Music/Social & Public Policy

Music and social and public policy is an unusual combination that reflects a genuine and productive intellectual relationship. Music as an academic discipline opens up questions that are simultaneously technical, aesthetic, historical, and philosophical: how is music structured, what does it mean, how has it been made and heard in different times and places, and what role does it play in the lives of individuals and communities? Social and public policy brings rigorous analysis of how societies are organised and how governments and other institutions respond to social problems, examining welfare, inequality, health, education, and the systems designed to address them.

The combination allows you to bring the depth of musical study into conversation with serious social analysis, and to think about culture as both a form of social practice and an object of policy.

At the University of Glasgow, this four-year, full-time programme includes a year abroad, which broadens the academic and personal experience of the degree considerably. In each year you are offered a range of options in music and other subjects, allowing you to design a pathway that matches your particular interests and strengths. You will develop skills in musical analysis, performance, and musicology alongside the social scientific methods and policy frameworks that form the core of social and public policy study.

Glasgow's research culture in both areas means you will be taught by staff who are active in their fields, and the year abroad provides an opportunity to experience different musical and social policy traditions at first hand. The typical entry tariff is 216 UCAS points.

Graduates from this programme move into careers in arts administration, cultural policy, the music industry, public service broadcasting, social research, government departments, the third sector, and education. The combination of cultural knowledge and policy understanding is particularly valuable in organisations working at the intersection of culture and public life. Many graduates continue to postgraduate study in music, social policy, arts management, or related disciplines.