First semester
The Museology course is theoretical-practical in nature and seeks to bring the student closer to the knowledge and reflection on the emergence of the notion and vision of “Museology” as a science.
Similarly, it presents the theoretical perspectives that have emerged, especially since the second half of the 20th century, in the paradigm shift from the traditional museum to a museum open to and with the community: the so-called New Museology, Critical Museology, Social Museology and even Decolonial Museology, attempting to bring them closer to the different reflections on the museum that take place to this day, including after the emergence of AI.
Finally, the course concludes with an approach and investigation into the reflections that have arisen in our country, regarding our museums and their function in relation to the community.
This course addresses the theoretical and practical principles of preventive conservation in heritage institutions, encompassing both collection storage processes and exhibition environments. From a holistic perspective, it will examine the factors of deterioration and strategies for their planned and sustainable control. The course promotes an understanding of preventive conservation as a strategic component of institutional management, providing students with the conceptual tools to develop collection and space assessments, formulate preventive measures, and establish long-term conservation guidelines.
This course, which combines theory and practice, addresses the conceptual principles of the discipline, the analysis of the ten agents of deterioration and their manifestation in different contexts. It incorporates tools for detecting degradation processes and designing non-invasive intervention strategies.
It also introduces comprehensive conservation management criteria in museums and institutions, including environmental monitoring, handling, storage, risk assessment and planning of sustainable preventive measures.
The link between museums and libraries is historical. Beyond that, museums build documentation throughout their history: exhibitions, research, and publications. Likewise, many of them have a library associated with their collections. This theoretical-practical course aims to introduce, from the perspectives of Library Science and documentary heritage management, the comprehensive management of museum documentation centers. It will be based on theory, but also on practical case studies, providing essential tools for the innovative management of museum libraries and documentation centers.
The subject, of a theoretical nature, seeks to introduce the history, concept and foundations of cultural mediation, as well as the areas where it has developed.
Likewise, the foundations of the same and its application in the field of museums are presented, considering its implementation in both physical and digital environments, as well as the diversity of possible audiences to which it is directed.
Second semester
The subject of Audience Development provides an approach to the paradigm shift in museums, where working with audiences is one of the key aspects of their work.
Starting from the political and historical foundations, the tools for the identification, characterization and segmentation of potential audiences in museums are addressed.
Finally, it presents strategies for audience development, engagement, and loyalty, based on understanding their expectations and needs, as well as their perceptions, in order to generate meaningful experiences where the museum's identity and the needs of the environment converse and generate positive impacts at a personal and community level.
Research in museum spaces is one of its pillars and reasons for being. It offers multiple possibilities that go beyond the study of collections, encompassing knowledge of audiences, museographic approaches, and the impact of museums on their surroundings.
This subject, of a theoretical-practical nature, provides, based on practical cases, tools for carrying out qualitative, quantitative and mixed research in museums.
This workshop, with its highly practical methodology, aims to help students develop proposals for cultural mediation projects for museums where they work or in their communities. To this end, tools for planning and implementing cultural mediation projects are provided.
The Museography course provides students with an introduction to the various theoretical approaches to museography. It focuses, however, on teaching the necessary spatial, lighting, design, and security aspects, while also considering conservation considerations, for the development of a museographic proposal.
Thus, the course understands Museography as an “applied museology”, where the various museum functions are specified in order to promote the dialogue of a museum discourse with the public.
Accessibility and museums (Dr. Cristina Vargas)
The Accessibility and Museums course places special emphasis on one of the concepts recently included in the definition of a museum institution. This course presents the regulatory framework, as well as the technical aspects to consider for creating accessible spaces for a wide range of audiences. It also understands accessibility holistically, not just physically, thus recognizing that its implementation contributes to the better realization of the cultural rights of museum staff and visitors.
Digital audiences in museums (Marco Soto, MA)
This course, which combines theory and practice, presents various strategies for understanding and working with museums' digital audiences across diverse platforms. It introduces students to existing digital resources applied to the museum field, including digital analytics, content management systems (CMS), social listening tools, web accessibility resources, augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), 360° tours, artificial intelligence for cultural mediation, and collaborative content creation platforms. These tools aim to foster audience engagement, both for cultural tourism and for generating collaborative learning and content online.
*Opening is based on student selection
