Last modified: 5 Days, 1 Hour, 10 Minutes ago
Compared to the ambient and abstract ‘digital world’, museums seem located, physical, even old fashioned. But the digital and museum worlds have much more in common, and a much longer shared history, than might first appear. In this course, using real-world, international examples, students will explore how established and emerging technologies have changed – and are changing – the nature of museums, objects, and their human interlocutors.
| Study Type | Postgraduate | Level | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Term | First Term | Credit Points | 15 credits (7.5 ECTS credits) |
| Campus | Aberdeen | Sustained Study | No |
| Co-ordinators |
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One or more of these courses have a limited number of places. Priority access will be given to students for whom this course is compulsory. Please refer to the Frequently Asked Questions for more details on this process.
Compared to the ambient and abstract ‘digital world’, museums seem located, physical, even old fashioned. But the digital and museum worlds have much more in common, and a much longer shared history, than might first appear. In this course, using real-world, international examples, students will explore how established and emerging technologies have changed – and are changing – the nature of museums, objects, and their human interlocutors.
Three units – Theory and Context; Practice; IRL – provide the outline of the course. In the first unit, we move from the earliest days of museum-digital interactions through to the contemporary digital policy environment of the post-COVID moment. In unit two, we look at a variety of ways in which museums interact with technologies in a practical sense, from design, exhibition display and data, to how technology is changing how we understand the nature of objects and their preservation. In the final unit, we explore how the digital environment impacts museum relationships with the larger moral questions of the outside world – how and if they should engage with activism, how technology can support or hinder access, and how the digital world has, or has not, changed the relationships between museums and their stakeholder communities.
By exploring this relationship, from early analogue computing to contemporary AI, students will learn, not just how technology impacts museum practice, but how it can disrupt any simple notions of what museums are, and can be.
Information on contact teaching time is available from the course guide.
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 100 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | 20 | Feedback Weeks | 23 | |
| Feedback |
Word Count: 4000-4500 |
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| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Conceptual | Apply | To adapt knowledge of digital precedents and technologies to specific circumstances. |
| Conceptual | Evaluate | To critically evaluate the digital offers provided by museums. |
| Factual | Understand | To demonstrate knowledge of the history of digital technology in the museum sector. |
| Procedural | Create | To rationalise and argue critically for and against the use of specific digital interventions in museums. |
| Procedural | Create | To demonstrate evidence of independent research. |
| Reflection | Analyse | To critically discuss and analyse the ways in which digital technologies impact the broader moral, social and political issues facing museums. |
There are no assessments for this course.
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 100 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | Feedback Weeks | |||
| Feedback | ||||
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
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| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Factual | Understand | To demonstrate knowledge of the history of digital technology in the museum sector. |
| Conceptual | Apply | To adapt knowledge of digital precedents and technologies to specific circumstances. |
| Reflection | Analyse | To critically discuss and analyse the ways in which digital technologies impact the broader moral, social and political issues facing museums. |
| Procedural | Create | To rationalise and argue critically for and against the use of specific digital interventions in museums. |
| Conceptual | Evaluate | To critically evaluate the digital offers provided by museums. |
| Procedural | Create | To demonstrate evidence of independent research. |
| Conceptual | Create | To demonstrate an ability to prepare material for participation in seminar discussions. |
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