Tallinn University, in collaboration with the University of Amsterdam, University of Turku, and University of Bologna, will pilot a new interdisciplinary MA course in English on how cultural memory and heritage are produced, curated, and re-imagined in digital environments.

Format: 14 × 90-minute seminar and lecture sessions
Time: Thursdays at 16:15 (room A-325)
Programme fit: Core course for the MA in Contemporary Culture; elective for other MA programmes
Convenors: Prof. Marek Tamm and Marjolein Uittenbogaard

Course focus
Digital platforms, data infrastructures, and immersive media increasingly shape how societies relate to the past. This course offers a conceptually grounded introduction to digital cultural heritage, combining perspectives from memory and (critical) heritage studies, cultural semiotics, archival studies, and digital humanities/cultural analytics.

The course is structured around four interconnected themes:

• Theoretical foundations: memory and heritage studies, cultural semiotics, archival theory, and digital humanities
• Ethics and responsibility: power, consent, intellectual property, gender-aware and decolonial perspectives, and sustainability
• Thematic case studies: audiovisual archives and museums in the digital age
• Methods and practice: metadata and provenance work, lightweight text and image analysis, historical data analysis, and introductory 3D/AR/VR storytelling

Teaching is seminar-led and case-based, complemented by site visits (including the Juri Lotman Semiotics Repository and VR tour Tallinn 1939/44) and guest lecturers from partner universities.

The course is designed for MA students in the humanities and cultural studies at Tallinn University who want to understand how digital technologies transform memory, archives, and heritage practices, without requiring advanced technical skills. Emphasis is placed on critical thinking, conceptual clarity, and ethically informed research. You can access the full syllabus here.