Teaching

Museology at the University of Helsinki is taught for the Master’s Program in Cultural Heritage (KUMA). It is equally open to students from other programs (e.g., History, Languages) and faculties, as well as to students from the Open University.

Museology is a study module of 30 ECTS that can be taken alongside your study track (or major). The study module is recommended for anyone interested in museum work and research. The current Finnish Museums Act (314/2019, §5.10) states that professionally-led museums in Finland need a minimum of two museum sector experts with completed museology core studies. The museology study module at the University of Helsinki forms such a core study.

For PhD students researching museums, there is also the Ethnology, Museology, and Cultural Heritage doctoral seminar.

> Museology study module

> Teaching 2023–2024

> Open University

> Museum internships

 

Museology study module

The 30 ECTS study module is organised into three sections (Basics, Specialism, Practice) with the following course codes (all 5 ECTS). Students are required to take all the course codes under “Basics”, but they can choose to place a deeper emphasis on either “Specialism” or “Practice” in their further studies. Click on the links below for further information on the particular course codes, In brackets behind the course code is more general information on the type of course and how it is placed within the academic calendar).

Basics (all course codes required)

Specialism (min. one of the below course codes needed)

Practice (min. one of the below course codes needed)

Check out SISU or courses.helsinki.fi and search for the relevant course code (e.g. “MU503”) to see what courses are currently available.

When a particular course that is not currently listed under any museology course code would be closely relevant for your museology studies, then please contact the museology lecturer to discuss options. Generally speaking, such courses could be placed under “Specialism” course codes (KUMA-MU512 / KUMA-MU513).

In addition to the museology courses arranged by the MA Program in Cultural Heritage, courses relevant to the subject of museology are occasionally arranged in other programs and faculties. Use the search function of SISU or courses.helsinki.fi to search for relevant keywords (e.g., “museum”, “collection”, “museology”).

Note: The above information is valid from the academic year 2023-24 onwards. In previous academic years, there was the 10 ECTS course code “Museum Work” (KUMA-MU511) and 5 ECTS course code “Optional” (KUMA-MU513), which is now replaced by the course codes under the sections “Specialism” and “Practice”, in order to provide more optionality to students.

Teaching 2023–2024

Period Course (all 5 ECTS) Course code(s)
I Museums and Museology: History, Theory, and Sources KUMA-MU501
II Museum Collections KUMA-MU502
II Urban Heritages (theme Urban Death) KUMA-MU514 /KUMA-MU515
III Museum Project 2 (full title TBA) KUMA-MU514 / KUMA-MU515
IV Art Crime and Cultural Heritage Ethics KUMA-MU512 / KUMA MU-513
IV Local Museums as Spaces of Memory and History: an introduction to interdisciplinary methods KUMA-MU514 / KUMA-MU515

 

Open university

Courses in museology, as well as the entire study module, can also be taken through the Open University. The intake of students is usually limited. Have a look at the information available through the Open University website.

 

Museum internships

Museum internships are possible to list under “KUMA-MU516”. Please contact the museology lecturer beforehand to discuss this.