Advertisement: postgraduate certificate course for curators and museum workers

Exhibiting Contemporary History is a one-year part-time postgraduate certificate course offered by Friedrich Schiller University Jena in cooperation with the Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora Memorials Foundation. It is part of the Europäisches Kolleg Jena: Representing the 20th Century.
The programme offers participants opportunity to combine innovative research in contemporary history and museology with inquiry into historical cultures, leading to the development of practical curatorial strategies and concepts. It should be especially useful for exhibit curators with a background in history, cultural studies, or art history, or whose focus is on museum collections.
The programme takes one academic year to complete. Graduates are awarded a certificate and 30 ECTS credits. Admission requirements are a university degree and a minimum one year work experience at a European memorial or museum or a museum internship. The primary language of instruction is English, however reading ability in German is necessary.
The course of study is divided into three two-week phases during which residency is required. These comprise seminars, external workshops, and practice units. The first phase covers museum and exhibit theory and takes place in Jena (7 November to 18 November 2016). The second phase is dedicated to analysing exhibits and takes place at different European museums (20 March to 31 March 2017). In the third phase, participants meet at Buchenwald memorial, where they develop their own exhibit concepts and take part in an evaluation forum (3 July to 12 July 2017). Participants will finish the programme with a final thesis.
The seminars, workshops, and practice units are taught by guest instructors from universities and research institutes as well as museums and memorial sites. The instructors are recognised museum theorists, experienced and internationally networked curators, and exhibition analysts. Residency periods alternate with periods of private study. The course is structured so that the residency and private study periods can be coordinated with participants' professional obligations.
The Exhibiting Contemporary History programme is tuition-based. Tuition fees amount to 250 Euros. Participants can apply for a scholarship from the Europäisches Kolleg Jena. With the scholarship we aim to support students in order to enable them to travel and stay abroad. Please recognize that participation in the programme and being supported by a scholarship does not necessarily go together, but requires two separate decisions by the organizers of the programme.
Museum workers who would like to participate in the programme are asked to send applications containing a CV, cover letter, university certificate and a proof of the employment in a museum to the Europäisches Kolleg Jena (e-mail: daniel.logemann(at)uni-jena(dot)de) by 30 September 2016.