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Course specification
The current and official versions of the course specifications are available on the web at http://www.usq.edu.au/course/specification/current.
Please consult the web for updates that may occur during the year.

ANT3009 Heritage and Museum Studies

Semester 2, 2019 On-campus Toowoomba
Short Description: Heritage and Museum Studies
Units : 1
Faculty or Section : Faculty of Business, Education, Law and Arts
School or Department : School of Humanities & Communication
Student contribution band : Band 1
ASCED code : 090303 - Anthropology
Grading basis : Graded

Staffing

Examiner: Celmara Pocock

Other requisites

Students will require access to e-mail and have internet access to UConnect for this course.

Rationale

“Heritage is our legacy from the past, what we live with today and we pass on to future generations. Our cultural and natural heritage are both irreplaceable sources of life and inspiration, our touchstone, our reference point, our identity.” (UNESCO 2017)
Many humanities and arts graduates find careers in diverse heritage and museum professions. This course provides a foundation in heritage and museum practice, and provides opportunities for students to engage directly with the heritage and museum sectors. It further develops student knowledge of heritage studies as a distinct field of interdisciplinary research and critical enquiry. Graduates are thus equipped with a working knowledge of heritage and museums, and an ability to engage critically and sensitively in this field.

Synopsis

This course provides students with a practical and conceptual foundation in heritage and museum studies. The course emphasises applied knowledge through two workshops delivered in association with industry partners, and the assessment aligned to associated activities. It further provides an overview of legal and policy frameworks, significance assessment, and interpretation and exhibition planning. The course takes a broad view of heritage aligned with recent global trends including synergies between nature and culture, tangible and intangible, state and community based heritage. This inclusive approach understands Aboriginal history, historic buildings, archaeological sites, national parks, art works, objects, stories, beliefs and landscapes as heritage; making this foundation course valuable to students of anthropology, archaeology, history, environmental management, tourism, writing and many other disciplines.

Objectives

On successful completion of this course students should be able to:

  1. apply the process of significance assessment to select heritage sites
  2. apply the principles of museum exhibition plan
  3. critically examine heritage studies as a cross-disciplinary field of research and professional practice.
  4. investigate and critically discuss questions related to the theory and practice of cultural heritage.

Topics

Description Weighting(%)
1. What is heritage? Heritage protection, value and meaning. Students will listen to recorded lectures and participate in online forums through StudyDesk. 25.00
2. Workshop 1; Significance Assessment (Week 3). This one-day workshop will be conducted in Week 3 of the Semester. It will take place in Ipswich, Queensland, in association with Ipswich City Council Heritage Unit and Picture Ipswich. Students will be guided through the principles of heritage assessment, including legislative and policy frameworks and the criteria for assessment of historic heritage sites. The workshop includes information on researching heritage properties as well as site visits to properties and heritage precincts that form the basis of Assignment 1. 25.00
3. Museums and interpretation. Students will listen to recorded lectures and participate in online forums through StudyDesk. 25.00
4. Workshop 2: Museum Exhibition Planning (Week 7). This one-day workshop will be conducted in Toowoomba in association with Queensland Museum. The workshop will introduce students to the elements of exhibition planning, including defining a theme, collating materials, scheduling, storyline, design, content, installation and evaluation. It includes an opportunity to develop team projects for Assessment 2 in discussion with experts from the museum sector. 25.00

Text and materials required to be purchased or accessed

ALL textbooks and materials available to be purchased can be sourced from USQ's Online Bookshop (unless otherwise stated). (https://omnia.usq.edu.au/textbooks/?year=2019&sem=02&subject1=ANT3009)

Please contact us for alternative purchase options from USQ Bookshop. (https://omnia.usq.edu.au/info/contact/)

West, S 2010, Understanding heritage in practice, Manchester University Press, Manchester, UK.

Reference materials

Reference materials are materials that, if accessed by students, may improve their knowledge and understanding of the material in the course and enrich their learning experience.
Bedford, L. 2014 2014, The art of museum exhibitions: how story and imagination create aesthetic experiences, Left Coast Press, Walnut Creek, California.
Harrison, R 2013, Heritage: critical approaches, Routledge.
McKenna-Cress, Polly and Janet Kamien 2013, Creating exhibitions collaboration in the planning, development, and design of innovative experiences, Wiley, Hoboken, N.J.
Meskell, L 2015, Global heritage: a reader, Blackwell Readers in Anthropology 12.
Sorensen, MLS & Carman, J 2009, Heritage studies: methods and approaches, Routledge, Milton Park, England.

Student workload expectations

Activity Hours
Online Lectures 13.00
Online Participation 13.00
Private Study 126.00
Workshops 12.00

Assessment details

Description Marks out of Wtg (%) Due Date Notes
Forum participation 10 10 16 Jul 2019 (see note 1)
Workshop Attendance 10 10 16 Jul 2019 (see note 2)
Statement of Significance 40 40 26 Aug 2019
Exhibition Plan 40 40 07 Oct 2019

Notes
  1. There are no on campus classes and all students are required to access the recorded lectures and participate in the discussion forums and topics on StudyDesk each week.
  2. There are two workshops for this course which form the basis for Assignments 1 and 2, The workshops will be held in Week 3 and Week 7 and all students are strongly encouraged to attend (exemptions for interstate, overseas students will be considered on an individual basis).

Important assessment information

  1. Attendance requirements:
    It is the students' responsibility to attend and participate appropriately in all activities scheduled for them, and to study all material provided to them or required to be accessed by them, to maximise their chance of meeting the objectives of the course and to be informed of course-related activities and administration.

    Students must attend and complete the requirements of the Workplace Health and Safety training program for this course where required.
  2. Requirements for students to complete each assessment item satisfactorily:
    To satisfactorily complete an individual assessment item a student must achieve at least 50% of the marks for that item.
  3. Penalties for late submission of required work:
    Students should refer to the Assessment Procedure http://policy.usq.edu.au/documents.php?id=14749PL (point 4.2.4)
  4. Requirements for student to be awarded a passing grade in the course:
    To be assured of receiving a passing grade a student must achieve at least 50% of the total weighted marks available for the course.
  5. Method used to combine assessment results to attain final grade:
    The final grades for students will be assigned on the basis of the aggregate of the weighted marks obtained for each of the summative items for the course.
  6. Examination information:
    There is no examination in this course.
  7. Examination period when Deferred/Supplementary examinations will be held:
    There is no examination in this course, there will be no deferred or supplementary examinations
  8. University Student Policies:
    Students should read the USQ policies: Definitions, Assessment and Student Academic Misconduct to avoid actions which might contravene University policies and practices. These policies can be found at http://policy.usq.edu.au.

Assessment notes

  1. Referencing in assignments must comply with the Harvard (AGPS) referencing system. This system should be used by students to format details of the information sources they have cited in their work. The Harvard (APGS) style to be used is defined by the USQ library’s referencing guide. This guide can be found at http://www.usq.edu.au/library/referencing.

Other requirements

  1. Students are required to have access to a personal computer, e-mail capabilities and Internet access to UConnect. Current details of computer requirements can be found at http://www.usq.edu.au/current-students/support/computing/hardware.

  2. Students can expect that questions in assessment items in this course may draw upon knowledge and skills that they can reasonably be expected to have acquired before enrolling in this course. This includes appropriate communication, information literacy, analytical, critical thinking, and problem solving skills. Students who do not possess such knowledge and skills should not expect the same grades as those students who do possess them.

  3. The course will include off-campus site visits to heritage and/or museum sites.