Business of Creative Enterprises BA, Academics, Emerson College

Where Creativity Drives Business

The Business of Creative Enterprises major is among the first of its kind in the country. Our students are driven by a passion for arts and communication and interested in leading and managing businesses in the creative economy.

The program focuses on the interconnection between business strategy, creative thinking, and ideas, helping students learn about and adapt to an ever-changing economy. BCE prepares students to become executives, managers, and innovators in new or existing creative enterprises in the arts and entertainment, communication, media, and publishing sectors.

The program is designed to help students:

Redefine existing business strategies and establish new practices in the creative economy
Develop the skill-set needed to adapt and lead in changing and evolving fields
Identify emerging trends, communicate ideas, build communities, and connect to new markets
Create, analyze, interpret, and evaluate financial statements
Analyze risk and create action plans to support enterprise goals

The program draws its faculty and courses from Emerson’s departments of Marketing Communication, Visual & Media Arts, Performing Arts, Communication Studies, and Writing, Literature & Publishing. In addition to real-world training in communication and the arts, students will work with industry leaders to develop a unique creative voice and business acumen in a collaborative and supportive environment.

The Creative Economy

The creative economy contains an exciting cross-section of enterprises and individuals working together to redefine existing business strategies and establish new practices in:

Film/TV
Music
Event Production
Development
Marketing
Publishing
Visual Arts
Gaming and Esports
Design
Community Engagement

Curriculum

Required Courses
Number	Course	Credits
BC 110	Introduction to the Creative Economy	4
BC 111	Creative Collaboration Seminar	4
EC 204	Cultural Economics	4
BC 205	Business Fundamentals for the Creative Enterprise	4
BC 210	Developing an Aesthetic Sensibility through Creative and Critical Thinking	4
BC 310	Marketing the Creative Enterprise	4
MB 310	Finance and Accounting	4
BC 311	Strategic Management & Analytical Decision Making	4
BC 450	Senior Residency I	4
BC 451	Senior Residency II	4

Elective Courses

Electives: Communication Enterprises
Number	Course	Credits
CC 203	Intercultural Communication	4
CC 221	Global Political Communication	4
CC 235	Sports Communication	4
CC 236	Sports Public Relations	4
CC 250	Introduction to Public Relations	4
CC 262	Professional Communication	4
CC 263	Argument and Advocacy	4
CC 266	Conflict and Negotiation	4
CC 303	Public Opinion Polling	4
CC 315	Introduction to Nonprofit Communication	4
CC 316	Nonprofit Fundraising Campaigns	4
CC 330	Management and Communication	4
CC 345	Public Affairs Matrix	4
CC 350	Media Broadcast Presentations	4
CC 256	Crisis Communication	4
CC 361	Public Diplomacy and Grassroots Activism	4
CC 362	Guerilla PR	4
MK 334	Online Behavior and Web Analytics	4
MK 346	The Corporate Communications Function and Social Responsibility	4
MK 352	Creative Concept and Storytelling	4
MK 355	Sales Promotion and Events Management	4
MB 300	Managing Business Operations	4
MB 400	Business Policy and Strategy	4

Electives: Arts and Entertainment Enterprises
Number	Course	Credits
TH 101	Languages of the Stage	4
TH 275	Arts Management I	4
TH 375	Arts Management II	4
TH 479	The Business of Acting	4

Electives: Media Enterprises
Number	Course	Credits
VM 140	Introduction to Video Production for Non-Majors	4
VM 244	Introduction to Producing	4
VM 260	Introduction to Interactive Media	4
VM 332	Production Management	4
VM 370	The Business of Film	4
VM 380	Media Copyright and Content	4
VM 442	Studios and Independents	4
VM 457	Recording Industry as a Business	4
VM 475	Creative Producing for Film	4

Electives: Publishing Enterprises
Number	Course	Credits
PB 203	Intro to Electronic Publishing	4
PB 303	Web Development	4
PB 320	Publishing Management and Innovation	4
PB 380	Magazine Publishing Overview	4
PB 383	Book Publishing Overview	4
PB 395	Applications for Print Publishing	4

The Senior Residency

As the capstone of the BCE program, the Senior Residency is designed to reconnect the entirety of skills students have refined, accumulated, and workshopped since entering the program. Collaboration, aesthetic sensibility, organizational structure, and finance will be combined with lessons learned from students’ various electives and put to work in this class. The class will contain elements of both a traditional capstone and an internship but with more academic rigor and analysis, as well as collaboration with fellow students, professors, advisors, and clients.

Students, organized in groups, will spend a semester analyzing various business in the creative industry. Specifically, examining the following areas of the respective businesses.

The class will be organized via modules where groups will examine different creative enterprises through the BCE lens. The focus of said analysis will be: