IRENE BALDRIGA

COURSE OF MUSEOLOGY 1035790 BA in History and Art Studies
a.y. 2025-2026 (6 cfu - 42 lecture hours)

Classes will be held, starting on WEDNESDAY 25 FEBRUARY 2026, on
Wednesdays (from 6 to 8 p.m.) and Fridays (from 4 to 6 p.m.) in CHABOD ROOM (third floor, Faculty of Arts)
STUDENTS ARE INVITED TO REGISTER FOR THE GOOGLE CLASSROOM
USING THE FOLLOWING CODE: xldclzgv

Course Description:
The course offers an overview of the history of collecting and museums from the ancient world to the contemporary age, selecting personalities and collections of particular
relevance with methodological insights and in-depth study of documents and materials.
The student will thus acquire basic knowledge and skills on the history of museums and museology, both as a research field and as curatorial practice.
References to the contemporary debate on the role of museums in society will also make the course meaningful for employment and the future choices of students.
Experts and professionals from the field will also be involved.

PLEASE NOTE THAT THERE ARE NO PROGRAMME DIFFERENCES FOR NON ATTENDING STUDENTS.

Specific objectives include:
a) Awareness of the different parameters of judgement, historical and aesthetic, underlying every collecting and museological choice;
b) the ability to analyse the settings of works of art in past centuries and to assess their cultural significance;
c) an autonomy of critical judgement on contemporary stagings.
To this end, the course will encourage the active participation of students in the analysis of inventories of modern-age collections and museum displays using the critical tools acquired.
The themes and topics of the course, as well as the competences and skills that are intended to be acquired, are part of the characterising contents of the Degree Course in Art History.

Required Readings:
Maria Teresa Fiorio, The Museum in History. Dallo studiolo alla raccolta pubblica, Pearson Italia, Milan, 2018 (later editions are also fine)
Maria Vittoria Marini Clarelli, The museum in the contemporary world. Theory and praxis. New Edition, Carocci Editore, Rome, 2024.

By choice, one of the following texts:
1) D. Poulot, Musei e museologia, Jaca Book, 2020
2) B. O'Doherty, Inside the white cube. L'ideologia dello spazio espositivo, Johan&Levi Editore, 2017.
3) P. Duboy, Carlo Scarpa. L'arte di esporre, Johan&Levi Editore, 2016
4) P.C. Marani, R. Pavoni, Musei. Trasformazioni di un'istituzione dell'età moderna al contemporaneo, Marsilio, Venice, 2012.
5) J. Barrett, Museums and the public sphere, Wiley Blackwell, 2012
6) P. Grinier, Pour une histoire du regard. L'experience au musée au XIX siècle, Louvre Editions, 2017.
7) O. Lanzarini, The Living Museums, Nero Editore, Rome 2020 TEXT IN ITALIAN with translation IN ENGLISH

MUSEUM POLICY AND MUSEUM EDUCATION COURSE (LAUREA MAGISTRALE IN STORIA DELL'ARTE)
a.y. 2025-2026 (12 cfu - 84 lecture hours)

Classes will be held, starting on WEDNESDAY 1 OCTOBER 2025, on
Wednesdays and Fridays from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Wednesday: CHABOD CLASSROOM (History Section, third floor)
Friday: VENTURI Lecture Room (History of Art Section, first floor)
ATTENDANCE IS STRONGLY RECOMMENDED.
STUDENTS ARE INVITED TO REGISTER FOR THE GOOGLE CLASSROOM
USING THE FOLLOWING CODE: zfrjoibq

FRIDAY'S LESSON (4h) WILL BE PARTIALLY DEDICATED TO LABORATORS AND DEBATES, MEETINGS WITH EXTERNAL EXPERTS, EVENTUAL SURROUNDINGS.

The examination consists of an oral test on the course topics and the assigned bibliography.

Course description
The 12 CFU course consists of two modules: Museum Didactics and Museum Policies, Heritage and Citizenship.
The two modules are closely related and offer students the opportunity to delve into the complex issues relating to the evolution
of the contemporary museum, with particular attention to the issues of decolonisation, the political role of cultural institutions, and the promotion of citizenship skills. The museum is therefore considered as a device that is at the same time cultural, political and educational, in a perspective that aims at identifying strategies, communication tools, orientations aimed at establishing relations with the communities and territories of reference.
The educational function, considered in its theoretical and applicative specificities, will therefore be considered as an expression of a broader vision of the museum mission, taking into account the international debate on the concept of cultural heritage, valorisation and protection. Ample reflection will be devoted to the role played during the second half of the 20th century by UNESCO and international bodies (especially ICOM) in promoting a modern and democratic conception of the museum, also in consideration of ‘uncomfortable’ heritage, the relationship with the past, the memories and identities of peoples and nations.
Concrete experiences, testimonies and good practices will also be analysed in workshop mode, enabling students to develop a real awareness of the issues affecting museums today.

Prerequisites
A good knowledge of art history, from the Middle Ages to the contemporary age, and some familiarity with museology are required.

