In a pioneering step towards redefining heritage education, a new course titled “Cultural Insights on Museum, Museology and Museography” has been introduced, offering students and professionals an innovative platform to engage with museums beyond conventional boundaries. Designed with an interdisciplinary structure, the course integrates art history, anthropology, heritage policy, and sustainability studies, making it a distinctive addition to academic curricula.
The program emphasizes museums not merely as repositories of objects, but as dynamic cultural spaces that foster dialogue between communities, traditions, and modernity. By blending theoretical frameworks with practical applications, participants will explore diverse themes such as indigenous knowledge systems, participatory museology, digital heritage, and the evolving role of museums in shaping cultural identity. The inclusion of museography ensures hands-on exposure to exhibition design, collection management, and interpretive strategies, bridging the gap between scholarship and practice.
This course stands out for its holistic approach, encouraging learners to critically analyse how museums function as agents of social change, sustainability, and cultural diplomacy. It also highlights the importance of safeguarding both tangible and intangible heritage, particularly in tribal and regional contexts, thereby empowering communities to actively contribute to heritage preservation.
With its interdisciplinary vision, the course promises to nurture a new generation of heritage professionals equipped to balance tradition and innovation. It is a timely initiative that resonates with global discourses on cultural sustainability and inclusive museology.
The program is designed for the Swayam Online Courses by Prof. Dr. Ashutosh Mohan, National Coordinator (INI), Swayam, MoE, GoI. Institute of Management Studies, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi
Dr. Sheetal Rana
Banaras Hindu University
Dr. Sheetal Rana is an accomplished academician, artist, and museologist with over 23 years of teaching and research experience at the undergraduate, postgraduate, and doctoral levels. She currently serves as Associate Professor and Head, Department of Museology, and has previously been associated with reputed institutions, including Banaras Hindu University (BHU) and Panjab University, Chandigarh.
Her academic training spans a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA), History of Art and Fine Arts (Painting), with a specialized focus on Museology, Museography, and Cultural Heritage Studies. Dr. Rana has successfully supervised Ph.D. research in Museology and has co-supervised two doctoral scholars in the Faculty of Visual Arts (Sculpture) at BHU. Her core areas of expertise include museum spaces and exhibition design, museum photography, documentation and collection management, conservation practices, and research methodology in museum studies.
A prolific scholar, Dr. Rana has authored more than 39 research papers published in UGC CARE–listed and peer-reviewed journals, and is the author of a book in the field of Museology. Her academic engagements extend internationally, with invited participation and paper presentations at conferences and scholarly forums in Bhutan (2017), Japan, Bali (Indonesia), Vienna (Austria), Leipzig (Germany), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) in 2024, and Vietnam (2025).
Alongside her academic career, Dr. Rana is an artist of repute, having held several art exhibitions in India and abroad. Her photographic work has received recognition from the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of India. She is a recipient of national scholarships and fellowships from Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi and Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR). Profile included in the Artists Directory-Contemporary Artists of India
Dr. Rana is multilingual, with proficiency in Hindi, Sanskrit, Punjabi, and French, and remains actively engaged with professional and academic bodies related to art, culture, and museum studies, including the Youth Hostel Association of India (YHAI). She has also actively participated in the iGOT Karmayogi Training Programme (2025) at Banaras Hindu University, reflecting her continued commitment to professional development and academic leadership.