Museology

The specialization in “Museum Studies” focuses on the synthesis of contemporary museological issues with practical matters related to the implementation of an exhibition in a physical or virtual space. Emphasis is placed on innovations that can be utilized within the context of exhibition practices (such as multimedia applications, augmented reality technologies). In this framework, courses combine, on the one hand, a systematic approach to specific topics concerning collection management, exhibition organization, and enhancing visitor experience, and on the other hand, familiarization with digital technologies that can support an exhibition in terms of design, production, and consumption.

Winter Semester

Course Code: MOU102

Instructor: Evangelia Kavakli

This course focuses on a systematic approach to information systems, with an emphasis on theoretical, technical, and methodological issues related to museum information systems. Museums, as cultural institutions, collect and manage a large volume of information related to the objects in their collections. Additional information pertains to the organization and operation of each museum (personnel, structure, material resources, and processes). Within this context, digital systems used in museums are studied, with an emphasis on database systems and collection management systems. Techniques for user requirements analysis and conceptual design of collection management systems are presented. Approaches to knowledge organization and support are also discussed, with an emphasis on metadata, as well as relevant challenges such as system heterogeneity and interoperability. Understanding of these issues is complemented through applications implemented during the semester or based on the study of existing systems.

Course Title: Introduction to Museology

Course Code: MOU100

Instructor: Anastasia Chourmouziadi

This course initially provides a general overview of the theoretical and methodological issues that concern contemporary museological discourse. It focuses on redefining the role of the museum in today’s conditions of hyper-modernity: its integration into the pluralistic and, to a greater or lesser extent, competitive landscape of cultural organizations, media, information transmission networks, educational institutions, and leisure management companies; its interaction with society as a whole and its individual social groups; its relationship with the ideological mechanisms of the state; and the decisive impact of digital technology on its organization and operation. Additionally, within this framework, specific topics are addressed, such as: Museum and senses, Museum and audience, Histories of the “other,” Memory and forgetting, Digital and virtual museum, The Museum in a “turbulent” world.

8 ECTS

Course Code: POL100

Angeliki Kitsiou

The course focuses on an overview of the dynamics of cultural practices for the creation of sustainable and thriving communities, while also examining the complexity of planning and decision-making issues related to this perspective on a daily basis. Cultural planning organizes strategies for creating a unified framework for the 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 the local, regional, and national levels
– The definition of “culture” and “cultural resources,” which cover cultural heritage, local traditions, arts, media, architecture, urban design, recreation, sports, entertainment, and tourism
– Approaches to urban and regional planning and the formulation of relevant environmental, social, and economic policies

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

7 ECTS

COURSE CODE OPE100

Anastasia Soulioti, Elisavet Kelidou

The course concerns 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, aimed at discovering and understanding visual language. Issues such as form and composition, as well as their value in the design process, balance, rhythm, and harmony are examined. Also analyzed are the basic principles of color theory and its semiotics, as well as the basic principles of typography and typographic canvas. Finally, a first approach to the concept of branding and its role in corporate identity is attempted, laying the foundations for logo design and its adaptation to digital and print media.

Summer Semester

10 ECTS

COURSE CODE EKS200

Anastasia Chourmouziadi, Alexandros Tourtas

The course familiarizes students with the methodology of exhibition design with the aim of creating a real exhibition at the end of the semester. This methodology is based on the perception that an exhibition is a powerful and inherently multimedia narrative medium. Thus, the design steps begin with defining the basic narrative choices, the definition of the theme, the narrators, and the exhibition plot.

Subsequently, the possibilities and limitations of the individual narrative tools are discussed, including images, text, objects, sound, and cinematic images, based on the specific issues that research in each of these fields has revealed, but also taking into account the complex conditions that arise when all these elements coexist in the exhibition space and co-create the exhibition scenography.

6 ECTS

COURSE CODE EOE200

Christos Anagnostopoulos, Elisavet Kelidou

The use of imagery in exhibition spaces, apart from its interpretive dimension, constitutes a structural element as it visually and narratively supports its content. In the course “Exhibitions and Visual Communication,” a thorough understanding of this use is attempted through examples, commentary, and interpretation exercises. Images are distinguished according to their processing and creation method, from photographic images and infographics to images as impressions of the structural and architectural elements of space.

Subsequently, issues of corporate identity and logo design are approached in a detailed and systematic manner with the aim of exploring alternative ways of visual communication representation, focusing on the aesthetic and thematic adaptation of corporate identity to exhibition spaces.

Upon completion of the relevant lectures, students are expected to:

– Identify and propose visualization solutions within the framework of an exhibition narrative.
– Complete a visualization research on concepts, applying different approaches, conceptualization, ideation, and presentation.
– Approach interpretive and promotional means of an exhibition with visual coherence.

8 ECTS

COURSE CODE ΠΙΨ200

Konstantinos Kottis

This course presents emerging information and communication technologies (ICT) with applications in Digital Culture. The educational framework of the course aims to provide postgraduate students with the necessary knowledge in contemporary topics governing the World Wide Web, the Semantic Web, the Web of Data, the Web of Things, and Artificial Intelligence (AI), emphasizing on modern applications for creating, communicating, and transmitting multimedia content with cultural significance. Emphasis is placed on the management of digital collections and exhibitions, organizing and disseminating cultural information through social networking platforms, virtual tours, primarily using content creation and publishing tools on the Web (e.g., Mobirise, Google Sites/Slides/StreetView, Wix, ArtSteps). Advanced technologies and services are presented, such as Intelligent Personal Assistants and 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 human-centric (rather than techno-centric) and multi-sensory (vision, hearing, smell, touch, taste, motion in three axes) visitor experiences.

6 ECTS

COURSE CODE ΟΜΕ100

Anastasia Chourmouziadi, Eleni Galani

The course is designed to provide theoretical knowledge and technical-practical skills for the creation of video productions targeting museums or exhibition events. It also aims for a holistic approach to the creation and use of audiovisual applications in a wide range of contexts, including autonomous and auxiliary, or interactive productions, such as videos for the web, cultural organizations, and other purposes. Through various examples, the course will illustrate how design, filming, editing, and viewing of film products are organized in different environments.