Thinkers, Designers, Educators, Visionaries

Antonella Poce

Head of the Centre | Full Professor

Annamaria Contini

Full Professor

Alberto Melloni

Full Professor

Andrea Rapini

Researcher | PhD

Antonio Moreira Texeira

Professor, Head of the Department of Education and Distance Learning - Universidade Aberta and CFUL - University of Lisbon

Mona Hess

Professor for Digital Technologies in Heritage Conservation Institute for Archaeology, Heritage Conservation Studies and Art History (IADK), University of Bamberg

Helen Chatterjee

Professor of Biology, UCL Biosciences and UCL Arts & Sciences

Julie Carmean

Manager of National Teacher Programs Department of Gallery and Studio Learning, National Gallery of Art, Washington DC

Deborah Seid Howes

Faculty Professor at John Hopkins University and President of Howes Studio Inc.

Susanna Sancassani

Managing Director, METID, Politecnico di Milano

Pierangelo Campodonico

Director of MU.MA, Istituzione Musei del Mare e delle Migrazioni
douglas-hegley

Douglas Hegley

Chief Digital Officer at The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Tito Rossini

Indipendent Artist

Empirical Studies In Museum Education – Post-Graduate a.a. 2023/2024

The field of cultural heritage presents an increasing need to address proposals able to meet the demands of visitors, regarded as categories of audiences distinguished on the basis of social, cultural, and age variables. Thus, it is necessary to study their characteristics in order to formulate programs that meet their cultural demand, both implicit and explicit.

This Post-Graduate degree aims to respond to the educational needs expressed by the major social partners in the field, through a unique course of study in the Italian context with the purpose to train new museum educators. The functions and skills associated with this profile have been defined according to the main documents of the major social partners in the sector (ICOM Italy, 2019; MIC, 2022; NEMO, 2020). Plus, they concern the design, evaluation and coordination of activities in the field of cultural heritage education; the promotion of museum accessibility; the definition of empirical educational research programs and projects at the museum, as well as the use of innovative technological tools for the enhancement and communication of artistic and cultural heritage.

The  Post-Graduate degree content will provide the necessary qualification for acquiring the profile of museum educator. With regard to already active staff, the  Post-Graduate degree will provide opportunities for professional retraining in the field of educational services in heritage use contexts.

The  Post-Graduate content and objectives respond to the following professional profiles defined by the Charter of Museum Professions (ICOM, 2019).

The teaching activities are all held in e-learning and adopts a modular structure that facilitates the recognition of specific learning strategies and content retention. Continuous self-assessment mechanisms are integrated to reinforce learning throughout the program.

The program is designed to enable trainees to develop personal advancement capabilities and effectively navigate academic and professional contexts, thereby contributing to technological and cultural progress in society, particularly within the domain of cultural heritage enhancement.

 

Theoretical Teaching Units

In its e-learning part, the Master’s curriculum encompasses a series of theoretical units, drawn from prominent Italian and international literature. These units aim to achieve several objectives, including the analysis of communication and cultural mediation within the museum, the interpretation of museums as tools for lifelong education, the mastery of relevant terminology, and the exploration of the relationship between key marketing functions as an organizational context within museums’ educational functions.

 

Study and Research Seminars

Lectures with national and international experts meet the following objectives:

– identify the characteristics of the target audience;

– interpret the museum as a tool for lifelong education;

– master an appropriate set of terminology;

– define the main functions of marketing as the organizational context of the museum’s educational function;

– devise, evaluate and implement structured teaching and educational proposals consistent with the various types of museums;

 – conduct empirical educational research at the museum.

Audiovisual Didactic Units

This component of the program focuses on recognizing and analysing communication strategies applicable during museum educational activities.

 

Documentary Didactic Units and Monthly Research

The curriculum includes the presentation of practical examples illustrating the use of tools, data analysis, and the development of questionnaires. These activities equip students with the skills needed to create evaluation tools for application within the museum environment.

 

Frontal teaching will be delivered in e-learning (synchronous and asynchronous) and in streaming mode.

