The Programme

ABOUT EDUCATION IN MUSEUMS AND HERITAGE This is a uniquely innovative and multidisciplinary programme that equips the next generation of museum and heritage professionals with the ability to engage with the various contexts (cultural, economic, political) that they will encounter and which are needed for the 21st Century. The programme includes placements, language learning and a minimum of three mobility periods in Europe. The EMJM Education in Museums and Heritage Programme (EDUMaH) offers rich opportunities to consider central themes, writings and policies associated with the field of museum education. Students on the programme will explore a range of theoretical perspectives that underpin past, present and evolving practices in museum and heritage education. To support and extend your thinking, you will also explore museum and heritage sites in-situ and learn from practitioners in the field. You will research and consider the types of educational experiences people have in/through museums and heritage organisations, debating core themes and how they should be experienced so that learning in and through the museum is perceived as a meaningful, authentic and vital pursuit for all. The programme includes an educational research core that equips students with the knowledge and skills to conduct research projects and to work towards a dissertation in the field of museum education. As part of the Programme you will also undertake a placement in a museum suited to your experience and interests.

The Degree

The programme is taught over 24 months and includes at least three mobility periods. The overall Programme consists of 240 credits. 

The degree-awarding partners are the University of Glasgow (UoG), University of Tartu (UT), *University of Malta (UM), *Radboud University (RU)

*recognising credits delivered by Key Associate Partners, University College Cork (UCC), National University of Ireland, Galway (NUIG) and Trinity College Dublin, Ireland (TCD). Please note semester 2 studies on the UCC/NUIG/TCD pathway will be led by UCC. 

The European Museum Academy (EMA) and Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico (IBERO) will deliver non-credit summer schools.

Students will attend each Degree Awarding Institution (UoG, UT or UCC, RU or UM) for semesters 1, 2 and 3 within Academic Years that start in September and finish in August.

The first summer has an optional Summer School (EMA or IBERO), and the 2nd summer is an extension of the writing up period for the final, 4th, semester when the dissertation is written. 

 

Aims and intended learning outcomes

The specific aims of the programme are:  

  • offer an integrated, international and coherent programme of study that explores the social, historical, cultural and physical contexts of museums and heritage as sites and sources for learning as well as critical methodologies through which to evaluate and critique the corpus of M&H literature, research and policy. 
  • examine the political challenges that museums face when cultivating its resources for knowledge development/exchange and identity formation based on the meeting between regional/national, European and International values. 
  • examine the practical and ethical implications of new business models for museums through hands on experiences in museums dedicated to visitor attraction, business partnership and investment management. 

  • examine the practical and political implications and challenges which surfaces when a museum exploits its potential for social cohesion, intercultural dialogue and social change and the impact on public engagement and learning. 

  • contribute to the student’s reflection on commonalities and differences in preconditions, traditions and the potential in different museum categories in Europe and internationally, such as archaeological museums, cultural history museums, technical museums, art museums, natural history museums and open-air museums. 

  • broaden and deepen students’ critical understanding of the implications when using different collections and spaces for exhibition work and the relation to access, lifelong learning and participatory governance. 
  • broaden and deepen students’ critical understanding of the implications of making collections accessible through digital means and the impact of technologies on accessibility to learning and the engagement of learners. 

  • offer an opportunity for the students to experience how post-modern museums work through using and engaging a vast variety of professional and personal competences, which may include both academic and non-academic background in a variety of fields as well as lifetime competences from volunteers, focus groups etc. 

 

 

Knowledge and Understanding: 

 

By the end of this programme students will be able to: 

  • assess critically, discuss and debate the ideas of leading EMH theorists and develop an awareness of enquiry methodologies and research literacies in order to apply their thinking and undertake their own enquiries in relation to analysis, empirical research and professional practice in the EU and globally. 

  • draw on their field placement experience to think critically about challenging issues regarding theory, policy and practice in ways that enable new and alternative approaches to their professional practice. In so doing, students will have interrogated their own values and attitudes, drawing on key employability skills developed through one or more work placements. 

  • identify and critically analyse examples of theory and practice in different contexts in a way that increases responsiveness to social, linguistic and cultural diversity. 


Subject-specific/practical skills 

By the end of this programme students will be able to: 

  • synthesise learning styles theory to design and apply creative approaches to facilitate and enrich learning, social and cultural experiences using a wide range of museum and heritage texts within different contexts in Europe and globally. 

  • deconstruct, analyse and validate current trends and developments across the range and diversity of contexts for EMH, both in the EU and international contexts, in order to contribute to planning, implementing, evaluating and forming policy around EMH projects in Europe and globally. 

