MCH8501 : Understanding Challenges in Museum/Gallery/Heritage Studies
- Offered for Year: 2022/23
- Module Leader(s):
- Owning School: Arts & Cultures
- Teaching Location: Newcastle City Campus
Semesters
| Semester 1 Credit Value: | 20 |
| ECTS Credits: | 10.0 |
Aims
The aims of the module are to give students:
An intellectual framework for understanding past, present, and future roles and challenges for museums, art museums/galleries and heritage.
An introduction to, and intellectual framework for, understanding changes in the museums, art museums/galleries and heritage sector.
An introduction to the wide variety of contexts in which museums, art museums/galleries and heritage institutions operate; and
The opportunity to gain the basic knowledge required to work a changing museums, art museums/galleries and heritage sector on graduation.
Outline Of Syllabus
This module examines the history, contemporary issues/ideas and future possibilities affecting the museums, art museums/galleries and heritage sector in order to understand challenges and changes. It aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the various intellectual, ethical, and practical contexts within which organisations in the sector are situated, along with the pressures, challenges, and opportunities they face. The module is intended to be both generic and specific to the three programme areas of museum, art museum/gallery and heritage studies. It achieves this by examining the broader issues while at the same time relating them to specific examples drawn from the three areas. The module has been organised in this way in order to: 1) enable you to explore the relationships between past, present and future; 2) to expand your general knowledge of museums, art museums, galleries and heritage organisations; 3) consider how, in many instances, they are dealing with similar challenges and concerns; and; 4) learn from their respective responses to these challenges and concerns.
Indicative issues to be covered in the module include: 1) the roles and functions of museums, art museums, galleries and heritage organisations in society; 2) their priorities, values and significance in relation to sector users, audiences and non-audiences; 3) their respective historical developments and present situations; 4) the politics of representation (e.g., questions of identity construction, cultural diversity and ownership); 5) contestation, controversy, conflict and ethical dilemmas (e.g., repatriation, censorship, propaganda and illicit trade); 6) current debates; 7) the diversity of the roles they play (i.e., their involvement with tourism, social inclusion, economic regeneration, and the construction of cultural identities); 8) the digital dimension; and, 9) potential futures.
In addition, a fieldtrip will be scheduled.
Teaching Methods
Teaching Activities
| Category | Activity | Number | Length | Student Hours | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guided Independent Study | Assessment preparation and completion | 1 | 70:00 | 70:00 | N/A |
| Structured Guided Learning | Lecture materials | 11 | 1:00 | 11:00 | Non-synchronous online lecture materials |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Lecture | 10 | 1:00 | 10:00 | On-campus lectures (can be done online if necessary). |
| Guided Independent Study | Directed research and reading | 1 | 44:00 | 44:00 | N/A |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Small group teaching | 9 | 2:00 | 18:00 | On-campus seminars (can be delivered online if necessary) |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Small group teaching | 1 | 1:00 | 1:00 | On-campus seminar (can be delivered online if necessary). |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Small group teaching | 1 | 1:30 | 1:30 | On-campus seminar (can be delivered online if necessary). |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Fieldwork | 1 | 3:00 | 3:00 | N/A |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Drop-in/surgery | 1 | 0:30 | 0:30 | On-campus discussion of formative essay plan (can be delivered online if necessary). |
| Guided Independent Study | Independent study | 1 | 39:00 | 39:00 | N/A |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Module talk | 2 | 1:00 | 2:00 | On-campus module introduction and assessment briefing (can be delivered online if necessary). |
| Total | 200:00 |
Teaching Rationale And Relationship
Module talk: This teaching method will be used to introduce the module and brief students about assessment.
Drop-in/surgery: This teaching method will be used to support students in working towards the assignment and offer preliminary feedback on essay outlines.
Lecture materials: Delivered online. This is a core teaching method to achieve all of the knowledge learning outcomes.
Lectures: Delivered on campus (or online as necessary) in order to develop students' knowledge on key issues and achieve knowledge learning outcomes.
Fieldwork: on-site activity (or virtual if required) to engage with a case study site that complements and relates to other teaching methods and helps students to achieve knowledge learning outcomes.
Small-group teaching: This teaching method is intended to allow students to consolidate knowledge learning outcomes and to meet the skills outcomes through critically applying their new knowledge. It also allows students to practice all of the skillsets within the Graduate Skills Framework.
Structured research and reading activities: This teaching method enables students to independently deepen knowledge outcomes and to practise all skills outcomes, as well as applying cognitive/intellectual, self-management and interaction skills in particular.
Assessment Methods
The format of resits will be determined by the Board of Examiners
Other Assessment
| Description | Semester | When Set | Percentage | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essay | 1 | A | 100 | 3,500 words, including a 100-word abstract but excluding list of references |
Formative Assessments
| Description | Semester | When Set | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Written exercise | 1 | M | Essay outline plan, 500 words |
Assessment Rationale And Relationship
The module has been designed to introduce students to, and familiarise them with, the complexity and parameters of the field and its stakeholders. The assignment is intended to give the student an opportunity to explore a specific set of issues in greater depth and to engage critically with the relevant literature. It also should help the student to 1) develop valuable skills of research, writing, and analysis, 2) recognise and evaluate different sources of information, and 3) build a solid foundation of knowledge in their area of interest.
Reading Lists
Timetable
- Timetable Website: www.ncl.ac.uk/timetable/
- MCH8501's Timetable