AR229-5-AU-CO:
Digital Heritage and Museums
PLEASE NOTE: This module is inactive. Visit the Module Directory to view modules and variants offered during the current academic year.
2024/25
Philosophical, Historical and Interdisciplinary Studies (School of)
Colchester Campus
Autumn
Undergraduate: Level 5
Inactive
Thursday 03 October 2024
Friday 13 December 2024
15
24 January 2024
Requisites for this module
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)
BA V351 Curating,
BA V352 Curating (Including Year Abroad),
BA V353 Curating (including Placement Year),
BA V359 Curating (Including Foundation Year),
BA V35B Curating (Including Foundation Year and Year Abroad),
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),
BA V309 Curating with History,
BA V310 Curating with History (Including Foundation Year),
BA V311 Curating with History (including Placement Year),
BA V312 Curating with History (including Year Abroad),
BA VV40 Art History, Heritage and Museum Studies,
BA VV41 Art History, Heritage and Museum Studies (Including Foundation Year),
BA VV42 Art History, Heritage and Museum Studies (including Placement Year),
BA VV43 Art History, Heritage and Museum Studies (including Year Abroad),
BA V301 Curating, Heritage and Human Rights,
BA V302 Curating, Heritage and Human Rights (Including Foundation Year),
BA V303 Curating, Heritage and Human Rights (Including Placement Year),
BA V304 Curating, Heritage and Human Rights (Including Year Abroad)
This module will present digital heritage theories and explore how digital practices are changing the role of heritage institutions and museums as sites for the study, preservation and dissemination of cultural heritage.
During this module, students will be expected to reflect on the following questions: How do we use the technology in cultural heritage studies?, What is the appropriate way of utilizing digital media in the service of preserving cultural heritage?, What is the impact of digital media themselves on the content they aim to preserve and to communicate?, How can the affordances provided by the new technology change [cultural heritage] itself?, Does digitally-mediated communication fundamentally change the interpretation of the represented culture
The aims of this module are:
- To develop essential knowledge and skills for involvement in research and work related to conceptualisation, development, curation, and/or management of digital resources in the fields of museums and heritage.
- To familiarise with the purposes, scopes, and methods for digital preservation, and curatorship of heritage.
- To engage with the concepts of ‘digitised heritage’ and ‘born-digital materials’.
- To investigate how technologies are influencing heritage and museum practices.
- To consider the theoretical and critical aspects related to the use of digital technologies in the heritage and museum sector.
- To develop basic digital skills.
- To reflect on their learning experience by engaging critically and analytically with the module content.
By the end of this module, students will be expected to be able to:
- Demonstrate mature engagement with the main themes that inform the module.
- Compare and evaluate different arguments and assess the limitations of their own position or procedure.
- Write and present verbally a a thorough analysis of positions, arguments, and their presuppositions and implications.
- Critically engage with practice-based hands on activities related to digital curatorship.
- Be sensitive to the positions of others and communicate their own views in ways that are accessible to them.
- Think laterally and creatively, identifying interesting connections and possibilities and presenting these clearly.
- Maintain intellectual flexibility and revise their own position if shown wrong.
- Demonstrate a strong ability to think critically and constructively.
Digital technologies are re-defining contemporary heritage practices. Digital technologies and media are used for re-presenting, managing and disseminating information about cultural heritage as well as producing new cultural information on the web, which establishes digital heritage as a new field of study.
The main objective of this module is to provide students with a sound knowledge about reasons for and ways of using new technologies to manage the past. During the course, students will develop a broad understanding of the diverse issues involved in the use of new technologies for preservation and dissemination of heritage.
During the course, students will develop a broad understanding of the diverse issues involved in the use of new technologies for preservation and dissemination of heritage.
Indicative Syllabus
- Introduction to heritage and digital heritage.
- Digital Representation of endangered heritage.
- Digital Reconstruction of lost heritage.
- Virtual Museums.
- Use of new Technologies inside museums: access, authenticity, performance and the museum of the senses.
- Serious games, apps, and augmented reality inside museums.
- Digital collections and the digital archive: ontologies and metadata.
- Web 2.0 Museum: multi-vocality, reflexivity, and participatory culture.
- The use of new technologies for heritage management and inside museums: Strengths, challenges and future directions.
This module will be delivered via:
- One 1-hour lecture per week.
