PhD in Cultural Systems - Analysis and Management of Cultural Heritage
Lucca, Italy
DURATION
3 up to 4 Years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
21 Jun 2024
EARLIEST START DATE
04 Nov 2024
TUITION FEES
Request tuition fees
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* no tuition fees; students beyond the tuition waiver also receive a scholarship €16,243 per year for up to three years
Introduction
Cultural Systems is an international Ph.D. program hosted by the IMT School, one of the seven Schools of Excellence in Italy, and ranked among the highest of the top graduate schools in Europe, according to the most recent U-Multirank ranking. The IMT School provides rigorous training and close supervision in various humanities, sciences, and technological disciplines, welcoming multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches at their boundaries.
The IMT School is a truly international environment with students from all around the world. The School has a record of placing students in top research universities, policy-making institutions, and companies. English is the official language of the School.
The Ph.D. Program Cultural Systems constitute a unique multidisciplinary environment. It trains students to undertake cutting-edge research in the many scientific fields related to cultural systems and to operate as high-level, innovative cultural heritage professionals. It offers two tracks, Analysis and Management of Cultural Heritage (AMCH) and Museum Studies (MUST)*.
Both research- and practice-oriented courses are in the program, which aims at opening career paths in Academia, museums, cultural institutions, creative industries, and private companies. Students are encouraged to spend part of their training abroad within the Erasmus+ framework and ad hoc mobility agreements.
* The new call for the MUST track will be published in 2025.
What Cultural Systems offers
- International, vibrant, collaborative multi- and cross-disciplinary research environment
- Training in innovative thinking, curiosity-driven research, project-oriented approach, and applied research approach
- Rigorous training in the analysis and management of cultural heritage and museum studies
- Methodological, theoretical, and applied science approach, including field trips and direct contact with cultural heritage, cultural institutions, and companies
- Direct involvement in scientific cultural heritage projects
- Opportunity to meet leading researchers visiting IMT every year
- Free double room accommodation for 3 years
- Desk provided on campus
- Daily free meals (lunch and dinner) at the IMT canteen for 3 years
- Scholarship of €16,243/year for up to three years
- Participation in exchange programs
- Double degree programs
Scholarships and Funding
All students enrolled in the Ph.D. program receive a scholarship of €1,353.58/month, including pension contributions and a net salary of €1,195.48/month for three years. Support for extensions (up to an additional year) may be provided.
For the entire duration of the three-year program, all students are offered on-campus housing and meals at the IMT canteen for free, which can be valued as an additional benefit of at least €800/month.
Students receive additional financial support for mobility abroad, participation in international academic conferences, summer and winter schools, and similar events.
Curriculum
The Ph.D. program in Cultural Systems unites disciplines that have been carefully selected for their ability to provide the necessary cultural, methodological, and instrumental know-how for the analysis and management of complex cultural systems.
The Program includes two Tracks and, in the spirit of the IMT School, integrates academic excellence with an interdisciplinary vocation. IMT internal faculty members, outstanding experts from leading international institutions, and directors and curators from important Italian and international museums offer courses and seminars within the program.
The track Analysis and Management of Cultural Heritage (AMCH) offers different methodologies and tools for analyzing and managing cultural heritage through core curatorial disciplines, such as Archaeology, Art History, Visual Studies, and Visual Archives courses, complemented with disciplines such as Contemporary History, Cultural Heritage Law, Digital Humanities, History of Philosophy, Philosophy, ICT and Organisation and Management Science courses.
The track in Museum Studies (MUST)*, established in partnership with some of the leading Italian museums and cultural institutions, offers methodologies and tools for analyzing and managing museums, museum core activities, and related issues, such as object display, curatorship, temporary and permanent exhibitions, provenance research and restitution, institutional role of museums at a global level, museum policy-making, social and economic impacts of museums, museum management, etc.
Some of the research activities carried out within the PhD program include the contextual and multidisciplinary analysis of data concerning: objects, images, and spaces in defined historical, political, social, ideological, economic, legal, and cultural contexts; the reception of images, forms, ideas, texts, techniques and technologies from a cultural-historical point of view; cultural heritage in its multiple dimensions; cultural and cultural heritage institutions, policies, regulations, legal frameworks, organization and management strategies, industries and professional careers; the socioeconomic impact of cultural heritage and culture, analysis of actual and potential visitors' needs and behaviours in different spaces (physical and virtual); emerging cultural and visual languages; “difficult cultural heritage” and cultural diplomacy; elaboration and application of new methodologies and technologies to the analysis and management of culture and cultural heritage; archaeological excavation and research; museum and collection history; museums' mission and performance; provenance research.
The program allows students to actively participate in ongoing research and strategic projects on cultural heritage and cultural heritage institutions; it also entails training and research field trips in direct contact with specific aspects of- or activities on- cultural heritage, cultural heritage institutions, archives, deposits of museums and archaeological sites, archaeological excavations.
The principal educational goal of the program is to train students in innovative and critical thinking and, at the same time, to provide them with a mastery of methodological tools and advanced techniques for the analysis, organization, and management of cultural heritage, cultural phenomena, and their multiple impacts. The track MUST* inflects such mission in the specific field of museums and museum studies.
This multi and cross-disciplinary program combines theoretical and methodological with concrete inductive, “on-site” training and research on cultural systems. Its innovative approach aims to train students in specific cultural heritage areas and disciplines while simultaneously establishing a strict relationship between historical-contextual analyses and the application/elaboration of innovative analytical and organizational strategies and tools for the complex system of culture and cultural heritage.
Students are encouraged to actively participate in ongoing research projects of theoretical as well as site-specific and practice-based nature; the program includes research and training field trips in direct contact with cultural heritage, cultural institutions, and cultural industries.
Students can also complete their research projects under joint supervision (double-degree) with partner universities. All students are encouraged to spend part of their studies abroad, both within the Erasmus+ framework and through ad-hoc mobility agreements.
All Research units at the IMT School organize regular seminars and workshops held by external and internal faculty members, complementing the coursework with exposure to the latest research topics and methodologies. Speakers at the seminars and workshops are leading researchers from all around the world.
Active reading groups covering various research areas allow the students to present their work in progress or discuss ideas and interesting papers. Students have multiple occasions to present their research during courses, exams, seminars, workshops, and reading groups.
* The new call for the MUST track will be published in 2025.
Career Opportunities
Both AMCH and MUST* tracks aim to provide specific know-how to prospective researchers and professionals operating in the fields of cultural heritage, museums, and organization /policy-making/ management of culture.
Prospective students should preferably have a background in the Humanities, Social Sciences, or ICT related to Cultural Heritage and Culture. AMCH and MUST* will enable graduates to access both Academic and professional careers in Academia, public institutions, and private companies operating in the fields of Cultural Heritage and Culture (research and educational careers, curatorial careers, managerial careers, administrative careers, policy-making in the Cultural sector, promotion of Culture and Tourism, organization of cultural events, communication, diffusion and teaching of culture).
* The new call for the MUST track will be published in 2025.