Lectures, workshops, laboratories and distance learning activities feature national and international experts from: Loughborough University, Simon Fraser University, University of Bamberg, Institut Catholique de France, National Gallery of Art (Washington, D.C.), John Hopkins University, University College London, University of Roma Tre, University of Rome Tor Vergata.

The Master’s program spans a duration of 1 years.

The educational activity provides 60 university credits, equal to 1,500 hours of total commitment for the student of which 708 hours are e-learning. The remaining hours are aimed at individual study and preparation for the final exam. Training, further education and internship activities carried out after the degree giving access to the Master’s program and for which there is a certificate (including courses activated within the framework of study courses) may be recognized by the Board of Teachers, as long as they are consistent with the characteristics of the Master’s program itself. These activities may be assigned credits useful for the fulfillment of the Master’s degree, with a corresponding reduction in the training load due, up to a maximum of 20.

 

At the conclusion of the Master’s course, students are required to write a final thesis based on guidance provided by the Course Council, drawing from their study and research activities undertaken during the year. The final thesis shall be discussed in presence before a committee composed of the Master’s Director and national and/or international experts in the field.

The Master’s Course is open to individuals who hold one of the following degrees: all Master’s degrees awarded under Ministerial Decree No. 270 of October 22, 2004; all Specialist degrees awarded under Ministerial Decree No. 509 of November 3, 1999; all degrees awarded under the system prior to Ministerial Decree No. 509 of November 3, 1999 (old system). Non-EU students resident in Italy with a valid residence permit for work or study purposes are eligible for enrolment. For non-EU students residing abroad, admission is regulated by current regulations, and the qualification obtained abroad must be accompanied by a CIMEA certificate. Eligible qualifications must be possessed at the time of enrolment, prior to the commencement of training activities. Auditors are allowed to attend the Master’s program.

Minimum number of participants: 10

 

Maximum number of participants: 100       

 

In case the number of candidates exceeds the established maximum, and provided that minimum requirements are met, candidates will be assessed based on the following evaluation criteria:

  • Master’s degree final grade (with reference to the minimum entry requirement degree): max 12 points (=110 cum laude) (110=11points; 109=10.9 etc.);
  • Additional qualifications (second degree, Master’s degree, PhD, Higher Education Courses, etc.): 1 point for each qualification for a maximum of 4 points;
  • Proven experience in national and international museum contexts: max. 6 points;
  • English language certifications recognized by the MUR: B2=0.5 points; C1= 1 point; C2=1.5 points;
  • Other language certifications recognized by the MUR: B2=0.5 points; C1= 1 point; C2=1.5 points;
  • Other language certifications recognized by the MUR: max 1 point;
  • Publications (journals with ISSN or monographs/book chapters with ISBN).

 

Those who do not meet the qualification requirements for the Master’s degree may be admitted as auditors, with a maximum of 20% of participants. Auditors are individuals who, despite not possessing the degree required for admission, have solid professional experience in the areas covered by the Master’s program.                     

The enrolment fee is set at €5,000 divided into two instalments.

The enrolment fee as auditors is € 500.00.

 

CREDITS


60 CFU

DURATATION

1 ANNO

STARTING

FEB 2024

LANGUAGE

ITA - ENG

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Dr Antonia Liguori is a Lecturer in Applied Storytelling at Loughborough University, UK. She has always been drawn to the space where History and Technology intersect, and opportunities for methodological innovation arise. Over the past 15 years, she had the privilege to experience a very diverse and exciting career pathway, both in the heritage sector in Italy and in academia in the UK.

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Since 2008, she has been involved in a variety of international research projects to develop tools and methods to foster innovation in education; to explore the role of storytelling and memories in today’s digital world; to investigate and trial ways of using digital storytelling as a participatory methodology for interdisciplinary research. Over the past five years her research has been focusing on three main strands: applied storytelling on environmental issues; digital storytelling in (cultural/heritage) education; storytelling, sense of place and cultural values.

