ICOFOM 48th Annual Symposium

And ICOM Joint ICOFOM, ICTOP and COMCOL Symposium

for the 27th ICOM General Conference, Dubai 2025, “The Future of Museums in Rapidly Changing Communities” 10-14 November 2025.

Training the Next Generation of Museum Professionals: Bridging Gaps, Breaking Barriers

For decades, ICOM committee members have been at the forefront of both the theoretical and practical sides of training museum professionals. With over 250 master’s and doctoral-level programs offered globally, alongside alternative pathways like internships and apprenticeships, it begs the question: Are today’s Museum Studies programs truly equipping professionals for the rapidly evolving needs of contemporary museums?

This meeting aims to dive deep into the pressing issues surrounding the training of tomorrow’s museum scholars and professionals. What are the ethical and practical implications of the growing number of educational programs? Are we flooding the market with too many graduates for too few positions, or are there still vast gaps in training opportunities, particularly in underserved regions? And most critically, are these programs truly aligning with what the museum sector needs today? How do these trainings connect theories and practices in order to get critical points of view and think what museums are for? This meeting will spark a conversation that bridges the gap between education and real-world museum needs, bringing together voices from across the globe to explore solutions, share strategies, and ultimately, shape the future of museum training.

We encourage participants to focus on one of five key themes:

Theme 1: Museum Studies and the Curriculum

Curricula in Museum Studies vary signiﬁcantly across the globe. What drives these diﬀerences? How do we ﬁnd the balance between theory and prac?ce, or between broad generaliza?on and deep specializa?on? Are universi?es providing too great an emphasis on prac?cal skills, or are they churning out “over-qualiﬁed” graduates with liHle real-world readiness? Are there beHer models for interac?ons between museums and museum-training ins?tu?ons? In emerging museum sectors, what are the greatest needs, and how can curricula adapt to meet them?

Moreover, who is shaping these curricula? How are educators trained, and what roles should interna?onal experts and local partners play in this process? Should there be global accredita?on for museum studies programs, or would this overlook local needs and perspec?ves? And how do we ensure emerging theories and prac?ces, par?cularly those from previously marginalized regions, can access the global stage? How do theories shared in the curriculum represent the wide range of museum perspec?ves around the world without reproducing power asymmetries through knowledge?

Theme 2: Museology

Museology has developed diﬀerently across languages, regions, and cultures. How do these diverse approaches shape the ﬁeld today? How can we ensure that a plurality of knowledge-making strategies, combining quan?ta?ve, qualita?ve, and philosophical approaches are equally valued? As the ﬁeld grows increasingly global, is there common ground in the balance between universal and local principles and practices? How do regions developing newly established museums draw from the prac?ces of other regions to shape their own approaches to museology? What are the diﬀerent kinds of museologies around the world today, as we conclude the ﬁrst quarter of the 21st century?

Theme 3: Diversifying Programs and Practices

How can the museum studies community build a workforce that is as diverse as the audiences they serve? What is necessary to foster a truly inclusive environment, and what prac?ces may hinder this goal? What does a decolonial or an?colonial partnership look like in prac?ce, and who holds the power in shaping these partnerships? Poli?cal and diploma?c factors also come into play—how do they shape partnerships between ins?tu?ons across borders, and how can diversity and inclusion become core values embedded in every aspect of museum work? How can we ensure that people from all walks of life—are not only represented but ac?vely shaping the stories museums tell, including ac?vely involved in running museums themselves?

Theme 4: Collecting as an Act of Care

With the arrival of the new museum deﬁni?on also the balance in the core tasks has been redeﬁned. Where in the past, acquisi?on played a central role, now the focus is on the act of collec?ng. Here the ownership is no longer a central key but the way we bring communi?es and their heritage together. These requires diﬀerent skills when rela?on building as prac?ce of care becomes ﬁrst before the care of the object. How do shiRing ideas about ownership and authority aﬀect collec?ng and exhibi?ng prac?ces? Collabora?ve and par?cipatory collec?ng poses new ques?ons – ethical, legal, social, psychological and museological.

Theme 5: Building Sector Capacity

What strategies can help build long-term capacity in the museum sector? Appren?ceships, internships, and various qualiﬁca?ons are widely available, but do they create las?ng change? How do we measure their impact beyond the immediate? Further, how can training ini?a?ves promote leadership and self-advocacy, especially in emerging regions? How do we ensure that as the museum sector grows, it remains sustainable and adaptable to new challenges?

Terms of Submission and the Process to Submit Your Proposal:

The Steering Committee invites proposals for individual or collective paper presentations of 15 minutes. In your proposal we expect to see evidence of original research, and creativity in your approach to the future of museum training for rapidly changing communities.

This Call for Papers is open for the 48th ICOFOM Annual Symposium and for a joint session between ICOFOM, COMCOL and ICTOP, which will be held in Dubai during one of the sessions being held 11-14 November.

Stage 1

A brief abstract of 350 words for a 15-minute presentation will be submitted by 15 March 2025 via the online form https://bit.ly/dubai_icofom_ictop_comcol. Proposed abstracts must conform to the requirements below to be considered:

must clearly integrate one of the proposed axes of analysis, and
must be wriQen in one of the three languages of ICOM (English, French, Spanish).

Notification of whether your abstract proposal has been accepted for the Dubai symposium will be given within two weeks.

Stage 2

Authors with accepted abstract proposals will then need to expand their text into 2000-word conference papers and submit these to ICOFOM by 1 July 2025. These are collated and published as ICOFOM’s Materials for Discussion prior to the conference. Therefore, conference papers not received by July 1 will not be included in the publication, nor will your presentation be considered for subsequent publication in the ICOFOM Study Series.

Papers must follow the ICOFOM Symposium Submission Guidelines.
While English will be the language of an oral presentaWon at the symposium, you are strongly encouraged to submit your wriQen paper in one of the ICOM languages (English, French, Spanish) that you know

Materials for Discussion will be sent to the authors and symposium participants in electronic format during the month of October.

Stage 3

The Joint ICOFOM, ICTOP and COMCOL Symposium and the ICOFOM Annual Symposium will be held only in person without online streaming. However, if you cannot attend, you will still have the opportunity to participate remotely with a poster or a pre-recorded video. In both cases, the payment of the registration fee is required via the Registration page that will open later in the year.

Stage 4

After the symposiums, a selected number of presenters will be invited to expand their Materials papers into full articles to be considered for publication in the ICOFOM Study Series. Selected presenters will be given the opportunity to develop their papers into a longer format of 6000 words, with peer review and revision, for journal publication.

More information:

For more information or if you have any questions, please email icofomconferences@gmail.com.

ICTOP