Heritage and Society 1
Full course description
This course addresses the question of how society deals with the past. In doing so, it draws from heritage studies, public history and archeology studies, memory studies and museum studies. The course discusses the transformation in heritage from an expert driven, nation-state and western oriented authorized heritage discourse to a more open, society oriented and therefore contested approach. Heritage is thus not understood primarily as a ‘site’ or ‘object’ but as a cultural process of meaning and memory making with tangible social and political consequences.
In Period 3, students get an overview of the main theoretical concepts and methodologies used in the various fields. They furthermore are introduced to the dominant stakeholders, actors and institutions operating in the heritage arena. In addition, they discuss the most influential policies on the local, national and international level that have shaped the way heritage is defined, identified, produced, valued, managed, conserved and perceived.
Course objectives
At the end of the course, students are able to:
- discuss the most influential policies on the local, national and international level that have shaped the way heritage is defined, identified, produced, valued, managed, conserved and perceived;
- possess advanced knowledge of and insight into important issues and practices in the fields of memory, culture and heritage;
- use key theories, approaches, concepts and methodologies in Heritage Studies, Public History and Archeology Studies, Memory Studies and Museum Studies to discuss and understand key transformations in heritage and society;
- differentiate between the relevant stakeholders, actors and factors in memory and heritage practices.
- produce a concept map of the main notions discussed in the course.
Prerequisites
None
Recommended reading
Macdonald, S. (ed.) (2006). A Companion to Museum Studies. Malden, USA; Oxford, UK; Victoria, Canada: Blackwell.
Merriman, N. (2004). Public archaeology. London and New York: Routledge.
Olick, J.K., Vinitzky-Seroussi, V. and Levy, D. (eds.) (2011). The Collective Memory Reader. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Smith, L. (2006). The Uses of Heritage. London and New York: Routledge.