Creative and Cultural Industries MA

Year of entry: 2026

Course length: 12 months Full-Time | 24 Months Part-Time

About the course

The Creative and Cultural Industries MA equips students with comprehensive knowledge of key global theoretical perspectives, policy approaches, and sector-based practices. It also develops critical insights into debates, tools, and evidence-based decision-making that shape strategy and enterprise at individual, organisational, and governmental levels in the creative and cultural industries.

The course will facilitate graduates to analyse scenarios, make decisions, practice entrepreneurship and policy making, as well as intervene actively both in academic and professional contexts.

Students will also be able to undertake a substantial industry placement, co-supervised by their host organisation and an academic tutor.

Students will be able to further develop and apply skills, knowledge, and understanding in relation to sectoral areas such as Film and Television, Music, the Performing and Visual Arts, Gaming, Fashion, Publishing, Design, and Museums and Heritage, while also exploring the latest thinking and implications of Generative AI on the Creative and Cultural Industries.

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Work closely with the award-winning University institutions, Manchester Museum and The Whitworth

Benefit from our wide range

of placement partners across

the cultural industries.

Our graduates are among the most targeted by top UK employers.

(High Fliers 2025)

Dr Roaa Ali

Lecturer in Creative and Cultural Industires and Director of the MA in Creative and Cultural Industries

Dr Roaa Ali is the Director of the Creative and Cultural Industries programme at the University of Manchester, with expertise in race and diversity within the cultural sector. Her research focuses on inequality, anti-racism, and the politics of cultural production in the creative industries. Dr Ali has published extensively on these topics in leading international journals, shaped policy, and contributed theoretical frameworks that drive industry discourse.

In recent years, she held key academic roles in research and teaching at leading institutions including the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, the Centre on Dynamics of Ethnicity, Birmingham City University, and the University of Birmingham. She currently sits on the Advisory Board for the Polycultural Institute in Chicago, is a member of the Arts and Humanities Research Council’s Peer Review College, and is a recipient of the Wallace Foundation research grant.

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Dr Leandro Valiati

Senior Lecturer in Creative and Cultural Industries

Dr Leandro Valiati is a Senior Lecturer in Creative and Cultural Industries at The University of Manchester. He started his career in Brazil as a professor and policy advisor in Creative Industries and Economy of Culture, creating and leading the most representative policy-oriented academic centre on Creative and Cultural Industries in Latin America.

In recent years, he has been working in leading academic positions in research and teaching in several countries, such as France (Paris 13, Sorbonne University), Spain (the University of Valencia and International University of Catalunya) and the UK (QMUL – Network Centre; British Academy Fellow). He is currently part of the Advisory Board and International Council of the Policy and Evidence Centre for Creative Industries, NESTA/ARHC.

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