Mason Gross introduces new minor in collaboration with Rutgers Business School

The University has debuted a new minor in arts management and leadership in the Mason Gross School of the Arts for the Fall 2024 semester. 

The minor helps students advance their interdisciplinary skills in arts administration in the nonprofit or private sectors.

Stephanie Cronenberg, an associate professor in the Department of Music and the Mason Gross School of the Arts Director of Research, said the minor can suit students' needs and allow them to explore classes in the arts and business.

"A team of Mason Gross faculty … along with a team of faculty from Rutgers Business School worked collaboratively to develop the curriculum for this minor," she said.

The minor is only open to Mason Gross and School of Arts and Sciences majors, according to the program's website.

John Keller, the Director of Education for CoLAB Arts and a lecturer in the Department of Acting at Mason Gross, said that Jason Geary, the dean at Mason Gross, and Rebecca Cypess, the former associate dean for academic affairs at Mason Gross, were interested in making more connections with other departments at the University.

Keller said that there are more programs in development such as Arts and Health that started from that same desire.

"The … big aim, or goal, is to provide opportunities for the students at Mason Gross and the University as a whole to understand the full depth and breadth of possible career opportunities that there are in the arts fields," he said.

Keller said that Dan Swern, the co-founder and producing director for New Brunswick's CoLAB Arts and a lecturer in the School of Communication and Information, contributed to the development of the course, "Introduction to Arts Leadership." He said that he formed the topics of the course based on the experiences they have learned in their professional arts productions.

"How are the students thinking about their careers, and how are they thinking about their lives out of school?" he asked. "We want to try to provide some effective strategies to prep them for that."

For example, Keller said that two topics he is teaching are conflict management and resolution as well as power dynamics. The minor will have three required courses: "Business Fundamentals," "Management Skills" and "Introduction to Arts Leadership". After the required courses, students are allowed to enroll in at least three elective classes, with at least one from Business Studies and one from Arts Leadership Studies.

Under the Business Studies category, students can choose courses such as "Intro to Marketing," "Cross-Cultural Management," "Negotiations" and "Digital Marketing". Under the Arts Leadership Studies, students can choose electives like "Theater Management," "Social Media for the Arts," "Public Policy and the Arts" and "Foundations in Cultural Heritage and Preservation Studies".

Keller said that when teaching "Introduction to Arts Leadership", he wants to hear his students' opinions and delve into how the students are reacting to concepts rather than just writing down the information for an exam. He is focusing on culturally responsive processes with his students, asking them about their goals and takeaways from the course.

"There's another layer to then saying, 'I want to be someone that helps build the mechanism for that work to be seen or be appreciated or be developed by artists,'" Keller said. "We're looking for the individuals who are interested in that other larger level, building a bigger arts landscape."