The Workshop in Cultural Affairs series advances the Center for Cultural Affairs’ priorities around training, research, and field-building. These biweekly workshops will highlight researchers at the O'Neill School, the greater Indiana University community, and beyond. The workshop connects cultural affairs experts together in a forum for scholarly discussion, debate, and exploration of the important issues being faced in the field of cultural affairs.
Workshop in Cultural Affairs
Leah Reisman, The Barra Foundation
February 12, 12pm EST
Topic: "How Consultants Shape Nonprofits: Shared Values, Unintended Consequences"
Leah Reisman is a sociologist and nonprofit leader. Her original quantitative and qualitative research on strategy consulting to nonprofits, Philadelphia’s arts philanthropic ecosystem, cultural philanthropy in Mexico, and professionalization in arts nonprofits has been supported by the National Science Foundation and featured in academic journals, the Stanford Social Innovation Review, the Chronicle of Philanthropy, and the Center for Effective Philanthropy blog. She is the author of How Consultants Shape Nonprofits: Shared Values, Unintended Consequences, which was published by Stanford University Press/SSIR Books in 2024. Leah is also an experienced nonprofit leader--she is a Program Officer at The Barra Foundation in Philadelphia, previously served as Health & Wellness Director at Puentes de Salud, and sits on several nonprofit boards. Leah holds a courtesy appointment as a Research Fellow at the John Brademas Center at NYU. She received her Ph.D. in sociology from Princeton University in 2020.
Stan Renard, University of Oklahoma, Antonio Cuyler, Matt Carruthers & Jason Imbesi, University of Michigan
February 26, 12pm EST
Topics from: "Innovating Institutions and Inequities in the Arts"
Dr. Stan Renard is Associate Dean and Associate Professor and Coordinator of Arts Management and Entrepreneurship at the University of Oklahoma. He is the Director of the Arts Incubation Research Lab (AIR Lab), a National Endowment for the Arts Research Lab. The lab’s research team studies the intersection of the arts, entrepreneurship, and innovation at its incubation stage with a research agenda that intends to understand the economic potential of artists as non-conventional entrepreneurs and the impact of the digital divide upon arts-based entrepreneurs. In addition, he is a touring and recording artist, and the founder and arranger of the Grammy-Nominated Bohemian Quartet. He is the Executive Director of the Monteux School and Music Festival in Hancock, Maine. Dr. Renard holds a Doctorate in Musical Arts (DMA) from the University of Connecticut as well as a Doctorate in International Business (DBA) from Southern New Hampshire University. Previously held collegiate appointments include Colby College, the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, the University of Connecticut, Storrs, Providence College, Eastern Connecticut State University, Southern New Hampshire University, the University of California at San Diego, and the University of Texas at San Antonio. Dr. Renard is a member of the Yamaha Master Educator Collective, Music Business & Entrepreneurship Group.
Publications: Access my Researchgate Profile Here
antonio c. cuyler, ph.d. (he/him/his) is Professor of Music in Entrepreneurship & Leadership, Faculty Associate in Voice & Opera in the School of Music, Theatre & Dance (SMTD), and Faculty Associate in the African Studies Center at the University of Michigan. Dr. Cuyler's scholarship interweaves curiosities and inquiries about arts administration, entrepreneurship, leadership, management curricula, creative justice, cultural policy, and experiential learning. The central question that he investigates in his research agenda is, "in what ways can the creative sector ensure and protect the creative justice of historically and continuously low casted, othered, and subalterned peoples?"
Matt Carruthers is the Digital Scholarship and Research Data Specialist at the University of Michigan Library. He works collaboratively with students, faculty, staff, and library colleagues to advance learning, teaching, and scholarship through digital research methods and technologies across various disciplines. He focuses on instruction and consultation for university members embarking on digital research and teaching endeavors, as well as the effective use and management of research data. Matt received a Master's degree in Library Science (with a specialization in Digital Libraries) from Indiana University. Prior to that, he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from the University of Wisconsin. He previously worked at the University of Miami.
Jason Imbesi provides reference, specialized research, instructional, and collection support in the area of music, theatre and dance. He began his work at the University of Michigan Library in October 2012. He holds a master's degrees in Library Science and Music History from the University at Buffalo as well as a BA in Broadcasting & Mass Communications from SUNY Oswego.
