Course description

How can museums and galleries use digital technologies to increase collections access and audience engagement? What is the role of machine learning in the production, consumption, and conservation of culture? How do smartphones and social media platforms alter how we conceptualise history and art? Reflecting on these questions and more, this course explores how digital technologies are shaping culture and its institutions, an aspect of study that has increased in urgency and relevance in recent years. The course aims to balance theory with practice. Students engage with key scholarship and case studies regarding the digitisation of cultural collections and consider the extent to which digital systems enhance access in physical and virtual contexts. The role of the museum as a media producer is discussed, and its adoption of digital technologies. Students also develop knowledge of metadata, digital collecting, and approaches to digitisation through a framework of learning and applying practical digital skills. Over the semester there will be lectures focused on recent case studies from the galleries, museums, libraries, and archives (GLAM) sector, as well as training sessions with technology experts.

Archived offerings