MODULE DETAILS

Description

1. Brief description and aims of module:

This module confronts some of the most intractable challenges facing the contemporary world: who we think we are, our sense of identity, the tension between the act of remembering and that of forgetting.

Cultural heritage is a contentious, complex subject. At different times and in different places, people have fought for their heritage to be recognised; or have destroyed the cultural heritage of others, because it did not conform to their particular view of the world. Cultural heritage is personal and public, local and global, spontaneous and closely regulated, neglected and revered. These paradoxes make it hugely exciting to study: the ground shifts, a little, every time you look at something you think you know well.

This module places the concept of heritage in its historical and political context, and enables us debate the value and meaning of the past in the present.

2. Outline syllabus: 

The content of this module changes from year to year as we seek to respond to world events as they happen. We will build on the following key concepts and themes:

• ‘The history of heritage’

• Heritage, politics and power: why is heritage so politically charged? How have ideas about heritage changed over time, and in different parts of the world? What do we mean when we talk of ‘world heritage’?

• The uses of history: celebration, commemoration, narrative; sites of memory and remembrance

• The act of forgetting: deliberate and unthinking amnesia

• The destruction of heritage: symbolic acts of war 

• Rebuilding, Reconciling, Modernising: Heritage in Post-conflict situations.

• Signs and symbols: heritage and the nation

• Heritage and communities, place-making and identity 

• Local and global connections

• Contested collections: the ownership of museum collections, repatriation and restitution, whose history, whose past? 

Throughout, you will be expected to consider contemporary events in the context of past history and academic writing about the concepts of heritage, public history, identity, and memory: read the newspapers on a regular basis, look out for television and radio programmes which explore these themes, and approach contemporary journalism and popular history critically.

3. Teaching and learning activities: 

This module is taught through seminars and workshops, and will if possible include visits to heritage locations where we can explore its themes on the ground.

Assessment Details