Andrew Zitcer, Drexel University & Tom Borrup, University of Minnesota
March 12, 12pm EST
Topic: "Democracy as Creative Practice: Weaving a Culture of Civic Life"
Andrew Zitcer is an Associate Professor at Drexel University's Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design, where he teaches in Arts Administration and directs the Urban Strategy graduate program. His research explores cultural and economic democracy. His book, Practicing Cooperation: Mutual Aid Beyond Capitalism, was published by the University of Minnesota Press in 2021. Democracy as Creative Practice: Weaving a Culture of Civic Life, co-edited with Tom Borrup, was published by Routledge in 2024.
As a founder of Creative Community Builders, Tom consults with cities, foundations, and nonprofits across the United States to develop synergy between arts, economic development, urban planning, and design. In 2024, his co-edited book with Andrew Zitcer, Democracy as Creative Practice: Weaving a Culture of Civic Life was released by Routledge. Tom's 2021 book, The Power of Culture in City Planning was also published by Routledge. He is a co-author of the 2021 Routledge Handbook of Placemaking, and author of many articles, chapters and studies on cultural planning, vernacular creative economies, and placemaking. His 2006 book The Creative Community Builders' Handbook, remains a leading text in the field.
As a founder of Creative Community Builders, Tom consults with cities, foundations, and nonprofits across the United States to develop synergy between arts, economic development, urban planning, and design. In 2024, his co-edited book with Andrew Zitcer, Democracy as Creative Practice: Weaving a Culture of Civic Life was released by Routledge. Tom's 2021 book, The Power of Culture in City Planning was also published by Routledge. He is a co-author of the 2021 Routledge Handbook of Placemaking, and author of many articles, chapters and studies on cultural planning, vernacular creative economies, and placemaking. His 2006 book The Creative Community Builders' Handbook, remains a leading text in the field.
Tom earned his Ph.D. in Leadership and Change from Antioch University. He is Director of Graduate Studies for the University of Minnesota's Master of Professional Studies in Arts and Cultural Leadership and Master of Professional Studies in Civic Engagement. He is a Visiting Professor at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing and teaches for the University of Kentucky PhD Program in Arts Management.
Wen Guo, Florida State University & Manuel Montoya, University of New Mexico
March 26, 12pm EDT
Topics from: “Innovating Institutions and Inequities in the Arts”
Wen Guo is an Assistant Professor and Director of the Arts Administration Program in the Department of Art Education at Florida State University. She earned her PhD in Cultural Policy and Arts Administration from Ohio State University. She studies a broad array of topics in art administration and cultural policy, including arts policy networks, arts entrepreneurship, and community engagement through the arts.
Dr. Guo is a recipient of the 2024-26 Research Practice Partnership grant from the Wallace Foundation and was awarded the 2021-22 and 2024-25 Strategic National Arts Alumni Project Fellowship for her research on entrepreneurship training arts graduates in higher education. he also serves as a board member for the International Conference of Social Theory, Politics, and the Arts. Her research are published in peer-reviewed journals and books, including Review of Policy Research, Cultural Trends, the Journal of Arts Management, Law, and Society, Studies in Art Education, Artivate: A Journal of Entrepreneurship in the Arts, the American Journal of Arts Management, among others.
Manuel (MJR) Montoya, Ph.D. (he/him) is an Associate professor in UNM’s Department of Economics. His work focuses on global political economy and how we make the planet a meaningful part of our social and economic realities and has published work on issues ranging from international trade to creative economy. He attended UNM where he became UNM’s first Latinx Rhodes Scholar. He then attended Oxford University where he received a master’s degree in philosophy, NYU where he studied politics and literature, and received his PhD from Emory University in International Relations and Comparative Literature as a CRS Fellow and George Woodruff Fellow. He has delivered over 100 lectures across the world and has advised world leaders on emerging markets and global conflict. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He recently received UNM’s Presidential Teaching Fellowship, UNM’s highest teaching honor. He is the creator of Terra Prime, a card based learning and conversational tool. He is the academic advisor for the Binational Business Program, a collaboration with the New Mexico Trade Alliance and COMEXUS/Garcia Robles Foundation where he hosts Fulbright scholars at UNM designed to raise the economic profile of New Mexico and Mexico. He is also the research design instructor for the Ronald McNair program, and a teaching fellow for Summa Academia, which supports first gen and BIPOC students to develop graduate level research strategies. He has curated a museum show focusing on systems of value and developed a podcast called Vessels and Voids, which he uses to discuss the link between popular culture and the development of global civil society. His belief in community service He has written a book of poetry and a collection of short stories and has been an amateur watchmaker for the past 15 years. Dr. Montoya was born and raised in Mora, New Mexico.
