Michael Dorf

This course prepares students to start and manage arts businesses or organizations - whether it be concerning a for-profit or non-profit so that students can see the similarities and differences between the two types of organizations which comprise the field of arts administration. The course surveys the entrepreneurial practices of the for-profit sector as well as the mission-driven operations of the nonprofit sector.

Skill Sets Learned include: how to choose the correct legal entity; staff management: interviewing, hiring, and directing; understanding Marketing strategy using the 5Ps approach (Product, Price, Packaging, Promotion, and Place); basic awareness of Accounting and Financial Records; knowledge of the basics of Contracts and Intellectual Property so as to protect their creative work; familiarity with the basic principles of Economics that affect their business; potential sources of business loans and investors; selecting appropriate Business Insurance; and Business Ethics.

Students write a brief business plan so as to understand of the components and activities that are relevant to a plan. Additionally there is an assignment for a manager?s perspective for a business start up and another for a marketing plan. Course includes 2 written exams in which the student is hired as a business consultant to advise a new business. Also, there are several in-class activities to enhance student?s working knowledge of various business concepts.

Law, Politics And The Arts provides the student with an understanding of the legal system and the political process as they relate to the arts. The first part of the course is a survey of the American legal system and laws affecting artists and arts organizations, including topics such as contracts, corporations, copyrights, and First Amendment issues. The second part of the course explores the philosophical foundations and the practical experience of the relationship of government and the political process to the arts, with an emphasis on advocacy and the skills to change the rules.

Readings will include judicial opinions, legislation, and excerpts from both fiction and non-fiction works. We will look at US Supreme Court rulings on the limits of the First Amendment as well as statutes protecting artists from hazardous paints and unscrupulous gallery owners. Readings are selected to be accessible to the general reader.

Assignments include weekly readings, both within the syllabus and those brought in by students readings, several quizzes, and two written assignments including a practical advocacy project.