  • articulate critical arguments that demonstrate an understanding of, and concern for the potential of the museum and the heritage site to address social and cultural issues impacting 21st century life in a transitional perspective. 
  • develop and apply technological skills to build online digital museum and heritage education sites and effectively utilise technologies to promote and engage learners from pre-5 to adults. 

Year 1

Year 1: Semester 1 (30 ECTS) 

University of Glasgow – Museum Education

  • Access & Inclusion
  • Critical Enquiry (research methodology)
  • Museums, Education and Curriculum Development
  • The Museum as a source of Learning

Year 1: Semester 2 (30 ECTS)

University of Tartu - Intangible Cultural Heritage (30 ECTS)

  • Cultural Heritage, Social Memory and Museums
  • Heritage and Cultural Policies
  • Methods of Data Collection and Analysis
  • Principles of Entrepreneurship
  • Vernacular Expressions and Analytic Categories

Or

UCC - Digital Cultures and Humanities (30 ECTS)

  • Humanities and New Technologies: Tools and Methodologies 
  • Digital Skills for Research Postgraduates in the Humanities and Social Sciences
  • Digital Humanities Institute
  • History and Theory of Digital Arts
  • Principles of Game Design

 

Students will have the option to attend a non-credit bearing summer school with the European Museum Academy or Universidad Iberoamericana between Semester 2 and 3. 

Please note that courses offered may vary from year to year and are subject to change. 

 

 

Optional Summer School

European Museum Academy (EMA) Summer School

The European Museum Academy offers summer schools for the EDUMaH students. The main aim of the summer schools is to give the students an opportunity to participate in the practical education activities in a museum and to meet museum education professionals. 

The summer schools are ususally scheduled for the first two weeks in July* as there will still be education provision for school classes in some museums while the tourism season with learning opportunities has begun in other museums. The selected museums for the EMA Summer Schools are all museums who are well-known for their educational profile and competences. The museums have been nominated or even won prestigious awards. 

The EMA Summer Schools are arranged in collaboration between a hosting museum and the Academy. 

*please note summer school dates may change depending on availability and year of study

Universidad Iberoamericana

Students undertaking the optional summer school at the Universidad Iberoamericana will gain experience related to arts and education and participate in different museums around Mexico City and the Ibero. For example, the social justice projects of the University and communities around the Santa Fe region, and the south of the city. *

*please note specific activities relating to the EMA and Iberoamericana summer schools may change subject to availability and year of study. 

Year 2

Year 2: Semester 3 (30 ECTS)

University of Malta - Museum and Heritage Education

  • Contested Heritage: Conflict, Mediation, Culture and Community
  • Education and Community Museums
  • ME and Cultural Politics
  • Representation, Access and Difference
  • Placement 

Year 2: Semester 3 (30 ECTS)

Radboud University - Arts and Culture

  • Art History
  • Creative Industries
  • Tourism and Culture

Year 2: Semester 4 (30 ECTS)

  • Research Dissertation

Programme alteration or discontinuation

The University of Glasgow endeavours to run all programmes as advertised. In exceptional circumstances, however, the University may withdraw or alter a programme. For more information, please see: Student contract.

Please note that courses offered may vary from year to year and are subject to change. 

 

Assessment Methods

The Consortium Management Board will have overall responsibility for safeguarding the common standards and mechanisms for the examination of students (European and Third Country).

Each of the course components of the International Master programme has its own form of assessment. These are outlined in the individual course handbooks. In order to calculate the final mark achieved the marks for each component are weighted according to their credit rating. 

In year 1 a candidate will be permitted to progress to Dissertation only if s/he has obtained an average aggregation score of 12 (equivalent to Grade C3) or above in the taught courses described above, with at least 75% of the credits at a score of 9 or better (Grade D3 or better) and all credits at a score of 3 or above (Grade F or above). 

Each joint partner university will take responsibility for marking according to its own criteria. Each partner university will provide assessment marks as they stand to the Consortium’s Board of Examiners, along with detailed additional descriptors, for the Board of Examiners to translate to University of Glasgow, the given partner university and the ECTS grading systems to facilitate the production of the joint degree transcript and diploma supplement issued by the consortium.

All examination results will be discussed and finalised by the Board of Examiners and formally approved by the Consortium Management Board. The marking systems for each partner university and how these relate the University of Glasgow and ECTS systems will be made clear to students in advance.

The joint degree will have its own external examiner who will be represented on the Board of Examiners.