Module Directory

This module provides a combination of theoretical readings, applied studies with a wide geographical focus, and practical training that will allow students to critically examine the impact of new technologies and media on the heritage and museum sectors.

Students will learn about specific digital techniques and how to implement them in the museum and heritage workflow. They will also analyse and compare digital practices of heritage making.

The aims of this module are:

• To engage with key theories of heritage (e.g. critical heritage, the authorised heritage discourse, theories of authenticity).


• To develop knowledge and critical understanding of key concepts, principles, theories and debates relating to digital heritage and museums.


• To assess relationships between global regulations and local responses in the heritage contexts.


• To incentivise interdisciplinary and critical approaches to researching and writing about digital heritage.


• To develop skills of critical thinking and writing, as well as visual analysis.


• To foster the capacity for independent research.


• To gain digital competences and skills (Digital collecting and curating; 3D techniques).

By the end of this module, students will be expected to be able to:

1. Demonstrate engagement with the main themes that inform the module.


2. Compare and evaluate different arguments and assess the limitations of their own position or procedure.


3. Write and present verbally a succinct and precise account of positions, arguments, and their presuppositions and implications.


4. Be sensitive to the positions of others and communicate their own views in ways that are accessible to them.


5. Think laterally and creatively, identifying interesting connections and possibilities and presenting these clearly rather than as vague hunches.


6. Maintain intellectual flexibility and revise their own position if shown wrong.


7. Demonstrate the ability to think critically and constructively.

Digital technologies and new media are becoming increasingly pervasive in the heritage and museum sector. Such transformations can positively impact the management, preservation, and communication of our heritage. However, they also have strong ethical implications: issues of access, authorship and ownership of the digital data; changes in the way scholars, audiences, and communities engage with heritage information through the digital, are some of the ethical dilemmas in the field.

By the end of the module students will understand how to think critically about:

• How digital resources can alter knowledge production and dissemination in the cultural heritage sector.


• How they can be used for public engagement, as well as to effectively enhance participatory heritage processes.

Topics of interests include:

• Introduction to Digital Heritage.


• Are we post-digital yet?


• The politics of digital heritage and museums.


• Creativity and design for Immersive Technologies in Heritage.


• Issues of Spectatorship and new technologies.


• Co-design and participatory digital practices.


• Situating heritage studies in a world on Big Data.


• Ethical dilemmas in the digital heritage and museum sector.


• Possible Futures of Digital Heritage and Museums.

This module will be delivered via:

• One 2-hour seminar per week.

There will be a reading week with no seminars. Discussion will be encouraged throughout.