Specializations

Introduction to Museology

The course introduces students to the general theoretical and methodological problems that concern today’s museological discussion: The museum of hyper-modernity and its role. Museum in the crowded and, in some extend, competitive environment of cultural institutions, mass media, information networks, education mechanisms and leisure industries. Museum’s interaction with society as a whole and with specific social groups. Museum’s relation with the ideological state mechanisms. The decisive effect of digital technology on museum’s organization and function. Moreover, in this line of thought, the course will discuss specific topics such as: Materiality, visuality and multisensoriality. Museum audiences. The stories of “others”. Memory and oblivion. Digital and virtual museum. Museums in a troubled world.

Cultural Planning

There is a growing awareness that a thriving, dynamic cultural life contributes to the establishment of sustainable and prosperous communities. In addition, the awareness of the contribution of culture to those goals has increased the complexity of planning and decision-making. Cultural planning is a response to these problems and a strategy which provides the creation of a single framework for maintaining and appreciation of the cultural resources. Cultural planning is a multi-faceted approach, can be better understood as:

1. The strategic use of cultural resources for the comprehensive development of communities at the local and regional level.
2. An approach based on broad definitions of "culture" and "cultural resources", which cover heritage, local traditions, arts, architecture, urban planning, sports, tourism etc.
3. A culturally sensitive approach to urban and regional planning and environmental, social and economic policy.

Κατά τη διάρκεια των διαλέξεων θα αναλυθεί η διαδικασία του πολιτιστικού σχεδιασμού, ταυτόχρονα με τη χρήση παραδειγμάτων από την εφαρμογή πολιτιστικών σχεδίων σε εθνικό, περιφερειακό και τοπικό επίπεδο.

Information Management

Museums as cultural institutions collect and manage great volume of information relating to the objects of the collections in their possession. Additional information relate to the organisation and functioning of the museum (personnel, organizational structure, physical resources and processes). This course aims to introduce students to the information management concepts, addressing theoretical, technical and methodological issues, placing emphasis to the informational needs of museums. It studies the digital systems used in museums focusing on data bases and collection management systems. User requirements analysis methods and conceptual modelling tools towards the development of collection management systems are presented. Knowledge management approaches with emphasis on metadata and associated challenges such as data fragmentation and systems interoperability are also discussed. Understanding of the above issues is completed through case studies, as well as the development of simple applications.

Visual Communication

The course introduces fundamental design elements and principles and their use for an effective communication process. The topics include basic terminology and design rules that aim to lead to the discovery and understanding of visual language. Speculate on issues such as form and composition, balance, rhythm, and harmony and their value in the design process. The basic principles of the theory of color and its semiology are also analyzed, as well as typography and the typographic grid. Finally, the course approaches the branding strategy, and the corporate identity's role as well as the logo design its implementation to printed and digital applications.

Exhibition Design

The course attempts to link general moral and political principles and specific interpretational choices with concrete exhibition practices. Aims to systematically examine these practices, going beyond obvious subjective aesthetics and technical limitations. In the first part of the course, we will try to identify such conscious or unconscious relations, examining actual exhibitions. In the second part, we will outline the general theoretical and methodological issues that raise when planning a specific museum exhibition. Specifically, we will deal with:

• Issues related to the communication of a certain scientific, social, artistic subject, using the museum toolkit.
• The construction of a specific narrative strategy
• The transformation of a narrative concept to a concrete museum product
• The determination of a specific exhibit’s basic planning principles
• The stages that lead to the final exhibit proposal

In this frame, we will also touch upon special issues, such as:

• Materiality, visuality and multisensoriality
• Interactivity
• Museum objects’ authenticity
• Interpretation, labeling
• Spatiality

Audiovisual media and museums

The course is designed to offer theoretical knowledge and elementary technical-practical skills for the creation of video-productions that can be used in a Museum or an exhibition event, in general. At the same time, it aims at a holistic approach of the creation and use of audio-visual applications in a wide range of autonomous and auxiliary, or interactive productions, such as videos for the web, cultural organizations and other purposes. Through various examples it will be understood how the planning, the filming, the editing and the watching of film products are organized, in different environments. 

Exhibition Graphic Design

Apart from its interpretive dimension, images constitute a structural element as it supports its content, visually and narratively. The course Exhibitions and Visual Communication attempts an in-depth understanding of images through examples, commentary, and interpretation exercises. Distinguish pictures according to how they are created, from the photographic image and infographics to the image as an "impression" of space's structural and architectural elements. The course then approaches corporate identity and logo design issues to explore alternative ways of communicative visual imprinting, focusing on the aesthetic and conceptual adaptation of corporate identity in an exhibition space. Upon completion of lectures, students will be able to:

• Distinguish and suggest visualization solutions in the context of an exhibition narrative.
• Complete a concept visualization research, applying different approaches, conceptualizing and sketching ideas, and presenting them
• To approach with visual coherence, the interpretive and promotional means of an exhibition.

Emerging Technologies in Culture

This is an interdisciplinary course with modular lectures on specific subjects of audiovisual arts that are expected to be reformed per academic year. The instructor will focus on cutting-edge issues in the development of the audiovisual arts, at a theoretical and applied level. During each academic year the course will be formulated, either in thirteen purely theoretical lectures (online), or in seven online lectures and six thematic workshops in which students will present their works online (after having uploaded them on eclass) in collaboration with the instructor. The topics of the lectures will cover a wide range of arts, such as photography, video, documentaries, audio productions, etc., while at the same time the students will discuss narrative issues, storyboards or production techniques and problems. The course moves towards a direction of collaborative coexistence of students - instructors and, in its ideal form will be extremely flexible.