For Immediate Release 25 April 2017
Contact:
Marcus Granato, Secretary ICOM-UMAC Email: marcus@mast.br
Lisboa, Portugal – The International Council of Museums (ICOM) has awarded a grant to the committees on University Museums and Collections (UMAC) and the Training of Personnel (ICTOP) to develop a global approach for professionalizing of museum work in higher education. This collaborative two-year project will identify standards in professional training that merge the theoretical academic experience with the museum-based applied experience; it will also enable UMAC to assess the current state of professional training offered by museum studies programs worldwide and the relevance of the university museum in professional training.
According to Marta C. Lourenço, UMAC President, “Professional development in university museums is such a pressing issue in so many fronts that we need a map before we even begin approaching it. And we can’t – and shouldn’t – do it alone”.
A consortium comprised of UMAC, ICTOP, Universeum (Europe), and the Association of Academic Museums and Galleries (United States) brings together partners that have the training of museum professionals as part of their missions or priorities. The consortium embodies the scope, expertise, resources and motivation to promote the highest standards of museological training among university museums and collections professionals worldwide; increase the use and efficacy of university museums and collections as museum training resources; compile and analyze literature and information about professional profiles, positions and standards in university museums and collections, and identify and discuss museum training content and issues specific to university museums and collections. Through a series of workshops and the dissemination of a worldwide survey, comprehensive, consistent, and competence-based standards of professional training required for the museum professional will be established.
Marta C. Lourenço, UMAC President Jill Hartz, AAMG President
Darko Babic, ICTOP President Sofia Talas, Universeum President
Categories: General Announcement