Hocbigg - Heritage Studies

Introduction

Heritage Studies investigates how societies select, interpret, safeguard, and contest the past in the present. Rather than treating heritage merely as a passive inventory of old buildings, museum artifacts, or ancient ruins, the discipline analyzes heritage as an active social, political, and economic process. It examines who holds the authority to define what is worth preserving, how collective memory shapes national and local identities, and how cultural places and living traditions are sustained amid urban development, tourism pressures, environmental risk, and global politics.

This curriculum is intended for independent, self-directed learners with no prior formal background in history, archaeology, or museum administration. It provides a structured foundation in the critical concepts, legal conventions, conservation theories, and operational planning tools used across the contemporary cultural heritage sector.

Curricular Structure

The curriculum balances conceptual critique with practical management and is designed to be studied in a three-stage progression:

Theoretical Foundations: Begin with Introduction to Critical Heritage Studies and Cultural Memory, Commemoration, and Identity. These initial subjects establish the core vocabulary of the field—particularly the Authorized Heritage Discourse (AHD)—and examine how societies use the past to build identity and negotiate collective memory.
Sectors, Governance, and Site Practice: Once the theoretical groundwork is set, work through the core domains of heritage stewardship: Material Culture, Built Heritage, and Conservation Theory, Intangible and Living Cultural Heritage, Museums, Collections, and Curatorial Practice, International Heritage Law, Policy, and World Heritage Systems, and Heritage Site Management and Conservation Planning. While presented in a logical sequence from material objects to site governance, these subjects can be studied flexibly based on whether your immediate interest leans toward physical conservation, living folklore, or international cultural property law.
Ethics, Interpretation, and Synthesis: Conclude with Heritage Interpretation and Public Engagement and Heritage Ethics, Contested Pasts, and Decolonial Practice to confront pressing questions of community co-curation, antiquities trafficking, and museum repatriation. Finally, apply these integrated tools in the Applied Heritage Capstone Project by drafting an independent site management plan, interpretive scheme, or policy evaluation.

Scope

This program covers only the shared, foundational knowledge that every learner in Heritage Studies should master before specializing. It intentionally leaves out narrow, highly technical subfields—such as 3D laser scanning and photogrammetric documentation, underwater cultural heritage, archival preservation chemistry, or paleopathology.

Once you have completed this foundational core, you can explore landmark monographs and critical essays in Readings, or follow guided lecture series and audio-visual deep dives in Courses.

Communities

Heritage Workspace
Subreddits:
You can also interact through GitHub issues. If there is a problem with a course, or a change needs to be made to the curriculum, this is the place to start the conversation. Read more here.

Curriculum

Introduction to Critical Heritage Studies

This subject examines foundational definitions of heritage, tracing its evolution from physical monuments to cultural processes while interrogating the Authorized Heritage Discourse (AHD) and the critical turn.

What is heritage? (OpenLearn / The Open University) - Recommended starting point; this free introductory course provides an accessible entry ramp to core definitions and official designations before tackling deeper theory.

Heritage: Critical Approaches (Rodney Harrison) - Core comprehensive textbook; works sequentially after the OpenLearn course to build a systematic foundation in critical heritage theory.

Uses of Heritage (Laurajane Smith) - A theoretical deep-dive to read alongside or immediately after Harrison; establishes the foundational Authorized Heritage Discourse (AHD) framework that underpins the entire discipline.

Cultural Memory, Commemoration, and Identity

This subject explores how societies construct collective memory, deploy commemorative practices, and utilize the past to shape social, political, and national identities.

Memory in Culture (Astrid Erll) - Core conceptual guide; offers a compact, structured introduction to cultural memory terms, media, and frameworks.

The Past is a Foreign Country — Revisited (David Lowenthal) - An expansive, narrative alternative to Erll for learners wanting an exhaustive exploration of nostalgia and societal appropriations of history rather than a concise handbook.

How Societies Remember (Paul Connerton) - A short, focused companion to Erll that specifically investigates bodily performance, ritual, and commemorative ceremonies.

Material Culture, Built Heritage, and Conservation Theory

This subject covers tangible heritage, architectural significance, physical decay, values-based assessment, and the philosophical ethics governing conservation intervention.

Cultural Heritage in Transformation (RWTH Aachen University / edX) - Visual and practical entry point; provides an interactive foundation in documenting, evaluating, and transforming built environments.

Contemporary Theory of Conservation (Salvador Muñoz Viñas) - Core theoretical text; challenges traditional material authenticity dogmas and establishes a modern, values-based conservation philosophy.

Assessing the Values of Cultural Heritage (Getty Conservation Institute / Marta de la Torre, ed.) - An applied, open-access companion to Muñoz Viñas that offers practical frameworks and methodologies for assessing social, historical, and economic values in conservation planning.