THE EXAMINATION WILL TAKE PLACE IN THE FORM OF AN INTERVIEW ON THE EXAMINATION TEXTS AND THE TOPICS OF THE LECTURES GIVEN. IT WILL BE POSSIBLE TO PRESENT AN EXERCISE, TO BE AGREED WITH THE LECTURER.
THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE IN THE SYLLABUS FOR NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS

Required Readings (FOR THE 12 CFU EXAMINATION)
C. Greco, E. Christillin, The Memories of the Future. Museums and Research, Einaudi, 2022.
I. Baldriga, A Van Gogh for Snoopy. Aesthetic experience, knowledge, emotion, introduction by C. Strinati, Le Monnier Università, Florence, 2020.
The workshop of the visible. Museums, research, tools and perspectives, edited by I. Baldriga and L. Filadoro (EDIFIR, 2025)

The following articles (to be made available via google classroom):
- I. Baldriga, 'A possible balance: public space and aesthetic citizenship. La dimensione politica del patrimonio culturale e del museo nel terzo millennio", in European Citizenship, Constitution and Rights: Education as an Instrument of Democracy, (L'Aquila), Atti del convegno internazionale di studi, 2021.
- I. Baldriga, 'Beyond Generic Learning Outcomes. Towards a new model of museum educational action', in The International Journal of Museum Studies. International Journal of Studies, Fabrizio Serra Editore, (Monographic issue ‘New ethical principles for a democratic and participatory museum’, 2022, 2)
- I. Baldriga, Museums and Peace. Utopia e riconciliazione, in ‘Studi e materiali di storia delle religioni’, 90/1, 2024, pp. 176-189.
- I. Baldriga, I musei italiani nello scenario internazionale del secondo dopoguerra: il ruolo dell'ICOM e dell'UNESCO, in Valorizzare il patrimonio culturale. Il portale ‘Archivio musei italiani del secondo dopoguerra’ edited by Valter Curzi and Benedetta Cestelli Guidi, Sapienza Editrice, 2025 pp. 61-79 (ONLINE Valorizzare patrimonio culturale - eBook ).
- I. Baldriga, Il museo e le politiche del ricordo: patrimonio negato e condiviso, in Atti del convegno internazionale di studi Coordenadas culturales en la museología del presente: cinco neologismos tenutosi a Madrid, Museo del Prado, 2023, pp. 121-130 (online https://iris.uniroma1.it/retrieve/c4c09efd-5c80-4d91-9f18-6abf88a0f598/_... )
- Museums and Lifelong Learning, edited by K. Gibbs, M. Sani, J. Thomson, Ferrara, 2007
- R. Minello, “Constructivist museum: between theories of knowledge and theories of non-formal and informal learning”, in Formazione & Insegnamento, XVI, 1, 2018, pp. 93-108
- E. Hooper-Greenhill, ‘New values, new voices, new narratives: the evolution of communicative models in art museums’, in Il museo relazionale, edited by S. Bodo, Ed. Fond. Agnelli, Turin 2000, pp. 1-39
Small changes to this bibliography may be made at the beginning of the course.

EXAMINATION TEXTS FOR THOSE WHO INTEND TO TAKE ONLY THE MUSEUM DIDACTICS MODULE (6 CFU)

- I. Baldriga, A Van Gogh for Snoopy. Aesthetic experience, knowledge, emotion, introduction by C. Strinati, Le Monnier Università, Florence, 2020.
The following are all available online; students can download texts independently:
- Museums and Lifelong Learning, edited by K. Gibbs, M. Sani, J. Thomson, Ferrara, 2007
- R. Minello, “Constructivist museum: between theories of knowledge and non-formal and informal learning theories”, in Formazione & Insegnamento, XVI, 1, 2018, pp. 93-108
- I. Baldriga, 'Beyond Generic Learning Outcomes. Towards a new model of museum educational action', in The International Journal of Museum Studies. International Journal of Studies, Fabrizio Serra Editore, (Monographic issue ‘New ethical principles for a democratic and participatory museum’, 2022, 2)
- I. Baldriga, Museums and Peace. Utopia e riconciliazione, in ‘Studi e materiali di storia delle religioni’, 90/1, 2024, pp. 176-189.
- E. Hooper-Greenhill, ‘New values, new voices, new narratives: the evolution of communicative models in art museums’, in Il museo relazionale, edited by S. Bodo, Ed. Fond. Agnelli, Turin 2000, pp. 1-39
- M. Muscarà, A. Romano (2020) Didactics and learning in museums in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic. Media Education 11(2): 61-73.
- S. Mascheroni, The educational function of the museum and the relationship with the school https://www.comunecrema.it/sites/default/files/insula_fulcheria_2009_mas ...
- M. De Luca, Communication and museum education http://www.fizz.it/sites/default/files/allegati/articoli/pdf_articoli_co...

Optionally, one of the following texts (available online):
1) Culture and Local Development: Maximising Impact. A GUIDE FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENTS, COMMUNITIES AND MUSEUMS www.oecd.org/cfe/leed/OECD-ICOM-GUIDE-MUSEUMS-IT.pdf
2) Young people and contemporary art museums https://online.ibc.regione.emilia-romagna.it/I/libri/pdf/Giovani_Musei.p.
3) Cultural Heritage for All http://musei.beniculturali.it/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Il-patrimonio-c...

Small changes to this bibliography may be made at the beginning of the course.