Dylan Thompson, Erasmus University Rotterdam
April 9, 12pm EDT
Topic: "Contributed Efficiency: Analysing the Determinants of the Technical Efficiency of the US Art Museum Sector"
Dylan Thompson is an Associate Professor in Creative Industries and Digitalization in the Arts and Culture Studies department at Erasmus University Rotterdam. He is an applied microeconomist specializing in the economics of the cultural and creative industries, digitization, and consumer choice analysis more broadly. His research has involved studying the factors influencing consumer choice of cultural products, and the strategies that cultural and creative workers and institutions employ in their commercial practice. His research typically utilizes data science techniques and a variety of econometric methods to generate robust, policy-relevant empirical evidence regarding the workings of the cultural and creative industries.
Clement Gorin, Pantheon Sorbonne University Paris
April 23, 12pm EDT
Topic: “State of the Art: Economic Development Through the Lens of Paintings”
Clément Gorin is an Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. He earned his PhD in Economics from the University of Lyon and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Toronto. His research is positioned at the intersection of spatial economics, economic history, and deep learning, focusing on how the movement of people and ideas shapes the spatial distribution of economic activity and urban development. Clément extensively applies deep learning methods to analyze data sources such as historical maps, documents, paintings, and satellite images, among others.
Workshop Alums
Maura Cuffie-Peterson, Creatives Rebuild New York
Jamie Hand, Creatives Rebuild New York
Jongmin(Min) Lee, Indiana University
Christos Makridis, Arizona State University
Kathryn Brown, Loughborough University
Dave O'Brien, University of Manchester
Justin O'Connor, University of South Australia
Carole Rosenstein, George Mason University
Andrew Zitcer, Drexel University
Victoria Durrer, UC Dublin
Léonie Hénaut, University of Madison-Wisconsin
Ziv Espstein, Stanford Institute for Human Centered AI
Stephen Reily, Remuseum
Giacomo Negro, Emory University
Nicole Cohen, University of Toronto
Greig de Peuter, Wilfrid Laurie
Brent Lutes, U.S. Copyright Office
Felix Koenig, Carnegie Mellon
Patricia Banks, Mount Holyoke College
Nicole Cohen, University of Toronto
Greig de Peuter, Wilfrid Laurie
Brent Lutes, U.S. Copyright Office
Felix Koenig, Carnegie Mellon
Patricia Banks, Mount Holyoke College
James Pawelski and Katherine Cotter, University of Pennsylvania
Diane Ragsdale and Shannon Litzenberger, Minneapolis College of Art and Design
Ken Elpus, University of Maryland
Jennifer Novak-Leonard, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Laurence Dubuc, MassCulture
Wen Guo, Elon University
Johanna Taylor, Arizona State University
Kate Preston Keeney, College of Charleston
Mark Taylor, University of Sheffield
Eleonora Redaelli, University of Oregon
Amy Whitaker, New York University
Amanda J. Ashley, Boise State University
Jennifer Benoit-Bryan, Slover Linett Audience Research
Jakob Brounstein, University of California, Berkeley
Bronwyn Coate, RMIT University
Susan Dumais, Lehman College
Tal Feder, Sapir College
Alexandre Frenette, Vanderbilt University
Carl Grodach, Monash University
Steven Hadley, National University of Ireland Galway
Mirae Kim, George Mason University
Brian Kisida, University of Missouri
Carolyn Loh, Wayne State University
Lénia Marques, Erasmus University Rotterdam
Candace Miller, University of North Carolina
Alisa Moldavanova, Wayne State University
Doug Noonan, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis
Susan Oman, University of Sheffield
Jonathan Paquette, University of Ottawa
Michael Rushton, Indiana University
Michael Seman, Colorado State University
Rachel Skaggs, Ohio State University
Tamás Szabados, Eötvös Loránd University
Neville Vakharia, Drexel University
Qingfang Wang, University of California Riverside
Hannah Wohl, University of California, Santa Barbara
Joanna Woronkowicz, Indiana University
Artwork credit: Banner image by photographer, James Brosher.
