This 2000 level course provides an introductory overview to the field of heritage and museum studies and explores some of the conceptual, political and ethical issues faced by those working within and researching in the area of heritage and museums.  The course questions dominant perceptions that heritage is simply about the collection and management of artifacts, sites and monuments and challenges students to engage with understanding heritage as an area of cultural and political practice. Students are introduced to the key intellectual frameworks that allow us to understand heritage as a form of cultural practice, while each week students are introduced to particular issues or ‘problems’ that heritage represents and are encouraged to explore and debate their meanings, consequences and, where relevant, their resolutions. This is the core course for the minor area of study in heritage and museum studies and will lay the foundation of some of the conceptual, political and ethical issues that will be explored in more depth in other subjects of the minor. It will also provide a critical framework for understanding and assessing heritage and museum practices that will be explored in the practice based courses within the minor.

By the completion of this course you should have developed a critical understanding of:

1. the concept of 'heritage' and of the range of tangible and non-tangible associations that the term may have both within Australia and internationally;
2. the history and development of heritage in contemporary society;
3. the role heritage and museums play in the formation, maintenance and negotiation of a range of identities and historical and cultural narratives at both national and sub-national levels;
4. of the role heritage and museums play in the processes of remembering, forgetting and commemoration;
5. the various ways heritage is utilized in heritage interpretation, education, the media and tourism;
6. the consequences heritage has in political conflict and the role that heritage and museum experts play in the mediation of such conflict.

Student led discussion/tutorial participation 10% (variously tests all learning outcomes)

Tutorial paper 1,000 20% (tests learning outcomes 1 and 2)

Minor essay 1,500 25% (tests learning outcomes 3 and 4)

Major essay 2,500 45% (tests learning outcomes 5 and 6)

As a 6-unit course, students are expected to spend 120 hours in meeting the study and assessment requirements of the course. The course will consist of 36 contact hours, comprising of one x two hour lecture and one x one hour of tutorial per week. The remainder of the time will be spend on undertaking weekly set readings for the lecture and tutorial and in producing assessments for submission.

None

This course does not assume any prior knowledge with heritage and museum studies.

Harrison, R. (ed) (2010) Understanding the Politics of Heritage, Manchester University Press.

Smith, L. (2006) Uses of Heritage, London: Routledge.

None.