Master of Cultural Heritage and Museum Studies (Professional)

2023 Deakin University Handbook

Note: You are seeing the 2023 view of this course information. These details may no longer be current. [Go to the current version]

Year	2023 course information
Award granted	Master of Cultural Heritage and Museum Studies (Professional)
Course Map	This course map is for new students commencing from Trimester 1 2023. This course map is for new students commencing from Trimester 2 2023. Course maps for commencement in previous years are available on the Course Maps webpage or please contact a Student Adviser in Student Central.
Campus	Offered at Burwood (Melbourne)
Online	Yes
Duration	2 years full-time or part-time equivalent
CRICOS course code	102878H Burwood (Melbourne)
Deakin course code	A768I
Approval status	This course is approved by the University under the Higher Education Standards Framework.
Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) recognition	The award conferred upon completion is recognised in the Australian Qualifications Framework at Level 9.

Course sub-headings

Course overview

The Master of Cultural Heritage and Museum Studies (Professional) allows you to specialise in the areas you want to take your career. You’ll develop the knowledge, research skills and practical experience to make a difference in the way communities engage with the past.

Do you have a passion for the past and how it impacts the present?

Cultural heritage and museum studies has been taught at Deakin for over
40-years, making it the largest and longest running program of its kind in Australia. All units are developed and taught by leading academics with industry experience.

Whether you want to create exhibitions, manage a museum or heritage site, safeguard Indigenous cultural heritage or protect and interpret significant objects, buildings, sites and landscapes, you’ll have the ability to tailor your studies to these disciplines throughout your masters degree.

During your studies, you’ll explore traditions and living examples of culture, and focus on current social, environmental and political concerns.

The core units you’ll study are built around these themes and include:

Intangible Cultural Heritage
World Heritage
Digital Interpretation
Sustainability and Human Rights in Heritage and Museums
Museums, Heritage and Society
Research Design

You’ll also choose up to four elective units based on your interests and use them to form a specialisation in Collections and Curatorship or Heritage Practice. A specialisation isn’t compulsory but can signal to potential employers the type of career you want and your professional interests.

Work-integrated learning is featured throughout the masters, including the Applied Heritage Project unit, which offers a week-long study intensive at sites like the World Heritage listed Port Arthur Historic Site in Tasmania. You can also choose to complete an internship unit where you will undertake a professional work placement with a host organisation in Australia or overseas. This experience will help you develop the skills you need, whether you’re changing or progressing your career, gain industry knowledge, and extend your professional network.

For the opportunity to expand your networks further and graduate with a two Masters degree, you might want to consider applying for our dual award in Cultural Heritage and Museum Studies and World Heritage Studies. Deakin partners with Brandenburg University of Technology (BTU) in Cottbus-Seftenberg, Germany, to deliver a dual-award program where you will graduate with BTU’s Master of World Heritage alongside your Deakin masters degree, highlighting the global reputation of our course. This competitive entry dual award opens overseas study opportunities and valuable professional experience.

Career opportunities

By researching the past you’ll be contributing to making it more accessible in the present, leading to stronger community engagement and a deeper understanding of how cultures have come to be. More than ever, society is seeking a better understanding of the past and to create positive change in the present – something you can be a part of with the expertise you’ll develop.

Opening a broad range of roles both locally and abroad, your future roles could include:

heritage officer
heritage site or museum manager/director
interpretation officer
registrar
curator
public programs officer
exhibition officer
researcher
project officer.

Completion of the course can be used as a pathway to a PhD through research training.

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.

Alternative exits

Graduate Certificate of Cultural Heritage and Museum Studies (A568)
Graduate Diploma of Museum Studies (A668)

Research information

Students will complete a research pathway in 1 of the 3 following options:

Minor Thesis - PhD Pathway ; or
Research Paper – non PhD Pathway^ ; or
Professional Experience – non PhD Pathway^ .

Fees and charges

Fees and charges vary depending on your course, the type of fee place you hold, your commencement year, the units you choose and 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.

Use the Fee estimator to see course and unit fees applicable to your course and type of place. Further information regarding tuition fees, other fees and charges, invoice due dates, withdrawal dates, payment methods is available on our Current students fees website.

Course Learning Outcomes

Deakin Graduate Learning Outcomes	Course Learning Outcomes
Discipline specific knowledge and capabilities	Research and critically reflect on the diverse tangible and intangible manifestations of social memory as expressed in places and sites, objects, traditional practices and beliefs on a personal and collective level and evaluate different conceptual and practical approaches to its identification, collection, conservation, interpretation, display, management and use. Assess the role of cultural heritage in the context of modern organisations and society in order to add value
Communication	Effectively communicate the findings and analysis of cultural heritage and museum studies concepts, theories and applied knowledge, in written, digital and oral formats to specialist and non-specialist audiences.
Digital literacy	Use a range of generic and specialist cultural heritage and museum studies digital technologies and information sources to research, select, analyse, employ, evaluate, and disseminate technical and non-technical information and research outcomes.
Critical thinking	Critically reflect on, research, analyse, evaluate and synthesise key concepts in the identification, collection, conservation, display, interpretation, management, and use of cultural heritage. Apply expert knowledge of, and, technical and creative skills in cultural heritage within organisational and societal contexts to evaluate issues and problems in professional practice and scholarship
Problem solving	Apply expert knowledge to critically analyse, and develop innovative and independently and collaboratively creative solutions to real-world and ill-defined problems or issues in the identification, collection, conservation, display, interpretation, management and use of cultural heritage.
Self-management	Apply critical reflection and use frameworks of self evaluation to develop independent judgment, adaptability and responsibility for expert professional practice and / or scholarship.
Teamwork	Apply the principles of effective team work as a reflective team member and/or leader of diverse cultural heritage and museum teams in order to support the team in achieving designated goals.
Global citizenship	Engage ethically and professionally when working in a variety of cultural heritage and museum studies situations through concern for legal, economic, environmental and social risks both nationally and globally
Approved by Faculty Board 2020

Course rules

The Master of Cultural Heritage and Museum Studies (Professional) is 16 credit points.

To qualify for the award of Master of Cultural Heritage and Museum Studies (Professional) a student must successfully complete 16 credits as follows:

7 credit points of compulsory core units
9 credit points of study from one of the Minor Thesis, Research Paper, or Professional Experience Pathways. Course Elective units may be used to form a Specialisation
AAI018 Academic Integrity (0-credit-point compulsory unit)