Courses

The listing of a course description here does not guarantee a course’s being offered in a particular term. Please refer to the published schedule of classes on MyBU Student Portal for confirmation a class is actually being taught and for specific course meeting dates and times.

• MET AR 735: Arts and the Community
  This course explores the dynamic, complex, and sometimes contradictory work of community-based arts programs, including program development and design, relationship-building, funding and financial models, evaluation, and ethics. Sharpen your orientation as a practitioner through case studies, research, and experiential learning that will deepen your understanding of community-based arts and how they can be leveraged to drive positive change in communities.
• MET AR 750: Financial Management for Nonprofits
  Graduate Prerequisites: MET AC 630 or accounting equivalent. - Analyzes issues of accounting, finance, and economics in the context of the nonprofit organization. Stresses understanding financial statements, budget planning and control, cash flow analysis, and long term planning. [4 credits] [Required course for Fundraising Management Graduate Certificate]
• MET AR 751: Commercial Production: The Broadway Model
  Prerequisite: MET AR 100 Lab. - This course will examine the process of developing commercial Broadway productions from "page to stage." Students will examine the selection process that producers follow to identify a piece or property. We will examine the entire production process, from securing the rights and options, to legal processes including investor relations and collective bargaining, to assembling a creative and production team. Students will have the opportunity to meet with several Broadway professionals as guest speakers. Other topics covered may include securing a theater, residual, and subsidiary income as well as domestic and international touring. The leadership role of the producer will be discussed at every stage of the journey.
• MET AR 752: Strategies for Performing Arts Businesses
  Prerequisite: MET AR 100 Lab. - Strategies for Performing Arts Businesses explores the practice of producing theater as an act of entrepreneurship, and the strategic thinking necessary to take a concept for a creative business or initiative and make it a reality. Students will learn the skills of leadership and management as they are applied in a dynamic arts environment. In this course we will go behind the bright lights of Broadway to examine the variety of creative business that support or leverage the commercial theater industry, as well as the ways in which creative business people inside of the largest legacy institutions are creating new strategies to stay at the forefront of this highly competitive field. We will also consider the ways in which nonprofit theaters are increasingly seeking to build earned revenue strategies, and the growing number of commercial/nonprofit partnerships that operate within the industry.
• MET AR 753: Current Trends in the Performing Arts Industry
  Prerequisite: MET AR 100 Lab. Promoting a theatrical property extends beyond selling tickets to performances; be it a limited or open-ended engagement. Producers and artists continually seek new opportunities and environments for their properties. This requires strategic planning with a holistic view of a goals, implementing a methodical process of analyzing, decision-making and forecasting business activity to ensure future success.
• MET AR 754: Global Performing Arts Presenting and Producing
  Prerequisite: MET AR 100 Lab. - This course focuses on core concepts involved with offering a theatrical property to the touring market and other commercial presenting environments such as cruise ships, casinos, resorts or public/private partnerships. Leaders of these businesses and entertainment organizations must present or produce artistically rewarding programs that align with their missions to attract, retain and grow audiences, while maintaining sustainable financial support. The course explores the assessment of a commercial artistic/entertainment property for the purpose of placing it on Broadway, an international tour or other settings to be presented and monetized. The specific legal and licensing requirements to accomplish a variety of presenting models, such as ADA requirements, international visa requirements, content licensing, and financial models will be explored with a strong focus on international engagements and viability.
• MET AR 755: Arts and Cultural Research
  This course is designed to equip students with the tools and critical thinking skills to identify and apply appropriate methodologies to support the work of their organizations as practitioners and consumers of research. We will review the major approaches to social science research, including a range of quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methodologies, and consider the relevance of each research framework to specific questions in the arts. The course will consider the role of arts research in domains such as audience development and marketing; program evaluation and assessment; social and economic impact; decision-making and reflective practice; collaboration and creation; case making and communication with the public.
• MET AR 778: Legal Issues in Arts Administration
  "Arts Administration Law" is not a legal field; rather, it is a series of highly specialized legal analyses lying at the intersection of tax, intellectual property, employment, corporate law, and the law of non-profits that defines the legal status and issues of arts organizations. It is an interdisciplinary area, including all aspects of the law connected with art, artists (both performing and visual), performance and objects. Topics include: nonprofits and tax- exemption, contracts, copyright for performing and visual artists and artifacts, artists' moral rights, employment law, cultural heritage and the First Amendment. The course is taught using case studies and the case method applied to legal decisions, to which legal analytic frameworks will be applied.[4 credits] [Pre-requisite - MET AR690 ]
• MET AR 795: Arts and Cultural Management Practicum
  This course is the capstone experience for students pursuing a concentration in the MS in Arts and Cultural Management or seeking an Advanced Graduate Certificate within the Arts and Cultural Management Program. Students may elect to complete the work for the practicum in a single semester as a 4-credit course, or in two semesters as two 2-credit courses. The practicum experience can consist of one of the two following options: 1) A formal internship with an arts and cultural management organization in the nonprofit or commercial sectors; 2) A formal project developed and executed by the student. The practicum project requires a minimum of 200 hours of work. In each case, the practicum must involve an external partner who will have a direct supervisory role over the student’s work and must be approved by the program prior to the semester in which the practicum is undertaken.
