Learning Objectives

Knowledge and Skills

The Master of Arts in Cultural Studies at the University of Washington Bothell (UW Bothell) is designed to provide you with opportunities to develop the knowledge and skills necessary for your success in one or both of two main areas:

  • professional careers in community-based arts, culture, service organizations in the for-profit and not-for-profit sectors;
  • further academic study in the interdisciplinary arts, humanities, and social sciences.

To this end, the Cultural Studies curriculum stresses the integration of skills, abilities, and domains of knowledge at the heart of cultural studies as an interdisciplinary field (critical theoretical approaches, problem-posing and problem-solving capacities, critical research methodologies, and creative and effective writing and speaking) as well as community-based experiences, applied research, and experiential learning opportunities.

Learning Objectives

This unique mixture of theoretical and practical training provides students with the professional abilities essential for cultural workers in a rapidly changing variety of social, cultural, and arts arenas. As a Cultural Studies graduate, you will be able to:

  1. identify, analyze, and address the specific structural location of cultural issues and debates, and propose creative and effective interventions;
  2. recognize, critically address, and collaboratively negotiate cultural diversity and difference in a variety of educational and institutional sites;
  3. move effectively from project conception to project execution through the use of both critical and immersive techniques that engage specific publics;
  4. create a dynamic portfolio of work that provides the opportunity for reflection and showcases examples of research and collaboration;
  5. engage in professional positions as researchers, educators, activists, artists, and problem-solvers in a variety of cultural and organizational arenas.

Progress in learning and applying these skills and abilities is monitored through work associated with individual courses, field work engagements, and products of individual study. The overall assessment of your progress and learning outcomes with respect to these objectives draws upon a Cultural Studies Portfolio maintained by each student and discussed at two formal review moments in the program (i.e. Spring Quarters of Year 1 and Year 2).