Successful PhD Defence on Cultural Participation in Museums
On 16 June 2025, Linda Münch, research associate at the Faculty of Social Work at Ostfalia University of Applied Sciences, successfully defended her dissertation titled “Cultural Participation in Museums: Subjective Barriers and Claims to Participation by People with Intellectual Disabilities.”
Her research explored the societal conditions that hinder or prevent participation in museums, as well as the resulting subjective expectations for inclusive and accessible mediation. Particular attention was given to access and mediation preferences – for example, which media formats such as text, hands-on experiences, or audio stations are favoured.
The exploratory study combines qualitative and participatory research methods and offers valuable insights for museum education practice. The dissertation was supervised by Dr Mario Schreiner (Saarland University of Applied Sciences), Prof Dr Sandra Verena Müller (Ostfalia University of Applied Sciences), and Prof Dr Dorothee Schwendowius (Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg).
The dissertation was completed as a cooperative PhD at Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg, in collaboration with Ostfalia University and HTW Saar. It was carried out within the third-party funded research project “Cultural Participation in Museums – The Potential of Digitalisation,” which is part of the Leibniz ScienceCampus – Postdigital Participation – Braunschweig.
Congratulations to Linda Münch on her successful PhD defence!
