Module ARCH43230: HERITAGE LANDSCAPES OF EAST ASIA: CONTEMPORARY PRACTICES AND CHALLENGES

Department: Archaeology

ARCH43230: HERITAGE LANDSCAPES OF EAST ASIA: CONTEMPORARY PRACTICES AND CHALLENGES

Prerequisites

• None

Corequisites

• None

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None

Aims

• This module aims to provide students with deep knowledge and a critical understanding of the contemporary practices and challenges surrounding heritage landscapes of East Asia in relation to broader, globalised contexts. It is open to students on the MA in International Cultural Heritage Management and the MA in Museum and Artefact Studies, as well as Masters students on other relevant programmes.
• It has four specific aims:
• 1. To enhance students’ knowledge and understanding of heritage landscapes (including heritage objects, sites, places, beliefs and traditions, and museums) of East Asian societies as concepts, practices, arenas of converging forces, and expressions of value, identity, memory, and emotion.
• 2. To enable students to identify, conceptualise and critically analyse the complexities surrounding heritage production, governance and funding, conservation, management, and consumption in East Asian contexts with appropriate theoretical and methodological frameworks.
• 3. To equip students with alternative ways of thinking about and analysing current issues and debates in heritage and museum studies, transcending dichotomised borderlines between “Eastern” and “Western” ideas and practices.
• 4. To help students in 1) developing original responses to and well-informed judgements on complex issues relating to the protection, governance, and use of heritage (and museums) in East Asian and intercultural settings, and 2) working effectively and respectively both individually and in teams in heritage/museums-related projects involving unfamiliar cultural elements or backgrounds.

Content

• The module will explore themes central to the understanding of heritage landscapes of East Asia and their places in the world:
• The characteristics of East Asian heritage landscapes
• Perceptions of East Asian heritage: orientalism and self-orientalism
• Museums in East Asia: development and challenges
• Histories and politics of cultural heritage protection in East Asian countries
• Value and authenticity in East Asian heritage
• The role of the UNESCO World Heritage programme in reshaping East Asian heritage landscapes
• Intangible Cultural Heritage and East Asian cultures
• Contested heritage in East Asia
• Heritage tourism and its implications in East Asia
• Community participation in heritage and museums in East Asia
• Heritage, museums, and international cooperation between the “East” and “West”
• Heritage landscapes of East Asia through a global lens

Learning Outcomes

• Advanced knowledge and critical understanding of key approaches, concepts, debates, and similarities/differences in East Asian heritage studies.
• Advanced and critical understanding of knowledge of the wider contexts (historical, cultural, social, political, economic, geographical, digital) of East Asian heritage landscapes.
• Advanced knowledge and critical understanding of a diverse selection of relevant research-led examples and case-studies in heritage theory and practice from East Asian contexts and beyond.

• Develop subject-specific skills, by gathering, analysing, interpreting critically, drawing justifiable conclusions from, presenting and acknowledging advanced research information relating to heritage landscapes of East Asia.

• Develop critical thinking skills, by questioning, reflecting on, defining and a debating key issues and concepts.
• Develop intellectual and professional autonomy, by: undertaking advanced independent study, research and problem solving; taking responsibility for personal, professional and ethical development within academia and/or the heritage and museum sector; and responding actively to feedback.
• Develop information technology skills, by using appropriate digital resources and software (e.g. online library catalogues, word and image processing, and presentation software) to support written and oral presentations and submissions.
• Develop communication skills, by expressing information and arguments clearly and concisely, in written, visual and digital form, to broad audiences.
• Develop time management skills, by working to timetables and meeting deadlines.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• TEACHING & LEARNING methods.
• Lectures by module tutors that follow a pre-planned syllabus and provide students with a sound conceptual and empirical base for further study; they enable the students to acquire a complex and specialised area of knowledge and/or skillset.
• Webinars by specialist researchers/invited experts that offer concise, accessible, and inspiring audio-visual presentations of key information and examples of defined themes; they enable students to deepen their knowledge and critical understanding of a selected range of subject-specific knowledge.
• Seminars chaired by module tutors that follow a pre-planned list of themes; they facilitate students to enhance the full range of subject-specific knowledge and key skills.
• A student conference in which students gain subject-specific skills and key skills through organising, leading and participating in the conference, modelled on academic conferences in the professional heritage and museum sectors.
• Potentially a fieldtrip to a relevant museum.
• Bibliographies compiled by module tutors that enable learners to deepen their knowledge and critical understanding of the full range of subject-specific knowledge.
• Self-guided learning (independent study) that comprises personal and group-based study, research, planning, problem-solving and evaluation associated with classes and assignments; it enables students to increase their knowledge and critical understanding of the full range of subject-specific knowledge, and to obtain experience and competence in the full range of subject-specific skills and key skills.
• ASSESSMENT METHODS
• Summative assessment takes the form of two essays.
• 1. The essay comprises a 2000-word critical discussion of an essay question. Students will choose their own essay question within the thematic framework of the module, and the essay question will have to be pre-approved by the module tutors.
• 2. The critical reflection is a 3000-word write-up and critical reflection of each student’s oral presentation topic at the student conference. Students should prepare and deliver an original comparative study of heritage/museum cases in East Asian and non-East Asian contexts for the oral presentation.
• Formative assessment.
• The formative assignments include:
• 1. An essay plan and annotated bibliography of 4-5 publications of up to 1000 words, relating to Summative Essay 1; supported by individualised written feedback.
• 2. A 20-minute oral presentation delivered individually at the student conference; supported by oral feedback from module tutors and peer students during the conference.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

1. An essay plan and annotated bibliography of 4-5 publications of up to 1000 words, relating to Summative Essay 1; supported by individualised written feedback. 2. A 20-minute oral presentation delivered individually at the student conference; supported by oral feedback from module tutors and peer students during the conference.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University