UVic will be offering two new university master's degrees next academic year - one on food and sustainability, and the other on accessible artistic practices

UVic will be offering two new university master's degrees in the coming 2022-2023 academic year, which will be added to its range of second cycle studies. These are the master's degree in Food and Sustainability, within the Faculty of Health Sciences and Welfare, and the master's degree in Application of Accessible Artistic Practices, associated with the Faculty of Education, Translation, Sports and Psychology. The major new additions to the lifelong learning range include a master's degree in Medical Humanities, as a UVic degree, and an updated version of its MBA entitled Executive Master in Business Administration, which has been especially designed for a new generation of leaders and managers in a hyperdigitalised world. 

Food and Sustainability

After two decades teaching Human Nutrition and Dietetics, the new master's degree in Food and Sustainability aims to address the food challenges facing humanity in a context of constant population growth, all the aspects of malnutrition, and degradation of the environment and natural resources. It will provide training for professionals with an extensive understanding of food systems, who can contribute to the development of healthy and sustainable food and nutrition strategies with a global, population-based and individual perspective, and as a preventive tool for maintaining human health on the planet. The master's programme will be taught in online and blended formats, in Spanish and Catalan, and enable access to doctoral studies.

The coordinator of this master's degree, Míriam Torres, says that "providing a healthy diet for the entire population without overexploiting natural resources and ensuring food security is one of the main challenges we have as a society," and as a result, "the professionals of the future will have to implement strategies in both the production and consumption spheres. These will be fundamental to ensuring the health and quality of life of both human beings and the planet in the medium term."

Accessible Artistic Practices

The other new course in the next academic year, the master's degree in the Application of Accessible Artistic Practices, falls within the United Nations 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as it focuses on support for diversity, equality of opportunities and non-segregation. "In this context, in which the arts have traditionally been considered a product that is only available to a few people, creating a gap between those who practice them and those who consume them, we need professionals who are able to manage participatory artistic experiences that are accessible to everyone," says Lluís Solé, the coordinator of the new master's degree. The new course will therefore will provide professionals with training in making the arts active experiences with a commitment to transformation, "including universal access, inclusion, equal opportunities, personal well-being and the active participation of citizens, among other aspects." 

The UVic Inclusive Orchestra is a good example of how an accessible approach leads to access, progress, participation and well-being for all participants wishing to be members. As Solé says, "the aim of the master's degree is not to provide training in artistic excellence, but to provide the necessary competencies for the application of artistic practices that enable a broader participation by everyone."
The master's degree is aimed at people with degrees in Fine Arts, Art History and with higher studies in music, dance and theatre, or from the world of education. The master's degree also opens the door to research and knowledge transfer in the artistic field. It will be taught in a blended format, in Spanish, Catalan and English, with face-to-face teaching taking place in the first fortnight of July. 

New range of UVic special degrees

UVic will also be introducing a number of innovations in its own UVic degrees, including the master's degree in Medical Humanities, a new programme that aims to cover the shared areas between the disciplines of medicine and the humanities, by examining the relationships between the two fields over time. It will be taught in a blended format, with stays of two weeks in Vic/Barcelona and two more weeks in Arezzo/Florence. The course will be taught by teaching staff from the University of Vic - Central University of Catalonia (UVic-UCC) and the University of Siena. 

Finally, another new course is the Executive Master in Business Administration (EMBA). This is an updated version of the MBA taught at UVic-UCC since 2014, designed for a new generation of leaders and managers with new needs and in a hyperdigitalised environment.  

The program aims to train its students to achieve professional profiles of excellence that can compete in local and global markets. They will have managerial, leadership, communication, decision-making and innovation skills, and be able to respond creatively to the challenges posed by a dynamic, changing and globalised world of work and business.

The methodology of the master's degree is based on experience and experiential and collaborative work. The 100% online version includes monthly online lectures given by renowned professionals, synchronous follow-up meetings and networking with teachers and classmates, as well as a personalised business mentoring plan. The master's degree also offers students the opportunity to refresh their knowledge with lectures, sessions based on experience and face-to-face teambuilding activities in Vic.  

The EMBA is being organised by the Faculty of Business and Communication Studies, in partnership with Spanish and international companies and institutions.