Master’s Degree in the Digital Mediation of Culture and Heritage (MNCP)

1 - General Presentation

> The digital revolution that is transforming society and our lives equally affects the diffusion,

study, and sharing of knowledge about heritage and culture. This Master's degree, developed with

the Laboratoire d’Informatique Fondamentale et Appliquée de Tours (LIFAT), provides the

knowledge and skills needed to respond to the issues of this digital turning point and the strong

needs and expectations resulting in the science and engineering of digital data in culture, heritage,

and tourism, through the equal division of teaching between computer science and the

humanities.

> It prepares students for managerial responsibilities that require both a critical culture and a

detailed understanding of historical and heritage knowledge (in connection with the Masters in

the History Civilization Heritage programme), and a mastery of technological tools for the

acquisition and processing of digital data and documents relating to these fields.

> Open to students from all backgrounds, it is composed of two initial semesters for students who

need to acquire the level required in training for new digital careers applied to data in the

humanities, history, and arts, in addition to the digital conservation, management, and

exploitation of cultural and natural heritage, whether it be tangible or intangible.

> The M1 year aims to complement the initial student’s education in two areas of their choosing:

1. Humanities, history, arts, and heritage (modules from the HCP programme); 2. Computer

science, with the goal of homogenizing the entire class. This interdisciplinary encounter

materializes in the production and publication of a collective digital project during the M1 year.

> In M2, this Master’s degree deepens digital mediation and the mastery of computer tools that

allow for their acquisition, structuring, dissemination and development: databases, programming,

multimedia development, visualization and interaction tools, virtual and augmented reality,

communications and social networks, e-learning and pedagogical engineering, scripting, design

and management of digital mediation projects.

2 - Admissions

> The course is open to all students motivated by the acquisition of fundamental computer skills

and their application in the fields of humanities and social sciences, in heritage and culture. It is

open to students resuming their studies, in continuing education, according to procedures on a

case-by-case basis.

> Applications will be open from 23 April to 15 May 2018 and submitted online through the

University of Tours website.

> The application file must include the following documents: for entry into Master 1, transcripts

of undergraduate grades, and for entry into Master 2, transcripts from Master 1; a resume without

a picture; a cover letter with a proposed research project and desired career path. The research

project developed in the application will not necessarily determine the project that will be actually

developed during the course.

> For students from universities outside the European Union, a specific registration procedure is

to be followed. For more information, go to the international portal of the University of Tours and

Campus France portal (www.campusfrance.org).

> Please note: this procedure has a specific timetable and requires C1 level in French.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

https://esipat.Univ-tours.fr/infos-Pratiques/#contact

master.mncp@Univ-tours.fr

Head of the Programme - David Fiala

Head of Education - Cyrille Malapert

Administrative Manager – Marie-Christine Jossec

3 – Programme Organization

> The full course is divided into four semesters which can be adapted to the framework of an

international mobility.

> The first year offers, in addition to a core course devoted to basic knowledge of digital

humanities, two reinforcement paths to choose from based on previous education and in

agreement with the educational tutor. Students with undergraduate degrees in humanities have

a priority invitation to follow advanced courses in computer science (two modules of 60 and 40

hours during the first semester; a module of 60 hours in the second). Students from scientific

fields and/or with the computer skills required in the second year are invited to follow the

modules from the History, Civilisation, Heritage programme[KL1].

> During this first year, students develop a supervised digital project in groups of two to four

people, in which the subject, body of data, and technology are determined in consultation with a

tutor and the entire educational team. At the end of the year, the online publication of the project

gives rise to the presentation of a report documenting project management, its scientific and

technical options, and its potential developments, on the basis of specifications.

> In the second year, the first semester is largely devoted to the deepening of computer skills, and

the second is reserved for the completion of one or more internships.

> Teaching language: French and English (especially in Master 2).

