A new interdisciplinary Master's program called Cultural Production, which aims to give students academic background and practical experience in "making culture," is set to begin next fall semester. A core course called "Making Culture: Theory and Practice" examines the definition of culture and "how it is produced, transmitted, reproduced, disseminated, preserved and contested," according to the program's Web site.

The program "combines areas of intellectual inquiry that are often treated separately, notably the study of social memory, including museums and memorials," and will give students perspectives and experience for analyzing intersections in art, imagination, technology, politics and public spheres, program director Mark Auslander (ANTH) wrote in an e-mail to the Justice.

The program requires one academic year of residence in which students complete eight semester courses and a Master's project or paper. Students can choose one of three clusters: Performance: Object/Body/Place, Visuality: Image/Media/Signs, and Memory: Museums/Preservations/Archive.

The program's courses, which are not yet assigned to faculty members, span classes in anthropology, English and American literature, fine arts, history, Near Eastern and Judaic Studies, romance and comparative literature, sociology and theater. Many of these classes already exist, but some are new.

In addition to the core course, others are titled: Museums and Public Memory, Visuality and Culture, and Verbal Art and Cultural Performance.

Auslander said he estimates that four or five students will enroll in the first years of the program. Eventually, he expects enrollment to reach 10 to 12 annually.

Classes are coupled with research for a Master's project and a required internship in the Boston cultural world, such as work in a museum, civic memorial, historical archive or other cultural organization.

"The internship program is an especially attractive component of the program," Auslander said, as it allows "students to move back and forth between sophisticated theoretical reflection and hands-on practical engagement with the making of culture."

Auslander said directors of cultural institutions seek applicants with Master's degrees in areas of cultural expertise combined with knowledge of media and Internet technology. He said courses will incorporate media studies and technology.

This degree, Auslander said, is useful to students interested in international fields such as development, human rights monitoring, advocacy, and the interpreting of cultural concepts between societies.

Professor Thomas King (ENG), a member of the Cultural Production faculty committee, which is developing the program, said it will "build a network of students engaged both in social inquiry and cultural practice."

The program will also involve close work with the Rose Art Museum staff, the Office of the Arts and the Brandeis Theater Company.

According to Auslander, the program is a "labor of love" by the faculty who wish to teach in the graduate program as an "extra service" in addition to their normal teaching.

Dean of Arts and Sciences Adam Jaffe wrote in an e-mail to the Justice that his office is "very supportive" in funding the program.