Courses

Arts Management

  • SPEA-A 163 Introduction to Arts Management (3 cr.) This course is for students considering a career in the arts or interested in arts management fundamentals. Topics include public policy in the arts, the economic structure of arts markets, and issues that arts administrators face as a bridge between arts organizations and audiences.
  • SPEA-S 163 Honors—Art Worlds: Management, Markets, and Policy (3 cr.) Requires consent of SPEA Honors advisor. Course covers same content as SPEA-A 163; however, honors students will complete advanced coursework.
  • SPEA-A 236 Music Industry I (3 cr.) The purpose of this class is to gain a historical overview on the development of the music industry from its beginnings to current issues. Special focus will be on the development of legal issues and the recording industry.
  • SPEA-A 241 Community Engagement in the Arts (3 cr.) Students will get to know arts organizations and music business entities in the area in order to gain awareness about the role of the arts in a community as a cultural, social, as well as economic force. Class instruction includes lectures, guest speakers, field trips, and practical experiences.
  • SPEA-A 336 Music Industry II (3 cr.) P: SPEA-A 236 or approval of instructor. The purpose of this class is to build on the historical overview of the music industry from its beginnings to current issues in Music Industry I and explore current issues and music careers. Special focus will be on creating a plan for personal goals and development.
  • SPEA-A 354 Arts Marketing Fundamentals (3 cr.) This course introduces students to the essentials of arts marketing: how nonprofit organizations and consumers behave and what strategies marketers can use to successfully operate in today's environment. Course will examine such topics as the marketing process for product-centered cultural enterprises, collection and use of marketing information, target marketing and position.
  • SPEA-S 354 Honors-Arts Marketing Fundamentals (3 cr.) Course covers same material as SPEA-A 354; honors students will complete advanced coursework.
  • SPEA-A 400 Museum Management and Administration (3 cr.) P: SPEA-A 163. The class will investigate museums to include their history; present day roles and their cultural contributions; public policy; economics and their markets; organizational structures and day-to-day operations; performance assessments; and discussions regarding the future of the museum.  
  • SPEA-A 401 Managing Performing Arts Organizations (3 cr.) P: SPEA-A 163. Students obtain a working vernacular of the various performing arts disciplines; understand nuances, niche theories and practices in the performing arts management field; analyze and synthesize major concepts and trends; and exercise real-world activities in anticipation of entering the sector. Topics include artistic planning, labor relations, artist management/contracts, and ethics.
  • SPEA-A 405 Programming in the Performing Arts (3 cr.) This course examines how programming relates to marketing and public relations; the role of programming in the public and profes­sional identity of artists and arts organizations; the external factors that condition program choice; and how programming affects relation­ships with society and the arts community on local, national and international levels.
  • SPEA-A 407 Seminar in Community and Place (3 cr.) P: SPEA-A 163. This seminar explores arts and community development, partnering with IU’s Center for Rural Engagement and Arts & Humanities Council. The CRE connects rural communities with IU’s cultural assets, research, data, community-engaged teaching, and student service. Students engage in projects with partnering communities involving arts administration and quality of place.
  • SPEA-A 410 Artists, Galleries and Collectors (1.5 cr.) This course provides a framework for understanding the interactions of artists, galleries and collectors within the broader Art World. The course also covers the history of the visual arts market as a financial entity, placing it in the context of contemporary culture.
  • SPEA-A 411 Auditorium Management (1.5 cr.) This course offers an overview of the management of performing arts venues, with an emphasis on nonprofit venues. Topics include crowd management, backstage, communication, box office, fund development, regulations, unions, contracts and pricing.
  • SPEA-A 412 Creative Thinking Strategies for Arts Management (1.5 cr.) This course provides a framework for understanding the interactions of artists, galleries and collectors within the broader Art World. The course also covers the history of the visual arts market as a financial entity, placing it in the context of contemporary culture.
  • SPEA-A 418 Theatre and Dance Management (1.5 cr.) Theatre and Dance Management provides an introduction to real-world problems of managing an arts organization. Students will discuss the unique organizational issues facing performing arts companies and, through detailed analysis and creative thinking, come up with innovative solutions to problems ranging from budgeting to marketing to artistic programming.
  • SPEA-A 422 IT Applications for the Arts (3 cr.) Teaches Arts Administration professionals how to use computer applications to create printed, web based and multimedia materials to promote effective communications. Provides instruction and practical hands-on experience in design theory, page layout, usability, accessibility, digital photo editing, graphics, and desktop and web publishing to create promotional and informational materials. 
  • SPEA-A 426 Art and Social Change (3 cr.) Art and Social Change traces the development of art practice as a vehicle for social change from the Civil Rights movement to the present day and asks students to envision a community cultural development project of their own. Augusto Boal's innovative community building techniques are used throughout the class.
  • SPEA-A 431 Cultural Planning and Urban Development (3 cr.) An introduction to research and practice concerning the intersection of the arts and urban development. Students will gain an understanding of how scholars view the arts and culture in the context of urban development and how local governments and cultural leaders currently use the arts in urban development initiatives.  
  • SPEA-A 439 Fund Development for the Arts (3 cr.) This course will provide an introduction and overview to the theory and practice of development and fundraising, with a special focus on the arts. Topics include annual fund, corporate and foundation relations, major gifts, planned giving, prospect research, working with boards, stewardship and more.
  • SPEA-A 450 Contemporary Topics in Arts Administration (1-3 cr.) Extensive analysis of selected contemporary topics in Arts Administration. Topics vary from semester to semester. May be repeated for credit; topics must differ.
  • SPEA-A 459 Public Policy and the Arts (3 cr.) This course considers the principal aspects of cultural policy in the US and elsewhere. Topics include arts education, the ends and means of government funding for the arts, multicultural­ism, freedom of expression, copyright, other legal rights of artists, international trade in cultural goods, and international treaties on cultural diversity.
  • SPEA-A 464 The Economics and Administration of Artistic Organizations (3 cr.) This course analyzes the unique challenges facing arts organizations in the public, nonprofit, and for- profit sectors. Among other topics, the course deals with the multiple and often-conflicting goals faced by arts organizations, consumer demand and price setting, experimentation and innovation, and setting the rules for decision-making and oversight.
  • SPEA-A 482 Overseas Topics in Arts Management (0-15 cr.) SPEA Abroad Program: study of selected topics in arts management. Topics vary from semester to semester. May be repeated for credit.
  • SPEA-A 483 Arts Entrepreneurship (3 cr.) This course presents the literature, principles, and practices of arts entrepreneurship. Students will examine the fundamentals of entrepreneurship applied to the arts sector, including different business models (e.g., nonprofit vs. for-profit), assessing opportunities for entrepreneurial ventures, managing for innovation, and evaluating the performance of new ventures in the creative sector.
  • SPEA-A 499 Honors Thesis (3 cr.) Required of SPEA Honors Program students. Research and paper to be arranged with individual instructor and approved by the Director of Undergraduate Programs.

Academic Bulletins

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