African Heritage 

This course provides both a background to Saharan & Sub-Saharan African archaeology and thematic issues in African heritage management.

Both tangible and intangible heritage are considered, as well as interpretive and preservation issues.

Aims and Objectives of the course

• to familiarize students with the diversity of Africa's tangible and intangible Heritage, including an archaeological background for Saharan & Sub-Saharan Africa
• to provide an understanding of the multiple threats to this Heritage and how it may be protected, managed and preserved.
• to provide students with an understanding of how to interpret and communicate African Heritage values and threats to diverse communities and stake holders.
• to critically examine the production and politics of Heritage in Africa.

Learning Outcomes

On completion of the course students will gain knowledge and understanding of:

• Africa's major historic, cultural and archaeological sites
• The diversity and value of intangible African cultural forms such as performance, oral history, indigenous knowledge etc.
• The contemporary significance of Heritage values within diverse spheres including education, identity and politics

Teaching Methods

The course begins with a review of constructions of the African past and then presents a summary of key periods, issues, and sites from across the continent. There then follows a series of thematic lectures dealing more generally with museums, memory, tourism and material culture. Assessment is by two 2000 word essays.

Course information

• Code: ARCL0198
• Credits: 15
• Coordinator: Kevin MacDonald and Rachel King
• Prerequisite: This course does not have a prerequisite.
• Handbook:  

For registered students

• Reading list:

Availability

• Not running in 2023-24