Graduate Certificate of Cultural Heritage and Museum Studies

2025 Deakin University Handbook

Year	2025 course information
Award granted	Graduate Certificate of Cultural Heritage and Museum Studies
Deakin course code	A568
Faculty	Faculty of Arts and Education
Campus	Offered at Burwood (Melbourne)
Online	Yes
Duration	0.5 year full-time or 1 year part-time equivalent
Course Map - enrolment planning tool	This course map is for new students commencing from Trimester 1 2025. Course maps for commencement in previous years are available on the Course Maps webpage or please contact a Student Adviser in Student Central.
CRICOS course code	102880C Burwood (Melbourne)
Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) recognition	The award conferred upon completion is recognised in the Australian Qualifications Framework at Level 8

Course sub-headings

Course overview

Gain the fundamental skills and knowledge needed to kick-start your career working in the cultural heritage and museum sector. You’ll become familiar with current theory and practice and be ready for further study.

Do you have a passion for the past and conserving it for future generations?

Today’s cultural institutions like galleries, archives, museums and heritage sites are evolving. They’re designed to be much more accessible and interactive. As such, they’re attracting more diverse audiences every day.

The Graduate Certificate of Cultural Heritage and Museum Studies provides you with the range of hands-on skills and theoretical knowledge required to work in all kinds of cultural institutions.

Innovation and new technologies are pushing professionals to think creatively and to engage with audiences in new ways. That’s why this course encourages you to become an independent, innovative and creative thinker who can confidently undertake a range of tasks in a variety of roles.

Your studies at graduate certificate level are the perfect foundation to continue in the cultural heritage and museum studies suite of courses, qualifying you for the one-year Master of Cultural Heritage and Museum Studies.

For those who have just completed their undergraduate degree, already volunteer in museums and heritage sites or are ready for a new and exciting career they’ll love, this course is the ideal way to start professionalising.

The core units you will study, focusing on cultural heritage and museum fundamentals, include:

Cultural Heritage and Museum Practice
Museums, Heritage and Society

Plus, you will have a choice of two elective units, some of which include:

Heritage Practice: Fundamentals
World Heritage
Digital Interpretation
Managing Collections

Career opportunities

The Graduate Certificate of Cultural Heritage and Museum Studies gives you the foundation of knowledge needed to enter the cultural heritage and museum sector ready to thrive.

As a graduate, you may find employment in museums, heritage institutions, government agencies, private corporations, community organisations and in private practice.

Typical job titles include:

curator
heritage officer
registrar
public programs officer
researcher
project officer.

Alternatively, completion of the course qualifies your entry into the one-year Master of Cultural Heritage and Museum Studies. This program gives you the freedom to focus your studies on a specific area of interest, driving your career in the direction you wish to go.

For more information go to DeakinTALENT.

Participation requirements

Reasonable adjustments to participation and other course requirements will be made for students with a disability. More information available at Disability support services.

Mandatory student checks

Any unit which contains work integrated learning, a community placement or interaction with the community may require a police check, Working with Children Check or other check.

Pathways

This course can be a pathway to:

Graduate Diploma of Business Administration (A668)

Course Learning Outcomes

Deakin Graduate Learning Outcomes	Course Learning Outcomes
Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities	Investigate and evaluate conceptual and practical approaches to the identification, collection, conservation, display, interpretation, management and use of cultural heritage.
Communication	Effectively communicate key theoretical and practical concerns in cultural heritage and museum studies using oral, written, digital formats to specialist and non-specialist audiences.
Digital literacy	Use a range of digital technologies and information sources relevant to the museum context to discover, select, analyse, employ, evaluate, and disseminate both technical and non-technical information.
Critical thinking	Critically analyse key concepts in the identification, collection, conservation, display, interpretation, management of cultural heritage and employ this knowledge in a professional or scholarly context.
Problem solving	Apply advanced theoretical knowledge and technical skills in the identification, collection, conservation, display, interpretation, management and use of cultural heritage and develop solutions to real-world problems or issues in professional contexts.
Self-management	Apply relevant professional standards with a high level of responsibility and accountability to colleagues and relevant stakeholders and a consistent commitment to continual professional development.
Teamwork	Work effectively and collaboratively, demonstrating advanced level of responsibility and accountability in diverse [museum and cultural heritage multidisciplinary] teams.
Global citizenship	Analyse and address issues in the field of cultural heritage and museum studies in the domestic, regional and global context as a critically reflexive reflective practitioner, taking into consideration cultural and socio-economic diversity, social and environmental responsibility and the application of the highest ethical standards.

Approved at Faculty Board 2020

Course rules

To complete the Graduate Certificate of Cultural Heritage and Museum Studies students must pass 4 credit points and meet the following course rules to be eligible to graduate:

DAI001 Academic Integrity and Respect at Deakin (0-credit-point compulsory unit) in their first study period
2 credit points of core units
2 credit points of course electives

Students are required to meet the University's academic progress and conduct requirements. See the enrolment codes and terminology to help make sense of the University’s vocabulary.

Course structure

Core Units

AIM719

Cultural Heritage and Museum Practice

AIM736

Museums, Heritage and Society

DAI001

Academic Integrity and Respect at Deakin (0-credit-point compulsory unit)

Course Electives

AIM705

Heritage Practice: Fundamentals

AIM708

World Heritage

AIM715

Digital Interpretation

AIM722

Managing Collections

Work experience

Elective units may provide the opportunity for Work Integrated Learning experiences.

Course duration

Course duration may be affected by delays in completing course requirements, such as failing of units or accessing or completing placements.

Further information

Student Central can help you with course planning, choosing the right units and explaining course rules and requirements.

Contact Student Central

Other learning experiences

There are options for WIL and study tours across many of the SHSS courses.

Research and research-related study

Independent research components are embedded across a number of units.

Fees and charges

Fees and charges vary depending on the type of fee place you hold, your course, your commencement year, the units you choose to study, and their study discipline or your study load.

Tuition fees increase at the beginning of each calendar year and all fees quoted are in Australian dollars ($AUD). Tuition fees do not include textbooks, computer equipment or software, other equipment or costs such as mandatory checks, travel and stationery.

Estimate your fees

For further information regarding tuition fees, other fees and charges, invoice due dates, withdrawal dates, payment methods visit our Current students website.