Topic assignment of 3000 words (70%)
Learning outcomes 1,2,3

Review assignment of 1000 words (30%)
Learning outcomes 1,2,4

Key Information Set Data:
100% Coursework

The module considers issues of theory and practice surrounding the theme of 'presenting the past' in three main sections: modern origins, national and imperial developments, and contemporary issues. Indicative aspects include the development of public museums and collections in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, links to national identity and imperialism in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, 'history from below' and uses of oral testimony, history, documentary 'truth' and filmic representation, the recent debates concerning history and heritage, explaining the current vogue for history in the media.
For the topic assignment students can follow up in more depth a topic from the module content; for the review assignment students select a museum, exhibition, history television programme or film, heritage setting, or similar, to evaluate using the approach of the module.

The lectures will introduce the main themes and arguments of the module content including video extracts and slides. The seminars will provide for follow-up discussion of the themes from the lectures and guidance on research. The independent study element should be used for background reading, reading for the seminars, and research and preparation of the written assignments. Where possible local specialists from museums and the media will be invited to make lecture or other contributions to the module. Individual and where possible group visits to museums and/or film screenings will also be encouraged.

Key Information Set Data:
16% Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activity
84% Guided Independent Study

Recommended library books, journals and videos and online subscription resources such as Blackwell Reference Online and Oxford Reference Online.
University networked computers for internet research.
Visits to local museums.
The Blackboard virtual learning environment will be available (where relevant) to support this module. Details will be supplied in the module handbook.

Barett J. [2010]: Museums and the Public Sphere (Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford & Chichester)
Beck P. J. [2011]: Presenting History Past & Present (Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke)
Black G. [2012]: Transforming Museums in the Twenty-first Century (Routledge, London)
Cannadine D. (ed.) [2004]: History and the Media (Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke)
Carbonell B. (ed.) [2003]: Museum Studies in Context: An Anthology (Blackwell, Oxford)
Corsane G. (ed.) [2005]: Heritage, Museums and Galleries: An Introductory Reader (Routledge, London)
Cowell B. [2008]: The Heritage Obsession: The Battle for England's Past (Tempus, Stroud)
De Groot J. [2009]: Consuming History: Historians and Heritage in Contemporary Popular Culture (M.U.P., Manchester)
Henning M. [2006]: Museums, Media and Cultural Theory (Open University Press Magraw-Hill Education, Maidenhead)
Hughes-Warrington M. [2006]: History goes to the Movies, Studying History on Film (Routledge, London)
Kean H. & Martin P. (eds.) [2013]: The Public History Reader (Routledge, London)
Macdonald S. (ed) [2006]: Companion to Museum Studies (Blackwell, Oxford)