4 - Careers

> This Master's degree trains professionals in the development of digital applications for culture

and heritage, for private and public institutions concerned with tourism, heritage conservation

and development (libraries, museums, monuments), research and teaching (doctorate and

engineering), cultural management, project management in communications, research and

development.

> The holder of this diploma may coordinate or collaborate in digital platforms of cultural,

heritage and tourism institutions or research laboratories in technology or humanities. In

addition, their technological skills and critical knowledge of data and documentation in the

humanities, arts and heritage open up a wide range of careers, particularly in the fields of: (i)

intelligence and data science; (ii) digital mediation, and the development of digital applications

for the general public. The sectors targeted are mainly tourism, culture, entertainment and media,

gastronomy and agri-food.

> Targeted sectors of activity

IT development

Training and research

Tourism

Cultural and digital mediation

Cultural and creative industries

Multimedia publishing

Digital communications

Specialized press

Territorial communities

Heritage institutions

Non-profit sector

> Targeted careers

Careers in software development

Careers in the conservation, exploitation, and digital development of heritage (archives,

museums, cultural institutions, libraries, publishing, bookstores...)

Careers in scientific research, development and management of scientific research

(universities, large organizations, companies or local communities with a department in

research and development...)

Careers in teaching (in France and abroad)

Careers in cultural sectors (books, arts, theatre) and fields combining technological

innovation and the development of heritage (cultural start-up manager, community

manager, cultural mediator, specialized guide, heritage mediator, heritage media editor,

tourism, lifestyle...)

5 - Faculty

The key speakers in the Master’s degree currently include:

Vincent BESSON, Design Engineer - Ricercar Programme, CESR

Jean-Charles BILLAUT, Professor in Computer Science

Sandrine BREUIL, Design Engineer - Programme of Humanist Virtual Libraries,

CESR

Marion BOUDON-MACHUEL, Professor in Art History

Marie-Elisabeth BOUTROUE, CNRS Researcher, CESR

Pascal BRIOIST, Professor in History

Thierry BROUARD, Lecturer in Computer Science

Donatello CONTE, Lecturer in Computer Science

Jean-Philippe CORBELLINI, Image, Sound, and Video Technician, Maison des

Sciences de l’Homme Val de Loire

Lionel FANDEUR, Engineer in Educational Technology, Multimedia Division,

University of Tours

David FIALA, Associate Professor in Musicology

Johann FORTE, Computer Engineer, Programme ARD Intelligence des

Patrimoines

Gilles KAGAN, Research Engineer, Manager of the Image Division, Institut de

Recherche et d’Histoire des Textes (IRHT)

Chiara LASTRAIOLI, Professor in European Literature

Jean-Philippe LETOURNEUR, Manager of the Production of the Digital and

Multimedia, University of Tours

Alice LOFFREDO-NUÉ, Manager of the publishing department, CESR

Patrick MARTINEAU, Professor in Computer Science

Pascal MAKRIS, Lecturer in Computer Science

Benoist PIERRE, Professor in History

Nicolas RAGOT, Lecturer in Computer Science

Jean-Yves RAMEL, Professor in Computer Science

Jean-Baptiste RIGOT, Lecturer in Archaeology

Xavier RODIER, CNRS Research Engineer in Archaeology

Perrine THURINGER, Digital Project Manager, Programme ARD Intelligence des

Patrimoines

6 - Programme Details

Master 1 - Semester 1

CORE COURSE

PROGRAMMES IN HISTORY CIVILIZATION HERITAGE & DIGITAL

HUMANITIES

16h

General introduction to the training: research, heritage and digital 16h

CORE COURSE

DIGITAL HUMANITIES PROGRAMME 36h

Introduction to Digital Humanities

This course introduces the history, issues and methods of Digital

Humanities. In order to question the contributions of information

technology to the advancement of historical and heritage

knowledge, the treatment of tangible and digital heritage objects

(safeguarding, storing, classifying, inventorying, cataloguing, editing,

searching, analyzing, interpreting, disseminating, enhancing),

formats and benchmarks, institutions supporting digital humanities,

and the critical analysis of existing interfaces and portals will be

discussed.

