Postgraduate Diploma in Heritage Management

Purpose

The Postgraduate Diploma in Heritage Management will begin by introducing an idea of 'heritage' as fundamental to humanity's pastoral care of the past, and intrinsic to the experience of the present. Human beings have actively endeavoured to protect and connect with their material past for religious, political and cultural reasons. Learners will be introduced to this positioning, as well as more recent conceptualisations and theorisations of heritage.

Learners will know the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation's (UNESCO's) understanding of and response to heritage management, and they will obtain an overview of the national legislative framework for heritage. In particular, they will engage with discussions around heritage and intellectual property rights, from the vantage point of the province. Part of the course will include on-site introduction to South Africa's natural and cultural World Heritage sites, as well as a critical focus on sites in the province. It will also facilitate a critical reflection on heritage management processes in South Africa, i.e. policy-making in heritage and heritage management processes, including innovations such as liberation heritage and the decolonisation of existing settler/colonial heritage paradigms. Learners will also be required to be reflexive and to consider the broader African context, paying attention to the impact of socio-political and environmental change on heritage in Africa. Overall, they will be expected to obtain a holistic and culturally sensitive understanding of the challenges of managing tangible and intangible heritage in Africa.

Africa, a continent of substantial intangible and tangible heritage, lags in the inscription of its heritages. The lagging behind in the inscription of heritages is because of the interconnected factors of slavery, colonisation and genocide, which encouraged the theft and transfer of African treasures to Europe and the Americas; civil conflict, which interferes with the positive management of heritage resources; and the lack professionally trained heritage practitioners in South Africa. This course will specifically raise the issue of Africa's position in the global field of heritage management and highlight the particularities of the province's heritage' scape. By building knowledge of the present situation of heritage protection and management in Africa, our prospective heritage practitioners will be better informed about what constitutes heritage and best placed to critically and quickly respond to heritage challenges. Learners will be encouraged to craft new definitions of heritage and to think of new ways of approaching heritage management to respond to the existing and potentially hegemonic definitions of the concept and its dominant approaches. The course critically engages with the national and international dialogues on heritage management and offers valuable insights to the discussion from the local perspective. In South Africa, all heritage (defined as part of the national estate), is subject to the National Heritage Resources Act 1999 (NHRA). The objective of the Act (Government Gazette 28 April 1999, 409(19974):3) is to introduce an: 'integrated and interactive system for the management of the national heritage resources; to promote good government at all levels, and empower civil society to nurture and conserve their heritage resources so that they may be bequeathed to future generations; to lay down general principles for governing heritage resources management throughout the Republic; and to introduce an integrated system for the identification, assessment and management of the heritage resources of South Africa."

This course will align with the objectives of the National Heritage Resources Act 1999 and seek to advance the general principles outlined in the Act regarding heritage resources assessment, management and protection. It will also seek to uphold the objectives outlined in Chapter Two of the Act, which includes formal protections, general protections and the general management of heritage.

Rationale

Research indicates few heritage management qualifications in South Africa that encompass both intangible and tangible heritage and none that focus exclusively on the management of heritage and its praxis in the province. While there have been significant theoretical and conceptual developments in the ambit of African and Diaspora heritage over the past decade, research has also indicated that these heritages remain grossly undervalued and that existing heritage institutions in the region require institutional and professional support. Heritage management appears to be haphazard, limited or appropriated for commercial purposes. The same can apply to the relative paucity of skilled expertise in the area of heritage/cultural impact assessments, particularly where development and tourism projects are proposed. Moreover, legal cases involving heritage impact assessments suggest that there is, and will be, more demand for professionals who not only understand the law but are sensitive to the nexus between culture, nature and heritage.

Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)

Admission to the course is also possible via the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) option. Learners seeking entry to the qualification via RPL will be required to complete a written task (to be determined by the qualification coordinators) and to meet any additional requirements noted by the Board of the Faculty.

Entry Requirements

The minimum entry requirement for this qualification is

• Bachelor of Arts (Heritage Studies), NQF Level 7.
• Bachelor of Arts in Cultural and Heritage Tourism, NQF Level 7.
• Bachelor of Heritage and Culture Sciences, NQF Level 7.
• Bachelor of Social Science in Heritage and Cultural Sciences, NQF Level 7.

This qualification consists of the following compulsory modules at National Qualifications Framework Level 8 totalling 120 Credits.

Compulsory Modules, Level 8, Credits

• Key Principles of Heritage and Heritage Management Theory, 24 Credits.
• Heritage Focus, 24 Credits.
• Heritage in Practice, 72 Credits.

1. Emphasise the social and historical embedding of heritage in South Africa and be sensitive to the problems of access to and contestation over certain heritage resources, particularly from the perspective of the province.
2. Understand the heritage policy environment and the legislative framework, and be aware of some of its shortcomings.
3. Focus on a broad overview of key areas of praxis for heritage practitioners in contemporary heritage management, including legal compliance, managing a team and curatorship, and grant applications.
4. Understand institutional approaches to heritage and able to develop non-institutional approaches to heritage management.
5. Confidently engage in discussions policy formulation in heritage in the province/s and South Africa.
6. Contribute to critical engagement with the application of heritage in development.
7. Implement and analyse heritage impact assessments within the framework of heritage legislation and administration.
8. Critically engage with heritage management in the province.

Associated Assessment Criteria Exit Level Outcomes

The following Associated Assessment Criteria are applied in an integrated manner across all the Exit Level Outcomes

• Use knowledge of definitions and concepts in heritage management (including heritage legislation and policy).
• Apply knowledge of theory in the analysis of heritage case studies.
• Contextualise research findings within the national and international context.
• Display understanding of the local and legislative framework and knowledge of local and international policy making in heritage management.
• Engage with the management of heritage across a range of relevant sites.

Integrated Assessment

There is an institution's Policy on Assessment which recognises that "although assessment functions to measure learning, it can also be used to guide and develop that learning". Both formative and summative assessment is designed to create an opportunity for learners to demonstrate through a variety of procedures how they have grown as professionals. Summative assessment consists of written examinations at the end of each year that comply with the institution's policy of assessment, the procedures and practices. The policy stipulates that assessment should be open and transparent to learners and encourages the use of multiple forms of assessment.