While their size, collection, mission, and programs vary greatly, museums are increasingly found everywhere around the world. However, the recent, rapid construction of iconic mega-museums has turned the international spotlight towards the Gulf region, particularly to emergent countries such as Qatar. While this has prompted some to talk of a golden age of Gulf museums, the development of a local museum culture remains ongoing.
How have museums developed across the world, and in the Gulf? Who are the professionals working in museums—beyond the figure of the curator? In which ways are museum collections used to tell stories? Why and how are museums increasingly working in partnership with communities? This open-access course seeks to offer answers to these and other questions, serve as a resource for the interested, and shed some light on the current status and ongoing development of Qatari museums. Above all, we hope this course will inspire you to delve more deeply into these fascinating and complex cultural institutions.
This module presents an overview of the history of museums from the earliest times to the start of the twenty-first century.
This module presents an overview of the museum profession and museum governance.
This module briefly addresses the history of collecting, the changing motivations behind collecting and the evolving uses of collections, charting the recent shifting emphasis from object-focused to people-focused institutions.
This module focuses on one of the key functions of a contemporary museum: education and learning.
This module explores a number of factors that are currently shaping the museum sector and will continue to inform its future development.