Section of Cultural Heritage of the “Department of Education, Cultural Heritage and Tourism” of the University of Macerata

The “Department of Education, Cultural Heritage and Tourism” of the University of Macerata aims to promote the development of research activities focused on the enhancement of educational processes and cultural heritage. Within the department, the “Section of Cultural Heritage” carries out research and plans activities relating to the enhancement of cultural heritage, making use of multiple disciplinary skills in the fields of archaeology, archives, law, economics and management, information technology, museology, restoration, history, and art history.

The assumption underlying the Section’s activities is that to enhance cultural heritage it is necessary to “know” and “know how to manage”, according to an approach that is also multidisciplinary, that is, to know the potential of value implicit in objects and to know how to manage the organizations which are responsible for making it explicit, to satisfy the widest social and market demand as best as possible. This is necessary to not disappoint the constitutionally guaranteed “right of citizenship to culture”, to create social and market value for communities, individuals, territories, “Made in Italy” products through the enhancement of cultural heritage and to ensure survival of “cultural capital”. The ministerial documents relating to the management of cultural institutes and services, as well as the needs expressed by companies in the sector, also insist on the need for a multidisciplinary approach, which integrates theoretical-speculative, juridical-institutional and economic-managerial knowledge, in addition to the use of technological resources applicable to protection and enhancement activities.

The department provides three courses related to cultural heritage and tourism, within which the question of building and managing cultural tourist itineraries takes on enormous importance:

UNDERGRADUATE COURSE / Offered in Italian language: L-1&L-15 Cultural Heritage and Tourism (IT)

POSTGRADUATE DEGREE COURSE / Offered in Italian language: LM-89 Cultural Heritage Management (IT)

POSTGRADUATE DEGREE COURSE / Offered in English language: LM-49 International Tourism and Destination Management – ITourDeM (EN)

The Section of Cultural Heritage of the University of Macerata regularly collaborates with Franciscan institutions, in particular with female monastery of Camerino in the Marche Region, with which the Department signed a formal agreement. Among the activities already realized:

1. Reordering of the monastery archive which the production of an inventory of documents

2. Organization of a summer residential workshop, held in the monastery in August 2020, 27-29, with the aim to produce three Wikipedia pages dedicated to:

1. Sister Battista da Varano: Camilla Battista da Varano – Wikipedia

2. the monastery of the Poor Clares of Camerino: Monastero di Santa Chiara (Camerino) – Wikipedia

3. the Choir of the monastery: Coro del Monastero delle Clarisse di Camerino – Wikipedia

3. Organization of the international conference Suor Battista da Varano e i contesti culturali europei dell’Osservanza francescana femminile: scrittura, architettura, immagini (in 2023)