General eligibility requirements + English 6.

A minimum of 60 Higher Education Credits.

The course can normally be included as a part of a general degree at undergraduate level.

This course is an introduction to the history of global cultural policy and its effects on our contemporary moment, the Anthropocene. Students study and analyze theories, research methods, and case studies to discuss and investigate how cultural policy has a bearing on the cultural production of the Anthropocene. It examines the governance of aesthetics through cultural policies, the impact culture is imagined to have on global and local levels.

On completion of the course the student will be able to:

1. demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the principles of cultural policy;
2. demonstrate the ability to describe and discuss different applications of cultural policy, their political rationalities and epistemological roots;
3. demonstrate the ability to critically reflect over one’s own role and position as a researcher;
4. relate to, contextualise, and discuss methods in reading seminars with peers, teachers, and specialists in different fields.

Lectures, seminars, workshops and reading groups.

• 2 position papers (6+6 credits, grading scale A-U).
• Obligatory attendance and contribution to seminars (3 credits, graded as pass or fail).

Re-examinations will be given in accordance with Students’ Rights and Obligations. Re-examination for seminars will be conducted in other forms, such as shorter reflection papers on the missed seminar topics.

Bennett, T. (1995). The Multiplication of Culture’s Utility. Critical Inquiry, 21(4), 861–889.

Dean, C. (2006). The Trouble with (The Term) Art. Art Journal, 65(2), 24–32. https://doi.org/10.2307/20068464

Macfarlane, R. (2025). Is a River Alive? Penguin Books Ltd.

Mangset, P. (2020). The end of cultural policy? International Journal of Cultural Policy, 26(3), 398–411. https://doi.org/10.1080/10286632.2018.1500560

Maxwell, R., & Miller, T. (2017). Greening cultural policy. International Journal of Cultural Policy, 23(2), 174–185. https://doi.org/10.1080/10286632.2017.1280786

Menger, P.-M. (2014). European cultural policies and the ‘creative industries’ turn. In K. Thomas & J. Chan (Eds.), Handbook of Research on Creativity (pp. 479–492). Edward Elgar Publishing.

Morton, T. (2021). All art is ecological. Penguin Books.

Wiktor-Mach, D. (2020). What role for culture in the age of sustainable development? UNESCO’s advocacy in the 2030 Agenda negotiations. International Journal of Cultural Policy, 26(3), 312–327. https://doi.org/10.1080/10286632.2018.1534841

Supplementary articles, literature and other media of no more than 300 pages will be provided.

Malmö University provides students who participate in, or who have completed a course, with the opportunity to express their opinions and describe their experiences of the course by completing a course evaluation administered by the University. The University will compile and summarise the results of course evaluations. The University will also inform participants of the results and any decisions relating to measures taken in response to the course evaluations. The results will be made available to the students (HF 1:14).

If a course is no longer offered, or has undergone significant changes, the students must be offered two opportunities for re-examination based on the syllabus that applied at the time of registration, for a period of one year after the changes have been implemented.

If a student has a Learning support decision, the examiner has the right to provide the student with an adapted test, or to allow the student to take the exam in a different format.

The syllabus is a translation of a Swedish source text.