Unit information: Cultural Heritage of the Built Environment in 2023/24

Unit name	Cultural Heritage of the Built Environment
Unit code	ARCHM0084
Credit points	20
Level of study	M/7
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12)
Unit director	Dr. Prior
Open unit status	Not open
Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units)	none
Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units)	none
Units you may not take alongside this one	none
School/department	Department of Anthropology and Archaeology
Faculty	Faculty of Arts

Unit Information

This seminar-based unit explores cultural heritage of the built environment, the importance and meaning of this environment, and how and why people interact with it and build upon and within it. It explores the heritage values attached to a place, be it a building, an archaeological site or a larger historic area such as a whole village or historic landscape from the locally-distinctive to internationally significant.

Employing anthropological and archaeological perspectives, concepts covered will include analysing the significance of heritage assets (‘evidential value’, ‘historic value’, ‘aesthetic value’ and ‘communal value’); the designation of Heritage Assets; World Heritage Sites; Heritage at Risk; Heritage Action Zones; Cultural Heritage Sites; conflict and military buildings and landscapes; religious buildings and landscapes; landscapes of memory and identity; industrial buildings and landscapes; rural settlements and townscapes; urban landscapes and cityscapes; designed landscapes; landscapes of pleasure and leisure; contested and New Age landscapes; funerary landscapes and cemeteries.

This unit will cover a wide range of time periods, from prehistory to the present day, and case studies will include everything from prehistoric settlements to medieval castles, to modern shopping centres to funerary architecture. It will also cover legislation and guidance, conservation and management plans, characterisation of the historic and cultural environment and conservation principles.

Aims

1. To introduce the concept and value of heritage assets and their wider significance (evidential value, historical value, aesthetic value and communal value);
2. To explore human interaction with and connection to place, environment, landscape and buildings from anthropological and archaeological perspectives;
3. To examine how different environments and buildings have been built, used and maintained, and critically explore current interpretations;
4. To explore and explain a wide range of historic environments, places and landscapes from the functional, such as agricultural, industrial and military, to the sacred, such as ritual, New Age, and contested;
5. To understand how agriculture, industry, settlement, conflict and building projects can re-shaped and alter environments;
6. To analyse and assess critically theories pertaining to place, landscape and the built environment.
7. To compare and contrast different approaches to landscape and the built environment through case studies and a field trip.

Your learning on this unit

On successful completion of this unit, students will be able to:

1. Demonstrate detailed knowledge and critical understanding of the concept and value of heritage assets and their wider significance achieved via appraisal and appreciation of relevant guidance and guidelines from differing heritage bodies (such as Historic England & National Trust, etc.;
2. Identify and successfully interpret buildings, historic and contemporary environments and landscape features from a wide range of periods and places;
3. Explain the various terms, concepts and definitions used by heritage professionals and academics to describe and identify buildings and landscapes;
4. Demonstrate a broad and deep understanding of the way people interact with, appropriate and alter landscape and the built environment, and be able to identify physical/archaeological traces of such practices through assessment of archaeological or heritage case studies and their given benefits;
5. Analyse and assess critically the interpretation and theoretical debates which surround the study of place, landscape and the built environment.

How you will learn

2 x 2hr Lecture (x1 two hour block).
8 x 3hr Lecture/Seminar session (x1 three hour block).
One 8hr (all day) fieldtrip

How you will be assessed

Tasks which help you learn and prepare you for summative tasks '(formative):

None

Tasks which do not count towards your unit mark but are required for credit (zero-weighted):

Presentation, 20 min [0%, required for credit] (ILOs: 1, 2, 3, 4).

Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative):

Essay demonstrating knowledge of appropriate guidance and guidelines from heritage/landscape bodies, 4000 words [50%] (ILOs: 2, 3, 4, 5);

Conservation/management plan of a building or landscape of historic or cultural importance, demonstrating knowledge of guidance and guidelines from apposite heritage/landscape bodies, inc. relevant case studies where appropriate, 3000 words [50%] (ILOs: 1, 2, 3, 4)

When assessment doesn’t go to plan

When required by the Board of Examiners, you will normally complete reassessments in the same formats as those outlined above. However, the Board reserves the right to modify the form or number of reassessments required. Details of reassessments are normally confirmed by the School shortly after the notification of your results at the end of the academic year.

Resources

If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.

If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. ARCHM0084).

How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks, independent learning and assessment activity.

See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.

Assessment
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit. The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.