Conceptualising Cultural Environments Lecture One: Cultural Spaces and Places

About the Module  In this module we will introduce you to the creative and cultural industries with a specific focus on the events industry  We will look at the historical development of these industries, identify their current structure and examine current influences upon the production, consumption and regulation of ‘leisure’  The notion of leisure is central to the cultural industries  How would you define leisure?

Defining Leisure  Leisure is generally defined as our free time when we have no compulsory or necessary commitments  However, in this module we will begin to see that we are not always as free in our leisure time as we perhaps think we are…  As event/cultural managers it is our job to manage and control what people do with their ‘free time  Interestingly, the word leisure stems from the latin word licere which means to be allowed

Module Structure  Weekly lecture (one hour)  Make sure to attend!  Weekly seminar (two hours)  Split into two sections  In the first hour we will review and analyse the topic covered in the lecture  In the second hour we will introduce an another area of theory which is relevant to your studies  Readings  Each week you will be asked to complete a small number of readings, these should be completed before you come to class  Details of the set books and readings can be found in the module handbook  We will utilise a blog rather than blackboard for this module – here you will find all of the materials that you need for the module   We will go over the blog in your seminar classes later on today

Assessments  Your first assessment for this module will be a group presentation. Working in groups of 3-4 people you will present to your seminar class in weeks 7-8 of the semester. This assessment is worth 40% of the final mark for the module.  Your second assessment will consist of an individual essay. This will be due during the exam period in April. Further details will be given nearer the time.

Module Staff  Module Leader  Jenny Flinn, Lecturer in Events Management  Room M314,  Lecturer  Dr John Harris, Senior Lecturer in Events and Sport Management  Room M314,  Seminar Tutor  Claire McCauley, Events Manager

Defining Culture  In this module we will talk a lot about culture but we need to think about what we actually mean  Culture is ‘one of the two or three most complicated words in the English language’ (Williams, 2005:25) – it means different things to different people in different contexts  To simplify, there are two mains ways in which we can understand culture  Conceptually (values and beliefs)  Objectively (specific cultural forms)

Cultural Consumption  In recent times the consumption of culture has grown in importance (more on why this is next week)  As such, the creative and cultural industries have grown in prominence in the last years  According to UNESCO they combine the creation, production and distribution of goods and services that are cultural in their nature and are often protected by intellectual property rights  In the UK cultural consumption provides around 2 million jobs with employment growing at double the rate of the economy as a whole  Culture and creativity is seen as highly desirable to individuals, cities and nations due to the symbolic meaning that it can convey

Cultural Places and Spaces  According to Bull, Hoose and Weed (2003) leisure can take place practically anywhere – any space, place or environment can be utilised  Events can take place in any number of settings  This includes, small spaces, large spaces, the city, the countryside, formal settings and informal settings…  Think of events that you have been to – where do they take place and why?

Formal and Informal Codes of Behaviour  The spaces of everyday life produce and are produced by everyday culture, cultural experiences, and power relations  Think about how we behave in different cultural places and spaces  Behaviour in public is restricted by both official and informal regulatory codes  In some settings there are strict instructions of how to behave which may be explicitly stated, in others there are unwritten rules of behaviour

Space and Place  It is these ‘codes’ of behaviour which distinguish between space and place  Place is the physical arrangement of geographical or architectural elements – physical layout  Space is the practiced element of the place – the way in which the place is used by the people who inhabit it  As managers we need to think about how we want people to behave and how we can control and manipulate this…