Education in Museums & Heritage (Erasmus Mundus Joint Master)

Programme Aims

This programme aims to build on students’ interests and experiences related to M&H education in order to deepen their knowledge of the expanding intersection of the associated fields of cultural identity, storytelling, exhibition building, arts, travel and digitisation within an international perspective and to provide opportunities for students to consider how this understanding can be applied to different and (often rapidly) changing contexts of practice. EMJM Education in Museums and Heritage Programme will bring together scholars and practitioners who are motivated by the need to understand and improve the ways in which the public interact with museum collections and spaces and who will provide a theoretical grounding in Education in Museums and Heritage that includes historical, physical, cultural, educational and digital-related frameworks. They will also offer opportunities to students to acquire and develop practical skills for professional application through placements in museums and historic environments.

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. 

Intellectual skills

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

• critically analyse challenging issues regarding theory, policy and practice in the fields of museum and heritage education studies, in ways that enable new and alternative approaches to these issues such as decolonising the museum or repatriation of objects.

• synthesise theory and practice in different contexts in relation to museum and heritage education studies.

• construct and conduct a substantial piece of applied research pertaining to museum and heritage education studies.

Transferable/key skills

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

• collate and analyse information from a range of sources relevant to specific issue.

• prepare and conduct oral presentations effectively.

• write clear, accurate and insightful analytical texts.

• debate issues verbally in tutorial situations

• use references clearly, appropriately and consistently.

• demonstrate competent use of IT skills in information retrieval and document preparation.

• demonstrate ability to conduct applied research within a specific context.

• demonstrate greater understanding and responsiveness to social and cultural diversity.

* Please note that courses offered may vary from year to year and are subject to change. 
* The Consortium will do their best to ensure students receive their first choice for each pathway, but students should be aware that their first choice is not automatically approved and may need to go do another pathway.   

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. 

* Please note that courses offered may vary from year to year and are subject to change. 
* The Consortium will do their best to ensure students receive their first choice for each pathway, but students should be aware that their first choice is not automatically approved and may need to go do another pathway.   

Year 2: Semester 3 (30 ECTS)

University of Malta - Museum and Heritage Education

• Contested Heritage: Conflict, Mediation, Culture and Community

• Education and Community Museums

• Museum Education and Cultural Politics

• Representation, Access and Difference 

• Placement 

Year 2: Semester 3 (30 ECTS)

Radboud University - Arts and Culture

• Art History

1) Contemporary Art and Memory

OR

2) Medium and Materiality

• Creative Industries

1) Core Course Creative Industries

OR

2) Sustainable Arts Education

• Tourism and Culture

1) Traditions and Dilemmas

OR

2) Theories and Trends

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. 

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.