Publications

Publications Archive

The following archive contains various books, reports, working papers, and syllabi published by the Cultural Policy Center.

June, 2015

Urban Cultural Projects: Research, Practice, Policy

This is the summary report of a convening hosted by the CPC at the University of Chicago's Center in Paris on June 1–2, 2015. The convening entailed two days of presentations and discussions with European colleagues about urban cultural...


April, 2015

Minding the Gap: Elucidating the Disconnect between Arts Participation Metrics and Arts Engagement within Immigrant Communities

A growing gap between national metrics of arts participation and the many, evolving ways in which people participate in artistic and aesthetic activities limits the degree to which such data can usefully inform policy decisions. The National...


January, 2015

Hot Button Topics in Cultural Policy (2015)

Course Overview: The course will explore the practice of creative placemaking, one of the most important contemporary cultural policies for urban development.  Placemaking refers to a wide range of projects—developing new or...


December, 2014

The Changing Landscape of Arts Participation: A Synthesis of Literature and Expert Interviews

This report is informed by a review of academic and grey literature and expert interviews. A substantial portion of literature reviewed employed an anthropological, ethnographic or sociological approach to documenting and studying communities in...


June, 2014

Public Funding for Art: Chicago Compared with 12 Peer Regions

Supported in part by Arts Alliance Illinois, and with the cooperation of several local arts agencies, including Chicago's Department of Cultural Affairs and Special events, and of the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies. This study...


May, 2014

Measuring Chicago's (Artistically) Creative Economy

This study measures the creative industries and workers of Chicago and eight peer cities. It is meant to provide an objective benchmark for Chicago as it undertakes the goals articulated in the Chicago Cultural Plan 2012 of attracting and...


May, 2014

The Retention of Chicago's Arts Students in Comparative Perspective

Highlights: 58 percent of Chicago arts-school alumni took up residence in the city within 5 years of the date of their last attendance. Of the regions compared in this report, only New York City has a greater portion of its arts-school...


January, 2014

Hot Button Topics in Cultural Policy (2014)

Course Overview: This course offers students the opportunity to engage in real-world cultural policy research focused on some of the most pressing issues affecting the cultural sector.  In Winter 2014 the “hot button” topic is...


September, 2013

Introduction to U.S. Cultural Policy (2013)

This course provides an overview of U.S. cultural policy, tracing the origins of the arts infrastructure from the late 19th century to the present, with a focus on the shaping of cultural organizations, taste, patronage systems and audiences. Key...


September, 2013

Undergraduate Humanities Coursework: an Exploration of its Effects on Key Postgraduate Outcomes

Executive Summary: This report explores what current data sources can reveal about who takes college-level humanities courses and the value of these courses to students who ultimately pursue degrees in fields other than the humanities. The report...

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