18h

English (2 groups) 18h

REINFORCEMENT MODULE

ACQUISITION, PROCESSING, AND ARCHIVING OF MULTIMEDIA AND

TEXTUAL DATA

60h

Multimedia data: introduction to multimedia, types of media and

services, operating chains, acquisition, processing and

dissemination tools and methods, OpenCV, images, videos, 3D, audio

and spatio-temporal data

40h

Textual data: setting up acquisition chains and putting heritage texts

online 20h

MODULE 1

(choice of 1 option) 60h

OPTION 1 (students with a degree in humanities)

PROGRAMMING AND OPERATING SYSTEMS

Algorithms and Programming

Introduction to algorithms and Python language programming:

variables, structure of programmes, functions and procedures,

reading/writing files, interfaces.

30h

Operating systems and Web systems

Introduction to networks and operating systems for the Web: OSI

models, HTTP protocols, client-server architectures, administration

of Web servers.

Introduction to Web programming: concepts of static pages,

programming for clients, HTML5 language, CSS3 style sheets,

JavaScript scripts

30h

OPTION 2 (students with a degree in computer science)

MODULE 1 (to be chosen from one of the Masters of the HCP

programme)

CPA Master: Dynamics and transformation of systems and food cultures (history, long-term) or CPR Master: Introduction to the Renaissance or M2A Master: Archeomatic 1 or MSP Master: Introduction to heritage

60h

MODULE 2

(choice of 1 option) 40h

OPTION 1 (students with a degree in humanities)

DATABASES

Analysis and design of information systems: introduction to

information systems, tools and methods, UML modeling, case study

Introduction to database management systems: files/databases,

DBMS objectives, relational models, test on SQL language

40h

OPTION 2 (students with a degree in computer science)

MODULE 2 (to be chosen from one of the Masters of the HCP

programme)

CPA Master: Food as heritage or CPR Master: Knowledge and society in the Renaissance or M2A Master: Archaeology 1 Seminars or MSP Master: Heritage, from the interdisciplinary study of objects to careers

Up to 40h

Master 1 - Semester 2

CORE COURSE

DIGITAL HUMANITIES PROGRAMME 78h

Interoperability

Introduction to data heterogeneity: typology, tools and methods for

solving heterogeneity, open and community standards,

programming interfaces (APIs), XML and its derivatives,

implementation with the Oxygen software

Presentation of the norms and standards for the heritage data of

different communities: TEI, MEI, and EAD encoding, DublinCore

metadata schema, UNIMARC bibliographic format, etc.

30h

Knowledge engineering

Introduction to the Data Web: related data concepts, publication of

structured data on the Web, URI principles, RDF formats, SPARQL

query language, semantic interoperability, vocabulary and

ontology, RDF-S/OWL vocabulary description languages,

implementation on the protected software

Presentation of the conceptual reference model for cultural

heritage data: ontology for CIDOC-CRM and the digital platform

project of the Heritage Intelligence programme: HeritageS

30h

English (2 groups) 18h

MODULE 3

(choice of 1 option) 40h

OPTION 1 (students with a degree in humanities)

ALGORITHMS AND WEB DEVELOPMENT

Algorithmic progress: object-oriented programming, concept of

classes and objects, encapsulation, heritage, polymorphism, UML

class diagrams, design templates, implemented with the Python

language

24h

Design and development of dynamic websites: notion of dynamic

pages, programming on the server side, MVC design templates,

content management systems (CMS), implemented with PHP5

language and the RDBMS MySQL

Presentation of the WordPress CMS and the Omeka digital library

management software and examples of websites for CESR research

projects

16h

OPTION 2 (students with a degree in computer science)

MODULE 3 (to be chosen from one of the Masters of the HCP

programme)

CPA Master: Contemporary issues in agri-food systems or CPR Master: The Renaissance of the arts or M2A Master: Archaeology 2 Seminars or MSP Master: Science for heritage

Up to 40h

CORE COURSE

DIGITAL HUMANITIES PROGRAMME 68h

Group projects: from design to production

The project preparation begins at the start of the M1 year, with the students having to define their organization (in groups of 2 to 4), their project, and their tutor before the end of semester 1, in a written report to be submitted under the evaluation of the Introduction to Digital Humanities course.