In 2018, she was awarded an AHRC Fellowship at the Smithsonian Center for Learning and Digital Access, in Washington DC, US, to explore digital storytelling as a teaching strategy within the Smithsonian Learning Lab (awarded as the ‘best education website’ in 2019). Over the past five years, she has been involved in 16 projects of various sizes, ranging from a few thousand pounds to over a million pounds in value, funded by organisations as diverse as AHRC, NERC, ESRC, MRC, EPSRC, British Academy and the European Commission.

A list of her publications can be accessed via this link: Pubblications.lboro

 

Sharon Bailin

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Alan Tait is Emeritus Professor of Distance Education and Development at the Open University UK, and Fellow at the Centre for Distance Education, University of London. From 2013-2015 Alan was Director of International Development and Teacher Education at the Open University; was Pro-Vice Chancellor (Academic) 2007-2012; and from 2004-2007 Dean of the Faculty of Education and Language Studies. He was Editor of the European Journal of Distance and E Learning (EURODL) 2005-2013, was from 1989-1998 Editor of the journal Open Learning, was President of the European Distance and E-Learning Network (EDEN) from 2007-2010, and Co-Director of the Cambridge International Conference on Open and Distance Learning 1988-20013) In 2012 Alan was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Moscow State University for Economics, Statistics and Informatics, and appointed Visiting Senior Online Consultant at the Open University of China in 2013. Alan is founding Emeritus Editor of the Journal of Learning for Development (www.jl4d.org), produced from the Commonwealth of Learning; Visiting Professor, Amity University, India 2018-19; Distinguished Visiting Professor Open University of Hong Kong 2015-2018; Visiting Professor at Aalborg University, Denmark 2012-2016; senior member of St Edmunds College, University of Cambridge, and transformation advisor for the Commonwealth of Learning at Botswana Open University 2011-2016. Alan was Special Advisor to the International Council for Open and Distance Education  (ICDE) 2018-2019. Alan is Chair of Trustees at Mind for Cambridgeshire, Peterborough and South Lincolnshire (https://www.cpslmind.org.uk)

 

Alan holds degrees from the Universities of Cambridge, London, and The Open University. He has worked widely in developing countries, and for international organisations such as UNESCO, the European Commission, and the Commonwealth of Learning. He has recently worked on projects to establish an open university in Botswana, Kazakhstan and Myanmar.  Most recent  publications include ‘The digital revolution and distance and online learning: some personal observations’, in Morten Flate Paulsen blog, https://www.nooa.no/my-online-education-world/ ; ‘Editorial’ with Ross Paul in ‘Special Issue: Open Universities: Past, Present, and Future’, in IRRODL, Vol 20 No 4 (2019);  ‘From Distance learning to open education: continuities and discontinuities’, in Journal of Learning for Development (2018); Open Universities: Past, Present and Future’, in Journal of the Asian Association of Open Universities (2018), ‘European leaders in Distance and E-learning’, in Journal of Learning for Development 2017; ‘The Lifelong Learning University of the Future’, in Cendon, E., Mörth, A. & Pellert, A. (Hrsg.), Theorie und Praxis verzahnen – Lebenslanges Lernen an Hochschulen; ‘Student Success, putting the learner at the heart of the system’, ICDE, Oslo 2015; ‘Enriching our Students’ Lives’, in Explorations in Adult Higher /Education, Fall, Number 3, Voices that shape our Vision, pp 16-20 2014 ; Open Universities and innovation in Higher Education, in Bischoff F/Prang B (Hrsg), Weiterbildung und Lebenslanges Lernen an Hochschulen, Internationale Impulse für das deutsche Hochschulwesen; ‘From place to virtual space: reconfiguring student support for distance and e-learning in the digital age’, in Open Praxis, 2014; Distance and E Learning, Social Justice and Development: ‘The relevance of the Capacity Approach to the mission of open universities’, in the International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 2013. Other publications can be found at www.researchgate.net. Alan has given keynote lectures in a range of places, most notably in 2014 the Asa Briggs Commemoration lecture at the Commonwealth of Learning Pan-Commonwealth Forum, Abuja, Nigeria.

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Paola Boccalatte

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