Intangible and Living Cultural Heritage

This subject addresses living cultural expressions, oral histories, traditional craftsmanship, performing arts, and community-centered frameworks for safeguarding non-physical heritage.

Living Heritage and Sustainable Development (UNESCO & SDG Academy / edX) - Highly recommended entry point; a free, structured course exploring community safeguarding mechanisms and living cultural practices.

Intangible Heritage (Laurajane Smith & Natsuko Akagawa, eds.) - Primary academic reader; builds directly on the UNESCO course with critical essays analyzing the conceptual shifts and policy tensions surrounding intangible heritage.

The Routledge Companion to Intangible Cultural Heritage (Michelle L. Stefano & Peter Davis, eds.) - An alternative, broader reference anthology to Smith and Akagawa for learners seeking extensive global case studies across diverse safeguarding traditions.

Museums, Collections, and Curatorial Practice

This subject explores the institutional evolution of museums, provenance, collections stewardship, preventive conservation, and the politics of cultural representation.

Museums in Motion: An Introduction to the History and Functions of Museums (Edward P. Alexander, Mary Alexander, & Juilee Decker) - Primary comprehensive textbook; introduces the operational structures, curatorial functions, exhibition strategies, and institutional histories of museums.

Arts and Heritage Management (Università Bocconi / Coursera) - An applied audiovisual complement to Alexander; focuses on contemporary governance, strategic decision-making, funding models, and community audience engagement.

International Heritage Law, Policy, and World Heritage Systems

This subject examines international legal mechanisms for heritage protection, the 1972 World Heritage Convention, Outstanding Universal Value (OUV), and global governance structures.

The Ethics of Cultural Heritage (The Open University / OpenLearn) - An accessible entry ramp; introduces the 1954 Hague Convention, military necessity, and foundational legal and ethical dilemmas in protecting cultural property during conflict.

International Law and the Protection of Cultural Heritage (Craig Forrest) - Core legal reference; provides a thorough, systematic analysis of the major international conventions protecting heritage in war, peace, and trade.

A Future in Ruins: UNESCO, World Heritage, and the Dream of Peace (Lynn Meskell) - Critical institutional counterpart to Forrest; examines how national diplomacy, political maneuvering, and bureaucratic interests shape actual World Heritage listings.

Heritage Site Management and Conservation Planning

This subject focuses on the operational governance of heritage places, conservation management plans (CMPs), stakeholder coordination, sustainable tourism, carrying capacity, and disaster risk reduction.

Managing Cultural World Heritage (UNESCO, ICCROM, ICOMOS, & IUCN) - Primary practical blueprint; a free open-access manual providing step-by-step guidance on crafting site management plans, defining boundaries, and establishing monitoring indicators.

Cultural Heritage and Tourism: An Introduction (Dallen J. Timothy) - Complementary operational text; examines the economic opportunities, visitor carrying-capacity challenges, and commodification risks that site managers must navigate.

Heritage Interpretation and Public Engagement

This subject analyzes the theoretical and practical strategies used to communicate historical and cultural significance to diverse publics through storytelling, media, and exhibitions.

Interpreting Our Heritage (Freeman Tilden) - Foundational classic; establishes the six timeless principles of public heritage interpretation and thematic communication.

Applied Public History: Places, People, Stories (University of London / Coursera) - An applied, interactive workshop that translates Tilden's principles into practice through place-based research, oral histories, and public storytelling.

The Public History Reader (Hilda Kean & Paul Martin, eds.) - An alternative academic reader for learners wanting broader scholarly perspectives on how communities consume, remember, and contest history outside academia.

Heritage Ethics, Contested Pasts, and Decolonial Practice

This subject confronts the ethical controversies of the heritage sector, including antiquities looting, illicit trade, restitution of colonial plunder, difficult histories, and Indigenous sovereignty.

Antiquities Trafficking and Art Crime (University of Glasgow / FutureLearn) - Introductory audiovisual course covering illicit antiquities markets, white-collar crime, and global legal recovery efforts.

The Brutish Museums: The Benin Bronzes, Colonial Violence and Cultural Restitution (Dan Hicks) - A powerful monograph examining colonial plunder, universal museums, and the moral and historical imperative for repatriating looted cultural heritage.

Heritage, Communities and Archaeology (Laurajane Smith & Emma Waterton) - A complementary text focusing on community empowerment, descendant stakeholders, and shared archaeological authority.

Creating Meaningful and Inclusive Museum Practices (International Council of Museums / FutureLearn) - Applied practitioner course that translates decolonial and participatory ethics into inclusive museum programming and co-curation workflows.

Applied Heritage Capstone Project

This capstone module synthesizes theoretical frameworks, regulatory principles, and management tools through the independent development of a site plan, curatorial proposal, or critical policy evaluation.

Public History: A Textbook of Practice (Thomas Cauvin) - Comprehensive operational manual offering practical methodologies for historical preservation, collections management, public interpretation, and project execution.