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History matters on Open2
From the birth and growth of the Scottish nation to the forgotten past, explore a wealth of fascinating material with history on Open2.
Looking forward
Discover a living, breathing, subject with the power to shape our future. What is heritage?
Want to know more about heritage? Why not dip into our specially selected:
Courses
Level 1 courses
Heritage, whose heritage? (A180) – this entry level course will help you to explore the key issues affecting heritage decision-making by institutions and public organisations, and debates around what to do with heritage objects, buildings and places in contemporary society.
Start writing family history (A173) – this 12-week online course helps you to interpret and write about family history. It offers a guide to the principles of studying history that are a foundation for more advanced historical studies.
The arts past and present (AA100) – explore some of the world’s most influential ideas in art, religion and philosophy. Discover landmark works of fiction and music and form your own opinions about how and why some of the 20th century’s greatest tragedies occurred.
Making sense of the arts (Y160) – this course introduces some of the key ideas and ways of thinking involved in studying the arts and humanities. You’ll explore poetry, history, and art history, at the same time as developing a range of learning skills.
Introducing environment (Y161) – environmental concerns often appear in the news, and it can be difficult to tell what matters, or what choice we have. Focusing upon scientific and technological aspects of the environment, you will consider the effects of human activities, such as farming.
Introducing the social sciences (DD101) – this course is an ideal introduction to the social sciences – psychology, social policy and criminology, geography and environment, politics and international studies, economics and sociology – through study of contemporary UK society.
Level 2 courses
Art and its histories (A216) – this introduction to art history will interest you if you are new to the discipline or have already studied in this area. The course is structured around six books, each exploring issues or themes central to the discipline.
World archaeology (A251) – this course explores the human past across all inhabited areas of the globe, from the last Ice Age to historic times. It covers most of the past 12,000 years, ending with the fall of the Roman Empire in Europe, but continuing until the eighteenth century in the Pacific and North America.
Understanding Global Heritage (AD281) – if you want to further your interests in heritage, and engage with some of the particular debates raised by this booklet and Saving Britain's Past in more detail, you might be interested in this course.
This is a new second-level course, introducing students to the study of heritage and its function at local, regional, national and global levels. It offers a critical understanding of how heritage is created and consumed across different cultures, and the roles heritage fulfils in contemporary and past societies.
It presents case studies from around the world, to explore topics ranging from the role of heritage in the construction of local identities, to the deployment of heritage for nation-building by states. Challenges to international heritage frameworks led by indigenous and local communities, and responses to 'how heritage is done', form key themes across the course.
Weblinks
OpenLearn
OU Podcasts from iTunes U
A number of Open University course resources in heritage have been made freely available on iTunes U. You don't need iTunes software to listen to these, simply click one of these links:
- Heritage, whose heritage?
- Changing approaches to heritage
- Carnival and the performance of heritage
- Social housing and working class heritage
- Museums in contemporary society
- The Arts Past and Present: Ireland
From the BBC
- Wiltshire's unloved buildings
- Delving into Britain's past
- Yorkshire's historic treasures under threat
- Bath keeps world heritage status
- Police heritage centre launched
- Nottingham's history
- Devon's history
- Belfast's hidden history
Elsewhere on the web
- UNESCO World Heritage Centre – search the World Heritage List and find out about global heritage initiatives
- Heritage Lottery Fund – find out about heritage grants programmes
- CBA community Archaeology forum - an online heritage toolkit
National heritage agencies
Find out about heritage in your region:
- English Heritage (England)
- Cadw (Wales)
- Historic Scotland (Scotland)
- Northern Ireland Environment Agency (Northern Ireland)
- Office of Public Works (Republic of Ireland)
- Manx National Heritage (Isle of Man)
Search for National Trust properties in your area:
- The National Trust (England, Ireland and Wales)
- The National Trust for Scotland
- Manx National Heritage (Isle of Man)
Books
The Heritage Obsession: The Battle for England’s Past
Ben Cowell, Tempus, 2008
The Heritage Reader
Edited by Graham Fairclough, Rodney Harrison, John H. Jameson Jnr and John Schofield, Routledge, 2008
Heritage, Museums and Galleries: An Introductory Reader
Edited by Gerard Corsane, Routledge, 2004
On Living in an Old Country: The National past in Contemporary Britain
Patrick Wright, New edition, Oxford University Press, 2009
Content last updated: 23/06/2009
