the process for their specific scholarships and students are also encouraged to apply for CAHSS-wide scholarships offered to students in any field.
Requirements
Students can choose one of the two sub-plans: certificate of business administration or leadership development. To contextualize cultural entrepreneurship students are required to take a minor or major in another pre-approved field of study. The program encourages an optional study abroad preferably at sites such as: Montpellier, Salamanca, St. Petersburg, Worcester, Passau, Potsdam and Ocean University in China. Students work with the program director to explore possibilities as to how courses abroad can be incorporated into this program. The program requires students to take one of internship, field study or independent study courses during their junior or senior years.