City University of Hong Kong Dep
Department of Chinese, Translation and Linguistics
Research Seminar
Assessing the Role of Formal Education in Arts Management Leadership Development
Presented by
Dr. J. Dennis Rich
Columbia College Chicago
Date: 21 October 2009 (Wednesday)
Time: 4:30 – 6:00pm
Venue: LT-10, Academic Building, CityU
Abstract
In 1998, J. Dennis Rich and Dan J. Martin published “Assessing the Role of Formal Education in Arts Administration Training” in The Journal of Arts Management, Law and Society, 28,1 (Spring, 1998). The article sought to understand the role of formal training in relation to hiring of professional arts managers in United States performing arts institutions. Since that time, changes in the field and changes in the nature of cultural administration training suggest that replicating the 1998 study would be of value to the field.
The material to be presented in Hong Kong recaps the results of this new study as of spring 2009.
The recent survey data showed that overall formal arts administration training is serving the field reasonably well. For key management positions in professional performing arts organizations in the United States, arts administration training is preferred by a majority of the institutions. It would appear, that in 2009, as in 1998, the profession is interested in and willing to participate with arts administration programs in developing the next generation of arts managers. Meaningful and carefully structured partnerships with professional arts organizations -- internships, management projects, applied research, curriculum development, to name several doors to serious relationships -- will strengthen the training programs, enhance their pedagogical efforts, and bridge the gap between the academic programs and the industry.
The study will continue over the next year and the researchers plan to publish the results of the new study in the near future.
Speaker
J. Dennis Rich, is a faculty member in the Arts, Entertainment and Media Management Department at Columbia College Chicago. From January 1991 to August 2009, he was Chairperson of that department. He was founding director of the Center for Arts Policy at Columbia College Chicago, a position he held until June of 2002. The Center focused on applied research related to democracy and the arts; it also presented the Democratic Vistas lecture series cultural policy.
Dr. Rich is also a consultant, researcher and lecturer. His international works includes colloquia and workshops for the USIA in India, and lecture series in Mexico, Russia, Albania, Austria, Georgia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Germany, France, Serbia, and Ukraine. In 1998, he was guest professor at the Internationales Zentrum für Kultur und Mangement in Salzburg, Austria and the Fachhochschule Potsdam. He is a contributor to numerous books including Marketing Planning for Culture and the Arts: Fundamental Principles and Practices for Building an Effective Marketing Campaign and Marketing Culture and the Arts, which is published in twelve languages. He is the author of numerous articles and presentations. He is trained in theatre, has an extensive arts management background, and has managed a variety of performing arts organizations.
