A New Chapter for a Familiar Program: Goucher’s MA in Cultural Sustainability Becomes the MA in Cultural Leadership & Management

Beginning with the 2026–27 academic year, Goucher College’s MA in Cultural Sustainability (MACS) becomes the MA in Cultural Leadership & Management (MACLM). For more than fifteen years, MACS has trained folklorists, cultural workers, and community advocates in ethnographic methods, community partnership, and cultural policy. Those foundations remain the heart of the program. What’s changing is that the program is enhancing and communicating more clearly the curriculum they offer in organizational leadership, management, finance, and stakeholder strategy. Sustaining culture means leading the organizations, partnerships, and budgets that make culture work possible.

AFS members will recognize a familiar name in this story. Amy Skillman, who directed the program for over a decade and recently served as President of the American Folklore Society, continues to teach in the program, anchoring its folklore roots. Melanie Lytle, the program’s new director, welcomes conversations with AFS members curious about the transition or who know someone the new program might serve.

Applications for the first MACLM cohort are now open, with a fall application deadline of July 24, 2026. Learn more on the MACLM website or contact Melanie Lytle at Melanie.Lytle@goucher.edu.