Museology

The specialization in “Museology” focuses on the synthesis of contemporary museological concerns with the practical issues with the implementation of an exhibition in a real or virtual space. Emphasis is placed on innovations that can be utilized within the context of exhibition practice (such as multimedia applications, “augmented reality” technologies). Within this context, the classes combine, on the one hand, the systematic approach to specific topics related to the management of collections, the organization of an exhibition and the deepening of the visitors’ experience in it, and, on the other hand, familiarization with digital technologies that can support an exhibition at the level of its design, production and consumption.

Winter Semester

COURSE CODE ΜΟΥ102

Evangelia Kavakli

The course focuses on a systematic approach to information systems, with emphasis on theoretical, technical and methodological issues with Museum information systems. Museums as cultural institutions collect and manage a large volume of information about the objects in their collections. Additional information concerns the organization and operation of (each) Museum (staff, structure, material resources and procedures). Within this context, digital systems used in Museums are studied, with emphasis on database systems and collection management systems. Analysis techniques for user requirements and conceptual design of collections management systems are presented. Approaches to knowledge organization and support with an emphasis on metadata, as well as related challenges such as system heterogeneity and interoperability are also discussed. Understanding of the aforementioned issues is completed through applications implemented during the semester or based on the study of existing systems.

COURSE CODE ΜΟΥ100

Anastasia Chourmouziadi

First of all, the course attempts to provide the students with a general view of the theoretical and methodological problems that concern the contemporary museological debate. It focuses on redefining the role of the Museum in today’s conditions of hyper-modernity: on its integration into the inflationary and, to a lesser or greater extent, competitive landscape of cultural organizations, media, information transmission networks, of educational institutions and leisure management businesses, in its interaction with society as a whole and with individual social groups, in its relationship with the ideological mechanisms of the state, in the decisive influence of digital technology on its organization and operation. In addition, within the above context, certain special topics are addressed, such as: Museum and senses, Museum and audience, The stories of the “others”, Memory and forgetting, Digital and virtual museum, The Museum in a “turbulent” world.

8 ECTS

COURSE CODE ΠΟΛ100

Angeliki Kitsiou

The course focuses on an overview of the dynamics of cultural practices in creating sustainable and thriving communities, while it also examines the complexity of planning and decision-making issues related to this perspective in daily life. Cultural planning organizes strategies for creating a unified framework for preservation and utilization of cultural resources, through a multifaceted approach, which can be understood in relation to:

  • The use of cultural resources for the integrated development of communities at local, regional and national levels.
  • The definition of “culture” and “cultural resources”, which cover cultural heritage, local traditions, arts, multimedia, architecture, urban design, recreation, sports, entertainment and tourism.
  • The approach to urban and regional planning and the formulation of relevant environmental, social and economic policy.

During the lectures, the process of cultural planning will be analyzed together with examples from the implementation of cultural plans at national, regional and local levels

7 ECTS

COURSE CODE ΟΠΕ100

Anastasia Soulioti, Elisavet Kelidou

The course is about the use of design elements and principles in relation to “language”/communication. Topics include basic terminology and design rules, as well as an introduction to graphic design, which aims to lead to the discovery and understanding of visual language. Issues such as form and composition, as well as their value in the design process, balance, rhythm and harmony are examined. The basic principles of colour theory and its semiotics are also analyzed, as well as the basic principles of typography and the typographic grid. Finally, a first approach to the concept of branding and the role of corporate identity is attempted, and the foundations are laid for logo design and its adaptation to digital and printed media.

Spring Semester

10 ECTS

COURSE CODE ΕΚΣ200

Anastasia Chourmouziadi, Alexandros Tourtas

The course familiarizes students with the methodology of exhibition design aiming to create a real exhibition at the end of the semester. This methodology is based on the perception that the exhibition is a powerful and, by definition, a multimedia narrative medium. Thus, the design steps begin with the definition of the basic narrative choices, the theme, narrators, and the expositional plot.

Then, the possibilities and limitations of individual narrative tools, image, text, objects, sound and cinematic imagery are addressed, based not only on the specific issues that research in each of these fields has highlighted but also on considering the complex conditions that operate when all of these coexist in the exhibition space and co-create the exhibition scenography.

6 ECTS

COURSE CODE ΕΟΕ200

Christos Anagnostopoulos, Elisavet Kelidou

The use of images in an exhibition space, apart from its interpretative dimension, constitutes a structural element as it visually and narratively supports its content. The course “Exhibitions and Visual Communication” attempts to provide an in-depth understanding of this use through examples, commentary and interpretation exercises. Images are distinguished according to how they are processed and created by photographic images and infographics to images as an impression of structural and architectural elements of space. Subsequently, issues of corporate identity and logo creation are approached in an analytical and systematic manner aiming to explore alternative ways of visual communication, thus focusing on the aesthetic and thematic adaptation of the corporate identity in an exhibition space. Upon completion of the relevant lectures, students are expected to be able to:

  • distinguish and propose visualization solutions within the context of an exhibition narrative;
  • complete research on visualization of concepts, by applying different approaches, conceptualization and outlining of ideas and their presentation; and to
  • approach the interpretive and promotional means of an exhibition with visual coherence.

8 ECTS

COURSE CODE ΠΙΨ200

Konstantinos Kotis

This course presents emerging information and communication technologies (ICT) with applications to Digital Culture. The teaching framework of the course aims to provide postgraduate students with the necessary knowledge of contemporary issues that govern the World Wide Web, the Semantic Web, the Web of Data, the Web of Things and Artificial Intelligence (AI), emphasizing modern applications to create, communicate and transmit multimedia content of cultural nature. Emphasis is placed on how digital collections and exhibitions can be managed, how cultural information can be organized and disseminated through social networking platforms, and virtual tours, mainly when creation tools and publishing content on the web – such as, Mobirise, Google Sites/Slides/StreetView, Wix, ArtSteps – are used. Advanced technologies and services are presented, such as Intelligent Personal Assistants, Digital Guides, the Web of Cultural Data and Open Linked Cultural Data, Conceptual Reference and Interoperability Models in digital culture, Smart Museums, AR/VR. Finally, recent trends in the development of applications for cultural spaces will be presented, with an emphasis on the human-centered (rather than techno-centered) and multi-sensory (sight, hearing, smell, touch, taste, movement in three axes) experience of their visitors.

6 ECTS

COURSE CODE ΟΜΕ100

Anastasia Chourmouziadi, Eleni Galani

The course is designed to provide theoretical knowledge and technical-practical skills of how to create video productions that address the Museum or an exhibition event. At the same time, it aims to create and use audiovisual applications in a wide field from a holistic approach point of view, autonomous and auxiliary, or interactive productions, such as videos for the web, cultural organizations and other purposes. Through various examples, students will understand how planning, filming, montage and editing as well as viewing of film products are organized in different environments.

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