Project management 24h

Production workshop 40h

Presentation of work 4h

Master 2 - Semester 3

CORE COURSE

DIGITAL HUMANITIES PROGRAMME

English 18h

MODULE 5

MULTIMEDIA DEVELOPMENT AND VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENTS 60h

Advanced web tools: Following the concepts acquired in the

previous module, the addition of new advanced features in the

CMS will be addressed (e-commerce, visualization systems, etc.).

Presentation of more flexible and open web development tools

(Symfony framework, etc.).

Example of a Symfony framework application case through the

Musi2R project website.

14h

Tools for the development of mobile applications: Presentation of

mobile architectures (Android, iOS) and associated development

tools (NativeScript, Cordova) to produce multi-platform

applications.

Example of the application developed to enhance the Grande

Promenade de Chambord.

24h

Tools for the development of virtual environments: Introduction to

the most used game engines for the development of Virtual Reality,

Mixed Reality and Augmented Reality applications on desktop

(Unity, Unreal Engine) and web (AFrame, HP Reveal).

Example of the serious game Mecaleo VR.

22h

MODULE 6

VISUALIZATION AND INTERACTION TOOLS 60h

Design and evaluation of Human-Machine interfaces 14h

Advanced visualization techniques: 2D dynamic mapping

(OpenStreetMap, Leaflet, etc.) and statistical data (D3); 3D for

visualization of scatterplots (Potree), 3D meshes (3DHop, AFrame,

Cesium).

Data mining and learning: concepts of data mining, tools and

methods for clustering, data projection, and optimization,

supervised learning

Presentation of shape recognition projects, surface analysis,

photogrammetry, image segmentation for heritage objects and 3D

landscape surveys (SOLiDAR, Sculpture3D)

24h

Presentation of digital transmedia mediation projects of the

Intelligence of Heritage ARD program: web documentary (Sur les

pas de Léonard), serious games (Mécaléo VR), mobile application

development (Grande Promenade de Chambord).

22h

MODULE 7

COMMUNICATIONS, E-LEARNING

Community animation: Web 4.0, social networks 14h

E-learning and instructional design: MOOC, serious games and user

followers (profiling) 26h

CORE COURSE TRANSVERSAL MODULE

(choice of 1 option) 60h

OPTION 1 (students with a degree in humanities)

TRANSVERSAL MODULE

Choice of a module from the Big Data Management and Analytics

Master (University of Tours) 60h

OPTION 2 (students with a degree in computer science)

TRANSVERSAL MODULE

Choice of a module from one of the Masters the HCP programme 60h

Master 2 - Semester 4

CORE COURSE

DIGITAL HUMANITIES PROGRAMME

English 18 hours

MODULE 8

HERITAGE LAW AND MANAGEMENT

(2 or 3 teaching units to be chosen from among the modules)

Law of intellectual and artistic (and digital) property 12 hours

Law and administration of communities 12 hours

Management of heritage institutions 12 hours

Movement of the heritage objects 12 hours

Heritage and its audiences: sociology of audiences, prevented

audiences, schools

12 hours

Human resources 12 hours

Communication tools and strategies 12 hours

Audiovisual investigative techniques 12 hours

PROFESSIONALIZATION MODULE

Presentation of student work

Choice between the two:

- Long internship (over 4 months) and report

- Short internship (less than 4 months) and report, combined with

1, 2 or 3 S10 workshops from the HCP-MSP programme