Program Overview

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Bachelor of Arts in Creative Industries Degree Program

The Bachelor of Arts in Creative Industries (BACI) is a four-year degree that blends the fundamentals of a business program with courses in media business, design, and communication to help students become the creative leaders of tomorrow. Adapted from the prestigious Creative Industries program at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU), the CUD BACI program will empower you with high in-demand leadership, communication, digital literacy, and strategic thinking skills needed to be successful in a creative business context.

Program Overview

Typically, businesses in the Creative Industries are distinguished by the polarization between "suits" and "creatives" – between creative practitioners and those who manage and commercialize the creative process. At CUD, our goal is to bridge this divide through an academic program that provides opportunities that enable you to explore and understand the industry as both a creative process and a commercial activity.

Benefits

As part of this degree program, you will benefit from a unique set of experiential learning opportunities:

• The Creative Zone: a pioneering initiative in the Middle East, designed to empower students by providing opportunities to develop innovative ideas and collaborate with industry partners to address real-world challenges in the creative industries.
• Study at Toronto Metropolitan University, Canada: high-achieving students can transfer to the Creative Industries program at TMU during their second and third years, broadening their academic horizons and experiencing Canada's dynamic creative culture and business practices firsthand.
• Internships: a 240-hour internship providing firsthand experience within a creative enterprise environment, gaining valuable insights into the inner workings of the enterprise and developing key skills and professional networks.

Career Opportunities

Graduates of the BACI program will be equipped with the necessary skills and knowledge to secure employment and excel as leaders in the creative industries sector, both within the UAE and internationally. Career opportunities span a variety of roles, including:

• Entrepreneur
• Product Developer
• Project Design Manager
• Brand Strategy & Design
• Artistic Director
• Business Manager in the creative industries
• Advertising Specialist
• Marketing Specialist
• Social Media Manager
• Media Content Creator
• Creative Director
• Event Manager
• Venue Supervisor
• Marketing Specialist
• Public Relations Specialist
• TV Executive
• Photographer
• Videographer
• Copy Writing Specialist
• User Interface Designer
• Graphic Designer
• Design Manager
• Jobs in non-creative businesses that need creative people, content, and problem-solving.

Accreditation Status

The program was awarded initial accreditation by the Commission for Academic Accreditation (CAA), Ministry of Education UAE, on September 1, 2019.

Program Educational Aims (Goals)

The program aims to:

• Produce graduates capable of becoming future leaders in the creative business while understanding how emerging technologies are reshaping them.
• Form graduates capable of transforming creative employment and entrepreneurial opportunities into a successful career in fashion, media, entertainment, or design.
• Foster graduates' managerial skills for personal and professional development in a globally dynamic environment.
• Develop leaders who master communication skills and use new information and communication technology methods to effectively reach diverse audiences.

Program Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of the program, the student will be able to:

• Comprehend the cultural, economic, social, and political forces behind the commercialization of creativity at an industry level.
• Define the business and management concepts and practices applicable to Creative Industries.
• Explain the broader system of production, distribution, marketing, consumption, and regulation of the key creative industries.
• Contribute productively to the operation of the Creative Industries by applying a synchronized knowledge of the economic, legal, political, and technological environments in which they function.
• Demonstrate an entrepreneurial capacity to engage in independent learning and to transform creative ideas into commercial products and services through the application of business and management concepts and practices applicable to media and cultural production.
• Implement and manage projects requiring problem-solving, team building, negotiating, and collaborative work practices.
• Facilitate the work of artists, writers, designers, and media makers by applying an integrated knowledge of creative and production processes and that of funding and investment structures and by recognizing and responding to future challenges and opportunities in their sector.
• Conduct research relevant to cultural and industry issues, formulate appropriate research questions and conceptual frameworks, employ data collection techniques, and appropriate quantitative and qualitative tools and methodologies.
• Communicate effectively in oral and written formats, using a range of media that are widely used in creative enterprises.
• Use information communication technology skills and learn how emerging technologies are reshaping creative and business processes to assist creative enterprises in responding to technological change.
• Enhance capabilities to develop professional careers in creative industries by applying a critical knowledge of the aesthetic, new theoretical, and historical development of one or more creative sub-sectors to practical realities of production, promotion, distribution, and consumption.

