The mission of the Center for Cultural Affairs at the O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs is to advance the understanding of the place of arts and culture in public life. The center will facilitate a network of scholars and practitioners interested in advancing cultural affairs research, produce high-quality and relevant research on arts and cultural policy and management issues, and serve as a resource to the arts and cultural sector.
The term ‘cultural affairs’ refers to public engagement with arts and culture. As a field of study, it consists of several subfields, including cultural economics, cultural management, arts management, arts administration, cultural entrepreneurship, cultural policy, and more. Within each subfield, and the larger field of cultural affairs, scholars from various disciplines study issues around public engagement with arts and culture. Disciplines include, but are not limited to, economics, anthropology, sociology, history, geography, neuroscience, psychology, philosophy, folklore, and more. In other words, the field of cultural affairs is interdisciplinary and is made up of various subfields, in which scholars from various disciplines study issues around public engagement with arts and culture.
