Master PIECE

Projects in International and European Cultural Engineering

Outline of the program

The Projects in International and European Cultural Engineering (PIECE) Master’s degree is open since September 2019. It is a two-year course to train French and foreign students and professionals in the fundamentals of managing projects and entities in the domains of culture and heritage. It uses innovative teaching methods based on the principles of collaborative intelligence, professional and international immersion and an understanding of technological innovation and scientific research. Mixed teams of teaching/research staff from multiple departments and research centres together with professionals working in regional and local cultural entities will come together to transfer the skills essential to responding to international calls-for-tender in the field of culture (e.g. Creative Europe). They will supervise students in developing actual projects proposed by the organisations in Bourgogne-France-Comté. Research seminars on the latest issues in culture and science will provide the basis for this reverse teaching, enabling students to constantly test out the theoretical knowledge they have acquired against the realities of the professional world. One of the objectives of the course is to pass on the fundamentals of interculturality by means of academic lessons and multicultural communication work as well as by immersion in foreign cultures through collaborative work. This means the second semester will be spent serving internships in universities and cultural entities abroad. At the beginning of the second year, the projects are to be presented to European officials in Brussels.

Programme description

During the first semester in Dijon, students will acquire theoretical knowledge and learn project methodology. This will enable them to set up one or more European/International pilot projects on culture. In the second semester, they will spend time in a partner university and a cultural organization abroad. After a benchmarking, at the beginning of the third semester in Dijon, the best projects will be selected and further developed and evaluated in terms of theory and practice. They will then be presented to members of the European Commission in Brussels. The final semester ends with an internship in France for foreigners and abroad for French students.

Curriculum

Managing cross-cultural projects in the framework of cultural industries involves acquiring skills and knowledge in the domains of project methodology, interculturality, communication, cultural policy-making, human resources management, new funding strategies, law and marketing for the arts, technological and scientific but also ecological, societal and managerial innovations.

Entry requirements

The Master’s degree is intended for graduates with strong backgrounds in the humanities. Graduates in the following fields may be considered:
• Law, Political Science, Economics
• Art History, History, Geography
• Languages, Communication
• Literature, Philosophy
• Sciences
The academic structure of the Master’s degree includes refresher courses in the first semester for students from diverse academic backgrounds.

Grants

Every year, a very limited number of scholarships could be offered on the basis of academic track records.

Future career prospects

Graduates can expect to pursue the following careers: Mission head or project supervisor for a large number of institutions specialised in managing national, international or European cultural projects, government agencies, competitiveness centres, universities or ‘grandes écoles’, CNRS, consular or cultural services abroad, lobbying companies, associations or NGOs involved in community development aid and cooperation policy.

Programme partners

In Europe: Universidad Internacional de Catalunya (Barcelona, Spain), Universitatea din Bucuresti (Bucharest, Romania), Università di Roma Tre (Rome, Italy), Università di Ca’ Foscari (Venice, Italy), Dundalk Institute of Technology (Dundalk, Ireland), Uniwersytet Opolski (Opole, Poland), Liège Université (Belgium), Latvijas Universitate (Riga, Latvia).

Hors Europe : National Taiwan Normal University (Taipei, Taiwan), Novosibirsk State University (Novosibirsk, Russia), Mahidol University (Thailand), Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (Ben Guerir, Morocco).

Site of training

The two-year Master program takes place in Dijon, at the Denis Diderot Institute.