News
November 8, 2005
Students Line Up for New Artistic Entrepreneurship Course
When UNC Professor Elliot McGucken put out the call to "make your passion your profession" with a pilot course for artistic entrepreneurs, students answered. More than 110 students applied for the new course, Artistic Entrepreneurship and Technology 101, scheduled for Spring 2006.
The course, geared towards students with an interest in the intersection between the arts, entrepreneurial ventures and cutting-edge technology, was originally slated for 40 spots, but the overwhelming response triggered an increase in class size. Nearly 50 students are enrolled for the spring semester.
Students from a range of creative disciplines — from painting to film production — will develop their artistic vision over the course of the semester. McGucken hopes the course will both inspire artists to pursue their creative passions and give them the practical tools necessary to launch and develop their ventures.
"Every artist is an entrepreneur, and every entrepreneur is an artist," explains McGucken.
In addition to researching business structure and the ins and outs of building a sustainable venture in the arts, students will take inspiration from classical works like Aristotle's Poetics and contemporary entrepreneurs, artists and entertainers, like Steven Jobs, Richard Branson and 50 Cent.
Central to the course are multidisciplinary teams, in which students will learn from each other and build creative networks.
"What we have is a foundation for a network of artistic entrepreneurs who are going to go out and build tomorrow's media companies, launch tomorrow's fashion brands and realize the renaissance that technological revolutions are affording," says McGucken.
McGucken developed the course with a grant from the Carolina Entrepreneurial Initiative's Innovations Fund, as part of a larger proposal to explore the creation of an academic track in artistic entrepreneurship. McGucken brings a wealth of experience to the new course, including extensive research on open source content management systems and digital rights management, and more than 10 years experience at the helm of the profitable Great Books portal www.jollyroger.com.
http://www.kenaninstitute.unc.edu/centers/cei/?y=news.20051108&t=News
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