The Certificate in Cultural Heritage aims to enable learners to engage in profound and multifaceted discussion and analysis about cultural heritage from both a theoretical and practical perspective. Learners on the programme will explore an awareness of regional cultural heritage and the importance of heritage in Ireland. The main goal is to enable learners to understand the concept of cultural heritage and to apply this knowledge to current and possible future projects. Learners will examine the tangible and intangible or non-physical aspects of regional culture.  Natural heritage, such as the UNESCO cultural heritage sites of Ireland and those on the tentative list, will be discussed. 

This programme will also examine the processes of remembering the past by taking a case study approach to assess the ways in which heritage has been used politically, at regional, local and community level and by interest groups. Issues surrounding cultural heritage such as protection, repatriation, destruction and cultural property law will be analysed. A critical and theoretical appraisal of the uses of digital media by cultural heritage institutions will be undertaken to include the relationship between material and digital objects in collections; the implications of digital technology and the possibilities for virtual cultural heritage, and this will be explored at the regional level.

Credits: 5 ECTS

Delivery: One evening per fortnight (3-hours) over 12 weeks. See January 2024 Programme Schedule for further details.

The major topics of this programme will include:

• Defining cultural heritage based on current scholarship. 
• Exploring people’s experience and understanding of their personal, national, regional and local pasts. 
• Interrogating and analysing different understandings of the past. 
• An analysis and debate of the issues surrounding cultural heritage such as protection, repatriation, destruction and cultural property law. 
• The use of new media in the service of cultural heritage. 
• The relationship between material and digital objects in cultural heritage collections.

Entry Requirements

Applicants are required to hold:

• Any Level 7 History or a cognate subject, OR
• Demonstration of a record of being employed in the field of history in some way, OR
• Evidence of publication in history in a good local historical journal.

Fees

Course fees are €350 and payable at registration.

Applications

Applications for Certificates commencing in January open in late October. Full application details are available here