What are museums for? Are they repositories of knowledge, centres for education, community centres, tourist sites - or all of these things? Can and should they be vehicles for political and societal change? Museum collections provide a unique window on natural and human history, on almost every aspect of lived experience and human culture from music and fashion to industry and visual art. The story of their formation and changing sense of purpose is itself fascinating and thought-provoking.

This course will take a critical look at this history, focusing on a range of contemporary museums in Britain, and engaging with current debates around the repatriation of objects, the display of human remains, accessibility, and the cultural politics of artefacts chosen for collection and public display. How is heritage used to empower and disempower different communities, and how do the stories museums tell affect us all? 

Related study trip

The course includes a day trip to London to visit The British Museum, and class visits to (among others) the Roman Baths in Bath and the Ashmolean & Pitt Rivers Museums in Oxford.

ASE reserves the right to change the content of course-specific study trips where necessary.