Throughout the course we will explore issues such as current threats to cultural heritage, the roles of public opinion and tourism in the protection and interpretation of cultural heritage, impacts of development, questions of authenticity and identity, international law, ethics, and emerging and non-traditional areas of the field.
Heritage studies is a profession and an academic field built upon modern ideas about how and why objects, buildings, landscapes, and traditions should be preserved, protected, and presented to people living today and in the future.
Cultural heritage can be broadly defined as both tangible and intangible signs of the human past that exist in the present. Throughout the course we will explore cultural heritage through various lenses, work with a variety of data types –objects and materials; natural and built environments; social, economic, and cultural positionality; documentary and oral records– and uncover issues related to cultural heritage and public access to historical materials, activities, and landscapes.
Students will be exposed to the theories and methods behind heritage studies, learn how researchers design their studies and define their problem orientation, understand how data collection and sampling are intertwined, receive training in and apply multimethod/mixed-method research approaches, and, importantly, recognize how data collection methods ultimately effect research outcomes and interpretations.
Throughout the course we will explore issues such as current threats to cultural heritage, the roles of public opinion and tourism in the protection and interpretation of cultural heritage, impacts of development, questions of authenticity and identity, international law, ethics, and emerging and non-traditional areas of the field. Students will have the opportunity to learn about real-world case studies, complete individual and group fieldwork and data collection exercises, and design, peer-review, produce, and present an original analytical case study.