AR123-4-AU-CO:
Introduction to Heritage and Museum Studies
PLEASE NOTE: This module is inactive. Visit the Module Directory to view modules and variants offered during the current academic year.
2025/26
Philosophical, Historical, and Interdisciplinary Studies (School of)
Colchester Campus
Autumn
Undergraduate: Level 4
Inactive
Thursday 02 October 2025
Friday 12 December 2025
15
24 February 2025
Requisites for this module
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)
BA V305 Curating with Politics,
BA V306 Curating with Politics (Including Foundation Year),
BA V307 Curating with Politics (including Placement Year),
BA V308 Curating with Politics (including Year Abroad)
This module 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 module defines heritage, discusses how heritage is officially recognised, and presents the instruments that are used to interpret, protect, and communicate heritage, at local, national, and international levels. It also introduces the main aspects of museum studies, explains how the definitions of museums has changed through time and how this definition affects how we preserve and present heritage today.
The aims of this module are:
- To provide students with knowledge of some of the key theoretical issues relating to heritage studies.
- To encourage students to interact and to engage critically with theoretical texts relating to the study of heritage.
- To develop students' skills of analysis and interpretation of cultural heritage.
- To analyse the role heritage and museums play in the formation of identity at local, national and international levels.
- To analyse the various ways the concept of heritage is utilised in heritage interpretation, education, the media and tourism.
- To stimulate students to develop skills in oral and written communication through debates, an essay, and an examination.
By the end of this module, students will be expected to be able to:
- To demonstrate a sound knowledge and grasp of a number of key theoretical texts relating to the study of heritage.
- To speak and write articulately about theoretical issues relating to the study of heritage.
- To analyse and interpret cultural heritage.
- To relate their analyses and interpretations of cultural heritage to theoretical literature.
- To approach theoretical literature in a critical fashion.
This module will introduce you to the history of heritage and museum management and will lay the foundation of some of the conceptual, political and ethical issues of the heritage and the museum field. It defines heritage as a process in which people makes sense of the past, in the present and for the future and how the aims of heritage and museum management changes according to the heritage process and its contexts.
Topics include
- Introduction to heritage.
- Heritage management: the role of local, national, and international bodies.
- History of Museums: from private collections to public spaces.
- Heritage and the Visual Arts.
- What is inclusion in heritage and museum studies?
- Critical Approaches to post-colonial Heritage.
- Threats to heritage.
- The reconstruction of lost heritage: between forgetting and remembrance.
- The protection of our Natural Heritage.
- Cultural Heritage and Sustainable Development.
This module will be delivered via:
- One 2-hour combined lecture and seminar per week.
There will also be Reading Week when no teaching will take place, exact week to be confirmed.
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Smith, L. (2006b)
Uses of heritage. London: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group. Available at:
https://doi-org.uniessexlib.idm.oclc.org/10.4324/9780203602263.
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Sengupta, I. (2015) 'Culture-keeping as State Action: Bureaucrats, Administrators, and Monuments in Colonial India',
Past & Present, 226(suppl 10), pp. 153–177. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1093/pastj/gtu026.
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Basu, P. and Damodaran, V. (2015) 'Colonial Histories of Heritage: Legislative Migrations and the Politics of Preservation',
Past & Present, 226(suppl 10), pp. 240–271. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1093/pastj/gtu028.
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Silvia R. Tandeciarz (2006) 'Mnemonic Hauntings: Photography as Art of the Missing',
Social Justice, 33(2), pp. 135–152. Available at:
https://www-jstor-org.uniessexlib.idm.oclc.org/stable/29768375.
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ESCALA CollectionsOnline | de Buena Memoria, 1er año, 6ta division, foto de clase, 1967,Buena Memoria (no date). Available at:
https://search.escala.org.uk/object-13-2002.
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Askew, M. (2010) 'The Magic List of Global Status: UNESCO, World Heritage and the Agendas of States', in S. Labadi and C. Long (eds)
Heritage and Globalisation. 1st edn. Abingdon, UK: Routledge, pp. 19–44. Available at:
https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780203850855-10/magic-list-global-status-unesco-world-heritage-agendas-states-marc-askew?context=ubx&refId=01824c6b-4a37-467c-8b08-f68cc506b3b2.
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Lynn Meskell (2013) 'UNESCO's World Heritage Convention at 40: Challenging the Economic and Political Order of International Heritage Conservation',
Current Anthropology, 54(4), pp. 483–494. Available at:
https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/671136.