- One 1-hour seminar per week.
Seminars will consist of a combination of contributions from students and classroom discussion, as well as hands on activities taught by the module leader. Students will read weekly assignments and additional readings and will have tutorials available in case they would like to deepen their knowledge of practical skills related to 3D digital replication of artefacts and digital curation.
During the lectures, the candidates will learn to use the UK as a specific case study, with parallels with other countries (the specific topics may change from year to year). They will also learn about the range of new technologies and new media used to manage heritage and their broad applications in the heritage sector.
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Galeazzi, F. and Vassallo, V. (2018)
Authenticity and Cultural Heritage in the Age of 3D Digital Reproductions. Edited by P.D.G. Di Franco. Cambridge, UK: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.27029.
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Economou, M. (2016) 'Heritage in the Digital Age', in W. Logan, M. Nic Craith, and U. Kockel (eds)
A Companion to Heritage Studies. 1st edn. Chichester, UK: Wiley-Blackwell, pp. 215–228. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118486634.ch15.
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Benjamin, W. (2007) 'The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction', in H. Arendt (ed.) Illuminations. New York, NY: Schocken Books.
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Silberman, N. (2008) 'Chasing the Unicorn? The quest for “essence” in digital heritage', in Y.E. Kalay, T. Kvan, and J. Affleck (eds)
New heritage: new media and cultural heritage. Abingdon: Routledge, pp. 81–91. Available at:
https://www-taylorfrancis-com.uniessexlib.idm.oclc.org/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780203937884-15/chasing-unicorn-quest-essence-digital-heritage-neil-silberman?context=ubx&refId=64268d13-2db1-431b-a470-5bc46ee2801d.
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Baudrillard, J. (2001) 'Simulacra and Simulations', in Jean Baudrillard: Selected Writings. Second edition. Cambridge: Polity.
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Queer Spaces: An Atlas of LGBTQIA Places and Stories - Antipode Online (no date). Antipode Online. Available at:
https://antipodeonline.org/2022/08/02/queer-spaces/.
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Nicole Sussmane (2022)
Queer New York: A Virtual Walking Tour | The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Available at:
https://www.metmuseum.org/perspectives/articles/2022/6/queer-ny-walking-tour.
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Avram, G., Ciolfi, L. and Maye, L. (2020) 'Creating tangible interactions with cultural heritage: lessons learned from a large scale, long term co-design project',
CoDesign, 16(3), pp. 251–266. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1080/15710882.2019.1596288.
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Jeffrey, S.
et al. (2020) '3D visualisation, communities and the production of significance',
International Journal of Heritage Studies, 26(9), pp. 885–900. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1080/13527258.2020.1731703.
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Viejo-Rose, D. (2011) 'Destruction and reconstruction of heritage: impacts on memory and identity', in Heritage, Memory & Identity. London: SAGE Publications, pp. 53–69.
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#NEWPALMYRA (no date). Available at:
https://www.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/stable/10.5615/neareastarch.78.3.0170.
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King, L., Stark, J.F. and Cooke, P. (2016) 'Experiencing the Digital World: The Cultural Value of Digital Engagement with Heritage',
Heritage & Society, 9(1), pp. 76–101. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1080/2159032X.2016.1246156.
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Tzouganatou, A. (2018) 'Can Heritage Bots Thrive? Toward Future Engagement in Cultural Heritage',
Advances in Archaeological Practice, 6(4), pp. 377–383. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1017/aap.2018.32.
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Hanussek, B. (2020) 'Enhanced Exhibitions? Discussing Museum Apps after a Decade of Development',
Advances in Archaeological Practice, 8(2), pp. 206–212. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1017/aap.2020.10.
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'How to Use TimelineJS on Vimeo' (no date). Available at:
https://vimeo.com/143407878.
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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 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 Paola Di Giuseppantonio Di Franco, email: pd17425@essex.ac.uk.
PHAIS General Office - 6.130; arugadmin@essex.ac.uk.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Dr Dominic Paterson
University of Glasgow
Senior Lecturer in History of Art / Curator of Contemporary Art
Available via Moodle
Of 18 hours, 14 (77.8%) hours available to students:
4 hours not recorded due to service coverage or fault;
0 hours not recorded due to opt-out by lecturer(s), module, or event type.
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