What is the nature and value of heritage? Why are certain objects, places and practices considered more worthy of protection than others? This module will introduce you to the study of heritage and its function at local, regional, national and global levels. You’ll develop a critical understanding of how heritage is created and consumed across different cultures, and the roles heritage fulfils in contemporary and past societies. Using case material from around the world you’ll explore the global scope of heritage, from the ways in which local communities use heritage to build their own sense of identity, to the ways in which the state employs heritage in nation building.
What you will study
Global heritage studies draws on understandings developed both by academics and professionals in museum and conservation fields. It offers a critical understanding of how professionals and other stakeholders make judgements about heritage and the underlying value systems on which these judgements are based.
Key questions include ‘What does heritage do?’ and ‘Who is heritage for?’. Some of the answers raise the connection between heritage and nationalism, and the notion that heritage is something created by social action.
You will learn about changing approaches to heritage and conservation in western and non-western societies from the eighteenth to early twenty-first centuries, focusing particularly on the global implications of the 1972 World Heritage Convention.
This module also looks to the future by identifying new directions in how people are defining heritage, including heritage of the contemporary world and heritage in virtual worlds. It is an opportunity for you to engage with heritage studies simultaneously as an area of academic enquiry, cultural meanings and practical application.
Understanding global heritage is presented through three, specially written, illustrated module books which provide a sound introduction to critical heritage studies as a global discipline. They use a range of international case studies which consider heritage at global, national and local levels.
Book 1 – Understanding the Politics of Heritage – is about the ways in which heritage can be exploited for political ends. It questions the view that heritage is necessarily ‘good’, and uncovers the ways in which heritage embodies relationships of power and subjugation, inclusion and exclusion, remembering and forgetting. It considers who is represented by heritage and who is excluded.
Book 2 – Understanding Heritage in Practice – is about the ways in which heritage is understood and experienced by professionals and by the public. It moves through different arenas of professional practice, such as art conservation, museum curatorship, site interpretation and natural heritage conservation. In each case, the notion that only heritage professionals or experts can successfully select and interpret heritage is being eroded by an increasingly powerful community of heritage enthusiasts and entrepreneurs. Opportunities for engaging with the past are expanding beyond traditional museums and sites. In this book you’ll examine the opening up of heritage to new audiences and new meanings by looking beyond the ways in which heritage is offered to the ways in which heritage is valued.
Book 3 – Understanding Heritage and Memory – is about the ways in which heritage adapts and is adapted to new circumstances. We often think of heritage as collective remembering, but war memorials and intangible aspects of culture, such as language and literature, can also function as tools for collective forgetting. The past we inherit and the present we create are both plagued with problems of commemoration.
An online study guide will direct you through each week’s readings and audio-visual materials, with exercises, discussion points and online quizzes. As well as the numerous, interesting case studies in the three books, specially commissioned video and audio pieces offer additional case studies to bring the issues to life. The internet provides valuable resources for studying heritage and this module will help you to learn more about this. Although some assignments will require internet use, you are not assumed to have highly developed online skills before you start.
Vocational relevance
This module will appeal to students interested in public policy, cultural and environmental heritage management, public history and archaeology, art and architectural conservation, museums, galleries and related sectors.
Entry
This is an OU level 2 module and builds on the OU level 1 modules The arts past and present (AA100) and Voices, texts and material culture (A105). These OU level 1 modules develop skills such as logical thinking, clear expression, essay writing and the ability to select and interpret relevant materials. They also offer an introduction to the range of subjects in the arts and humanities.
If you have not studied at university level before, we strongly advise you to study at OU level 1 before progressing to OU level 2 study.
Any of the OU level 2 arts and humanities modules, in particular {Exploring history: medieval to modern 1400–1900 [A200]} would make a good pairing with this module. Similarly, you might consider pairing this module with other modules in social sciences or environment, development and international studies.
Your regional or national centre can advise you on where you can see reference copies of OU level 1 study materials. We particularly recommend looking at these materials if you have not successfully completed OU level 1 study or studied at an equivalent level elsewhere.
If you have any doubt about the suitability of the module, please speak to an adviser.
Outside the UK
This is a module in global heritage and it is accessible to students both within and outside the UK.
Preparatory work
There is no set preparatory work. We suggest that you spend some time visiting heritage sites, such as a local museum, stately home, archaeological site, national park or conservation area. Think about this experience and discuss it with family or friends. Guide books and information leaflets can be useful here. Start by getting an understanding of what they tell you about the site, but go on to try to think about how they have been put together – particularly if anything has been left out that might enable you to get a different sense of the meaning or value of the site. Try also to find out as much as you can about the history of the site as it appears today – for example, when was it first opened as a heritage site? Is it actively marketed? If so, to what kind of audience?
More generally, if you have not studied AA100, you will find it useful to have The Arts Good Study Guide (E. Chambers and A. Northedge, The Open University), which will help you to develop your study skills.
Qualifications
AD281 is an optional module in our:
It can also count towards most of our other degrees at bachelors level, where it is suitable for a BA or BSc. We advise you to refer to the relevant qualification descriptions for information on the circumstances in which this module can count towards these qualifications because from time to time the structure and requirements may change.
If you have a disability
Written transcripts of any audio components and Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) versions of printed material are available. Some Adobe PDF components may not be available or fully accessible using a screen reader and musical notation and mathematical, scientific, and foreign language materials may be particularly difficult to read in this way. Other alternative formats of the study materials may be available in the future.
There are sections of the module which make heavy use of illustrations, but assessment is not based on visual discrimination. If you have severely impaired sight you might benefit from the help of a sighted assistant to access this material. Brief descriptions of key visual materials are available.
Some discussions and collaborative activities may take place as live voice-based events in our audioconferencing (audiographics) environment, which combines voice, text and images.
Study materials
What's included
Books, other printed materials, DVDs, website, online forums.
You will need
If you wish to participate in live online discussions as part of the tutorial support, you will need a headset with built-in microphone.
An integral part of the module is a specially designed online study guide, and some of your assignments will require you to use the internet. If you choose to take the module and you do not have regular access to the internet, you will find that your experience of the module is diminished.
You may choose to view the audio-visual materials on your television instead of your computer, in which case you will need a DVD player and television.
Teaching and assessment
Support from your tutor
You will have a tutor who will help you with the study material and mark and comment on your written work, and whom you can ask for advice and guidance. While much of your tutor’s time will be spent providing you with online support, we may also be able to offer group tutorials or day schools that you are encouraged, but not obliged, to attend. Where your tutorials are held will depend on the distribution of students taking the module.
Contact us if you want to know more about study with The Open University before you register.
Assessment
The assessment details for this module can be found in the facts box above.
You will be expected to submit your tutor-marked assignments (TMAs) online through the eTMA system unless there are some difficulties which prevent you from doing so. In these circumstances, you must negotiate with your tutor to get their agreement to submit your assignment on paper.
Assessment is an essential part of the teaching, so you are expected to complete it all. You will be given more detailed information when you begin the module.
Future availability
The details given here are for the module that starts in October 2015 when it will be available for the final time.
Regulations
As a student of The Open University, you should be aware of the content of the academic regulations which are available on our
Student Policies and Regulations website.