Museums and galleries play a really important role in society. If we think about our towns and cities, there are actually very few places we can go with friends and family, or on our own, and share an experience with people we don’t know. In museums and galleries, we can learn about the past, but not by reading a book or watching a film– by moving through the museum and engaging with objects and collections, and stories.

In many museums today, we can engage in contemporary debates, and learn about the people around us and their lives. And so, in that sense, museums play a really vital role in giving us a sense of shared experience– almost an understanding of what it means to be human. The MOOC is a collaboration between the School of Museum Studies at the University of Leicester, and National Museums Liverpool. In the School of Museum Studies, we work with a whole range of museums and galleries to develop world-leading research, and deliver training to a whole range of museum professionals.

Here at National Museums Liverpool, we have one of the UK’s leading museum services, and we can learn a great deal about their work by looking at it through the lens of the research and teaching in the school. All of this expertise is drawn together in this MOOC. The MOOC covers a range of topics– from growing audiences to thinking about how museums and galleries design for emotion. We’ll also think about issues of social responsibility and human rights, and also how to build the 21st-century museum. If you’re curious about museums, and want to know more about the people and ideas that shape them today, you’ll find this MOOC helpful.

If you’re working in the cultural sector, or you aspire to a career in the cultural sector, the MOOC will give you information on access to training and research at the University of Leicester. Finally, if you’re running a museum, and you’re working hard to grow audiences and engage in contemporary debates, then you’ll find inspirational projects, ideas, and research inside the MOOC. The partnership between the School of Museum Studies and National Museums Liverpool is longstanding. Staff here in the museums collaborate with academics on research projects, and come and take part in the teaching. Equally, academics in the school come and get involved in projects in the museums. It’s a really productive relationship that adds value to both organisations.

I love working in museum studies, because I get to work with brilliant people in brilliant places who are values-driven, and who really care that we all have access to engaging, inspiring, and life-affirming social spaces. Leicester is a real hub for this work, and hundreds of people pass through the school every year, whether it’s to take part in research or training both on campus and at a distance. It’s a real privilege to see people go out into the profession and build their careers.