20472 - HERITAGE MANAGEMENT
ACME
Department of Social and Political Sciences
Course taught in English
Go to class group/s: 31
Course Director:
JANE THOMPSON
JANE THOMPSON
Course Objectives
The course aims to help shape students into and future mediators for management innovation in the cultural heritage sector, a field that has been somewhat isolated and self-referential for too long and is in great need of stronger inter-sectorial not just interdisciplinary approaches.The course, therefore, seeks to bring together the students’ diverse backgrounds, often with strengths in economics and business, with a better understanding of the cultural heritage sector in order to make them prime candidates for interdisciplinary cultural leadership roles.
Course Content Summary
The emphasis of the course is on:- Immoveable cultural heritage (rather than collections and the museum sector which are addressed in other courses, although with obvious links);
- Understanding, defining, assessing management systems for cultural heritage in order to promote improvement within them.
There is a specific focus on the struggle within the cultural heritage sector to find effective ways to measure success, both in terms of achieving desired outcomes but also in terms of improving the performance of heritage management models.
The course draws on real life case studies from around the world, together with progress made in the development of new approaches and methodologies - often in the context of ICCROM policy work for World Heritage. These is used to explore some common theoretical frameworks, identify what is happening at real heritage sites, promote a common language and improve practice in the field. The case studies helps explore those management issues raised particularly strongly by multiple ownership, complex governance, conflicting values and the relationship of immoveable cultural heritage to surrounding communities and society as a whole.
Some special lecturers also contribute to the course, presenting the challenges faced by professionals in the field, while external visits to heritage places, including contact with the organizations and communities involved in their management, allow a first-hand understanding of how they work behind the scenes.
In order to ensure that students fully understand the course content and can apply it to real world scenarios, there is a course work component: students, individually and in groups, have to deliver a project on specific topics introduced during the first weeks of the course, presenting their results publicly to the class. The course work is structured to reinforce the ability of students with diverse backgrounds to understand the broad issues and peculiarities of managing immoveable cultural heritage worldwide, while the exam questions further reinforce these themes focusing in more detail on specific management issues and capacity-building approaches.
Detailed Description of Assessment Methods
For non-attending students:A written exam (100% of overall course evaluation) on subjects covered in the:
- Key texts and other suggested reading identified in the Course Readings (see above);
- Course presentations (see above);
- Any other essential reading indicated during the course.
For attending students:
The status of attending student is recognized in the first two calendar exams. The students who attend the course get a final grade which brings together the following results:
- Independent individual research (40% of overall course evaluation). A case study and themes will be chosen in agreement with the Course Director; summary findings will then be shared in the form of a short presentation to the class.
- Comparative case study analysis (10% of overall course evaluation). Students will be divided into small groups to present and then discuss their findings, noting similarities and differences between case studies with a view to understanding the diverse management implications of each heritage typology and management environment.
- A final written exam (50% of overall course evaluation) on subjects covered in the:
- Course presentations, including those offered during external visits (see above);
- Key texts and other suggested reading identified in the Course Readings (see above);
- Any other essential reading indicated during the course.
Textbooks
Key texts and other suggested bibliography for attending and not attending students will be provided in a Course Readings summary at the beginning of the course. A greater number of key texts will be identified for non-attending students.Similarly, course presentations offered during classroom sessions and external visits, together with other essential reading indicated during the course, will be uploaded weekly on to the course learning area on the Bocconi portal and will be significant for attending and non-attending students alike.
Last change 21/03/2016 12:31