Program Completion Requirements

The Bachelor of Arts in Creative Industries (BACI) program is completed in 8 semesters (4 academic years), and the maximum duration of completion of the program is eight academic years. The Bachelor of Arts in Creative Industries degree shall be awarded to a student upon completing the following requirements:

• Passed 126 credit hours.
• CGPA is not less than 2.0 on a scale of 4.0 points.
• Earned at least 50% of credits at CUD.
• Completed Internship and Project at CUD.

Program Structure

The program consists of:

• University Requirements (18 credits)
• Program Core Requirements (72 credits)
• Modules Requirements (36 credits)

University Requirements

University Requirements include:

• Compulsory Courses (15 credits)
  • English I
  • Modern Art Appreciation
  • Science and Technology in Society
  • Islamic Culture
  • Applied Statistics
• Elective Courses (3 credits): Students are required to select one course from the following pool
  • Music Appreciation and Communication
  • Communication Skills in Arabic 1
  • Psychology in Everyday Life
  • UAE Society
  • Fundamentals of Innovation and Entrepreneurship 1
  • Fundamentals of Innovation and Entrepreneurship 2

Program Core Requirements

Program Core Requirements include:

• Compulsory Courses (63 credits)
  • Financial Management
  • The New Business: From Idea to Reality
  • The Growing Business: Breaking Even
  • The Mature Business
  • Text, Image and Sound
  • Introduction to Professional Communication
  • Organizational problem Solving/ Report Writing
  • Introduction to Visual Communication
  • Creative Industries Overview
  • IP Issues in the Digital Age
  • Digital Design Studio
  • The Creative Process
  • Entrepreneurship in Creative Industries
  • HR in Creative Industries
  • Creative Industries Research Methodology
  • Managing Creative Enterprises
  • Studies in Creative Collaboration
  • Global Licensing/Distribution Agreements
  • Internship
  • e-Business Fundamentals
  • Imagining the Creative City
• Elective Courses (9 credits): Students are required to select three courses from the following courses
  • Strategic Public Relation
  • Global Entertainment Marketplace
  • Canadian Media/Entertainment Industries
  • History of Art 1
  • History of Design
  • Introduction to Media Theory and Practice
  • Business of Music 1
  • Introduction to the World of Design
  • Digital Luxury

Modules Requirements

There are three Modules for Bachelor of Arts in Creative Industries, and students are required to select two of the Modules:

• Module A: Interior Design (18 credits)
  • Compulsory Courses (15 credits)
    • Sustainable Design
    • Elements and Principles of Design
    • Contemporary Art and Design
    • Leaping Fences: New Directions in Design
    • Big Night Project
  • Elective Courses (3 credits): Students are required to select one course from the following courses
    • Design Theory
    • History of Architecture and Design
    • Strategic Thinking and the Deep Dive
• Module B: Media Business (18 credits)
  • Compulsory Courses (15 credits)
    • Business of Creative Media
    • Social Media
    • Business of Producing 1
    • Ethics in Media
    • Big Night Project
  • Elective Courses (3 credits): Students are required to select one course from the following courses
    • Art and Business of Gaming
    • Media Regulation and Communication Policy
    • Advanced Media Management
    • Legal Issues in Media
    • International Media Storytelling
• Module C: Communication Studies (18 credits)
  • Compulsory Courses (15 credits)
    • Language and Power
    • Social media
    • Countercultural Communication
    • Risk and Crisis Communication
    • Big Night Project
  • Elective Courses (3 credits): Students are required to select one course from the following courses
    • Theorizing Communication
    • Participatory Media Communication
    • The Business of Journalism
    • Strategic Thinking and the Deep Dive