• MET AR 796: Advanced Management and Consulting for Arts and Cultural Organizations
  The purpose of this course is to increase students' ability to analyze and solve problems that confront arts organizations. Students will apply financial, marketing, fundraising, and legal knowledge and techniques to (1) in-class discussion of key management issues of concern to senior leadership, and (2) a semester-long consulting project which partners and team of students with a local arts organization. Permission from instructor required/arts administration students only. Students may not register for MET AR 796 until they have completed a minimum of six required courses.
• MET AR 800: Directed Study
  Prereq: Consent of advisor. Requires prior approval of student-initiated proposal. Independent study on special projects under faculty guidance.
• MET AR 810: Master's Thesis 1
  Two consecutive two-credit courses (MET AR 810 Masters Thesis 1 and MET AR 810 Masters Thesis 2) will give students the tools they need to be informed consumers and producers of arts administration research. The Actual Units 2.00 *Enrollment Unit Load Calc Type Maximum Units 2.00 thesis must be completed within 12 months. Only students who have completed six courses in the Arts Administration master's degree program and have a GPA of 3.7 or higher may enroll in MET AR 810 and MET AR 811. Students are responsible for finding a thesis advisor and a principal reader within the department. The advisor must be a full-time faculty member; the principal reader may be a part-time faculty member with a doctorate.
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  • Critical Thinking
  • Quantitative Reasoning II
  • Teamwork/Collaboration
  • Writing-Intensive Course
• MET AR 811: Master's Thesis 2
  Two consecutive two-credit courses (MET AR 810 Masters Thesis 1 and MET AR 810 Masters Thesis 2) will give students the tools they need to be informed consumers and producers of arts administration research. The thesis must be completed within 12 months. Only students who have completed six courses in the Arts Administration master's degree program and have a GPA of 3.7 or higher may enroll in MET AR 810 and MET AR 811. Students are responsible for finding a thesis advisor and a principal reader within the department. The advisor must be a full-time faculty member; the principal reader may be a part-time faculty member with a doctorate.
• MET AS 101: The Solar System
  The historical development of astronomy and the motion of the planets. The formation of the solar system. The sun and its effects on the earth. Description of the planets and the moons of our solar system including recent results from the space program. Use of the observatory. Carries natural science divisional credit (with lab) in CAS. Effective Fall 2023, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Quantitative Reasoning I, Scientific Inquiry I, Critical Thinking.
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  • Critical Thinking
  • Quantitative Reasoning I
  • Scientific Inquiry I
• MET AS 102: The Astronomical Universe
  The birth and death of stars. Red giants, white dwarfs, black holes. Our galaxy, the Milky Way, and other galaxies. The Big Bang and other cosmological theories of our expanding universe. Effective Spring 2024, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Quantitative Reasoning I, Scientific Inquiry I, Critical Thinking.
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  • Critical Thinking
  • Quantitative Reasoning I
  • Scientific Inquiry I
• MET AT 505: Actuarial and Financial Data Analysis
  This course covers the use of programming, spreadsheets, and database software in an actuarial environment. You will calculate premiums and analyze loss metrics over the term while learning about the tools in R Studio, Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Access that help an actuary perform their analysis in a timely and accurate manner.
• MET AT 511: Economics and Management Decisions
  The aim of the course is to present decision problems and the economic analysis needed to guide these decisions. Microeconomic tools are used to structure complicated decision problems about production, pricing, investment, and other strategic issues and address uncertainty through probabilistic forecasts and sequential decisions. An important part of the course is to develop an understanding of the external environment in which firms operate by analyzing the implications of market structure, macroeconomic developments and policy, and other forms of public policy toward business.
• MET AT 521: Financial Mathematics
  Prerequisites: MET MA 225 or consent of instructor. This course develops uses of interest rates as the concept relates to the theory of finance. You will gain an understanding of interest calculations related to financial instruments including bonds, mortgages, annuities, and financial instruments with non-level payment schemes. The material covered in this course may help you prepare for the SoA/CAS Exam FM.
• MET AT 531: Fundamentals of Actuarial Mathematics
  Prerequisites: MET MA 581 or CAS MA 581; MET AT 521; or consent of instructor. - This course will cover the fundamentals of both long-term insurance and short-term insurance. The long-term topics will include insurance, annuities, and premiums for from both a theoretical basis and the application of those models. The short-term portion of the course introduces severity and frequency models, and will cover actuarial methods that are useful in modeling. Foundational principles of ratemaking and reserving for short-term coverages will also be covered. The material in this course may help you prepare for SoA Exam FAM.
• MET AT 541: Introduction to Individual Insurance
  This course covers the application of basic actuarial principles to individual life and annuity financial security systems. Material covered will include the purpose of these systems, the development of financial security products, risk classification, actuarial pricing assumptions, the calculation of product cash flows, the purpose of reserves and different reserve methods. Taxation, required capital, profit measurement, and reinsurance considerations will also be studied.