About the Program

Profile

The Master's degree program in Digital Cultural Heritage aims to train both researchers and practitioners in the field of cultural heritage studies as specialists in a variety of digital techniques. As in any other area of society, digitization is transforming research in the humanities as well as practice in cultural heritage and related disciplines and fields of activity.

Students in this program will acquire new knowledge, competencies and skills at the intersection of computer and information science, cultural studies and heritage studies. Future digital heritage professionals will have the advantage over specialists in the respective fields of study of being able to combine several essential skills in a way that is not taught in existing degree programs in the respective disciplines. These skills and competencies include:

• understanding of theoretical and methodological backgrounds and approaches, research interests and the types and characteristics of cultural data in (a particular area of) the humanities and cultural studies,
• acquiring knowledge of the theoretical, practical and ethical concerns and debates in the field of cultural heritage research,
• develop mastery of various digital techniques for capturing cultural data, ability to manage, structure, analyze and curate cultural data in a meaningful way with regard to research interests in the humanities and cultural studies as well as practical concerns of heritage conservation, etc.
• develop the ability to modify existing digital applications used in cultural studies and to discover, invent or develop new customized digital applications specifically for use in cultural studies.

Key Facts

Program Learning Outcomes

Graduates of the MA program Digital Cultural Heritage ...

• ... theorize and reflect critically on cultural heritage-related topics, develop existing theories further or develop new approaches and also apply their knowledge and thinking to related fields/disciplines.
• ... think in computer-based methods and approaches and solve new problems in the humanities and cultural sciences with the help of programming skills.
• ... collect, process, analyze, manage, curate and visualize cultural data using digital tools and methods.
• ... design research projects and write scientific papers.
• ... communicate with the general public and reflect the interests and needs of the social groups involved.
• ... reflect on and improve their skills, practice and self-understanding as researchers and/or practitioners, considering established ethical standards, guidelines and best practices in research design, data management and professional practice in the field of cultural heritage and related areas.

With these learning objectives, we prepare students for careers in academia and research as well as for careers as practitioners in the public, non-profit and private sectors. The particular strength of the Master's degree program in Digital Cultural Heritage lies in the combination of the following competencies in a coherent degree program:

• a strong focus on established and evolving digital methods and skills, including programming and responsible data management, which are increasingly in demand and essential but often not taught in established humanities and study of cultures programs;
• the indispensable training of critical thinking on both a theoretical and methodological level and the research orientation with a strong focus on the development and implementation of study and research projects already during the course of study;
• training in writing academic texts and in data visualization techniques as well as in communication skills with regard to communication with the general public and social actors outside the universities, which are becoming increasingly important in our science- and research-driven society;
• the opportunity to pursue further education in the students’ original sub-jects/disciplines, combined with a strongly interdisciplinary curriculum, which also includes strong integration with the Master degree Media Informatics, that prepares graduates for interdisciplinary research and collaboration across disciplinary boundaries.

These skills set graduates of the program apart from their peers on established, discipline-specific programs, as they are better prepared for future developments in their disciplines in the context of digitalization and increasingly complex and interdisciplinary research agendas.

Overall, the program is intended to train students for professions and professional pro-files of the future (e.g. artificial intelligence-based cultural analytics, 3D digitization, mobile and geospatial technology, etc.), which are currently emerging.

Language Requirements

The Master degree program Digital Cultural Heritage can be studied fully in English. As a program in the Humanities and the Study of Cultures, it requires high competencies in English (corresponding to level C1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages).

No proof of German language proficiency is required for admission to the program. However, the curriculum also includes elective courses in a number of other disciplines concerned with the Study of Cultures. As the respective programs are offered in German, most courses in these other disciplines are offered in German only. Therefore, you can only fully exploit these opportunities, if you have at least a good comprehension of German. In any case, a basic knowledge of German is strongly recommended, if not indispensable, for dealing with administrative and other matters. Of course, there are also opportunities to learn German for students in Munich.

Recommendations on German language