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'Library & Cultural Services: Home Page: Welcome' (no date). Available at:
https://library.essex.ac.uk/home.
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'Library & Cultural Services: Art and Special Collections: Welcome' (no date). Available at:
https://library.essex.ac.uk/speccol/welcome.
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Smith, L. (2015) 'Theorizing Museum and Heritage Visiting', in A. Witcomb and K. Message (eds) The International Handbooks of Museum Studies: Museum Theory. Chichester, UK: Wiley-Blackwell, pp. 459–484.
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Akinbola, B. (2019) 'The Politics of Space and the Critical Role of Art in Historical Museums', in I.D. Costache and C. Kunny (eds)
Academics, Artists, and Museums: 21st-Century Partnerships. Abingdon, UK: Routledge, pp. 113–125. Available at:
https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/universityofessex-ebooks/reader.action?docID=5439017&ppg=140.
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Economou, M. (2015) 'Heritage in the Digital Age', in W. Logan, M.N. Craith, and U. Kockel (eds)
A Companion to Heritage Studies. Wiley, pp. 215–228. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118486634.ch15.
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Kalay, Y.E., Kvan, T. and Affleck, J. (eds) (2008)
New heritage: new media and cultural heritage. Abingdon: Routledge. Available at:
https://doi-org.uniessexlib.idm.oclc.org/10.4324/9780203937884.
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Viejo-Rose, D. (2011) 'Destruction and reconstruction of heritage: impacts on memory and identity.', in Heritage, memory and identity. London: Sage Publications, pp. 53–69.
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#NEWPALMYRA (no date). Available at:
https://newpalmyra.org/.
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About Rekrei | Rekrei (no date). Available at:
https://rekrei.org/about.
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Mirjam Brusius (no date) 'The Middle East heritage debate is becoming worryingly colonial',
The Conversation [Preprint]. Available at:
https://theconversation.com/the-middle-east-heritage-debate-is-becoming-worryingly-colonial-57679.
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Ömür Harmansah (2015) 'ISIS, Heritage, and the Spectacles of Destruction in the Global Media',
Near Eastern Archaeology, 78(3), pp. 170–177. Available at:
https://www-jstor-org.uniessexlib.idm.oclc.org/stable/10.5615/neareastarch.78.3.0170.
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Harrison, R., DeSilvey, C., Holtorf, C. and Macdonald, S. (2020) 'Part I: Heritage futures 1 “For ever, for everyone...”', in
Heritage Futures. UCL Press. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv13xps9m.
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Harrison, R., DeSilvey, C., Holtorf, C., Macdonald, S.,
et al. (2020) 'Part VI. Future Heritages. 29. Discussion and conclusions', in
Heritage Futures. UCL Press. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv13xps9m.
The above list is indicative of the essential reading for the course.
The library makes provision for all reading list items, with digital provision where possible, and these resources are shared between students.
Further reading can be obtained from this module's
reading list.
Assessment items, weightings and deadlines
| Coursework / exam |
Description |
Deadline |
Coursework weighting |
| Exam |
Main exam: Remote, Open Book, 24hr during January
|
| Exam |
Reassessment Main exam: Remote, Open Book, 24hr during September (Reassessment Period)
|
Exam format definitions
- Remote, open book: Your exam will take place remotely via an online learning platform. You may refer to any physical or electronic materials during the exam.
- In-person, open book: Your exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer to any physical materials such as paper study notes or a textbook during the exam. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, open book (restricted): The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer only to specific physical materials such as a named textbook during the exam. Permitted materials will be specified by your department. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, closed book: The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may not refer to any physical materials or electronic devices during the exam. There may be times when a paper dictionary,
for example, may be permitted in an otherwise closed book exam. Any exceptions will be specified by your department.
Your department will provide further guidance before your exams.
Overall assessment
Reassessment
Module supervisor and teaching staff
Dr William Carruthers, email: william.carruthers@essex.ac.uk.
PHAIS General Office - 6.130; arugadmin@essex.ac.uk.
Yes
Yes
Yes
No external examiner information available for this module.
Available via Moodle
Of 2 hours, 2 (100%) hours available to students:
0 hours not recorded due to service coverage or fault;
0 hours not recorded due to opt-out by lecturer(s), module, or event type.
* Please note: due to differing publication schedules, items marked with an asterisk (*) base their information upon the previous academic year.
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