MIDLANDS STATE UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT OF ARCHAEOLOGY, CULTURAL HERITAGE MANAGEMENT
AND MUSEUM STUDIES
COURSE OUTLINE:
INTRODUCTION
TO
CULTURAL
HERITAGE
MANAGEMENT (CHS101)
LECTURER: MR M. MABGWE
MODULE OVERVIEW
This module introduces students to the concept of culture and cultural heritage management in
Zimbabwe, Southern African and selected parts of the globe. It will examine the trend of
development of the idea of heritage management, the discipline as well as the history of
archaeological research in Southern Africa. Forms, values, stakeholders and their subsequent
relations will also be cultural heritage of Zimbabwe and Southern Africa, forms of heritage and
challenges faced in managing them. The module will also examine systems of heritage
management used in Zimbabwe and selected examples outside the country, as well as legal
issues of heritage management, primarily through heritage legislation analysis. The Zimbabwean
case will be used as extensively as possible in all scenarios.
COURSE BREAKDOWN
1) Definition of key terms such as Culture, Cultural Heritage, Cultural Heritage
Management, Site, Monument, artifact, ecofact, Cultural Landscape , Archaeology, and
Ethnography. The module also outlines intricate relationship that exits between the terms
themselves.
2) Historical trends of development of cultural heritage management in selected parts of the
globe. A special analysis will be done on the development of the idea cultural heritage
management and its development as a discipline will be done considering the Roman,
Greek, Swede, Norwegian and American experiences with relation to Zimbabwe.
3) Introduction to archaeological research focus in Zimbabwe and Southern Africa as a
prelude to the forms of cultural heritage in the mentioned places.
4) Forms of cultural heritage in Zimbabwe and selected parts of Southern Africa. Focus will
include Dry Stone walled sites (Dhaga structures included), Rock Art, Historic Buildings,
Sacred Shrines , Sacred Forests, Cultural Landscapes, theme parks and liberation war
heritage (Zimbabwe). Examples and case scenarios will include Great Zimbabwe,
Nswatugi, Njelele/Matonjeni, Manyanga, Ziwa, Old Bulawayo, Chinhoyi Battle Site,
Norumedzo Forests, Domboshava, Market and Stodart Halls amongst others.
5) Assessment of cultural heritage stakeholders and respective values. This would be
followed by an examination of the relationship between these values and stakeholders.
6) Management systems of cultural heritage examples. NB the Zimbabwean scenario will be
analysed for similarities. Discussions will also centre on characterizing the
Informal/Traditional and the Legal/Formal systems of management and how Colonialism
influenced them.
7) Management plans for cultural heritage. An analysis will be made on the meaning, the
role, and the process of drafting a management plan, as a solution to conflict resolution in
Zimbabwe.
8) National system for selection of national monuments used in Zimbabwe and its
subsequent implication on the management of cultural property in Zimbabwe.
9) Conventions and Charters for the management of Cultural property and their implication
on cultural heritage. Focus will be on charters such as the Venice, BURRA Charters,
Hague Convention and the World Heritage Convention.
10) Cultural heritage and legislations governing them. An analysis for effectiveness and
efficiency of the NMMZ Act Chapter 25/11 will be in comparison to legislations of other
regional countries. The focus will include legislations of South Africa, Botswana, Zambia
etc.
Recommended Text
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this course/module students should have a comprehensive
understanding of culture and cultural heritage management in Zimbabwe, Southern Africa and
relevant examples on a global scale, trend of development of the discipline, forms of its
management and challenges involved in the discipline. Such a thorough basis allows them to
appreciate the intricate nature of cultural heritage. This module also sets the tone for other
modules in the department.
Teaching Methods
The course is structured around a series of formal lectures, written exercises, group presentations
and tutorial exercises.
Workload
Students are expected to spend at least 36 hours on lectures whilst more will be spent on written
assignments and private reading.
Methods of Assessment
This course is examined by one final examination constituting (75%) and two assignments and a
group presentation all constituting (25%). The essay should be typed (Times New Roman 12pt,
1.5 line spacing), well presented (ideas, logic and grammar), have a Harvard-style bibliography
and be a maximum of 3 and half to 4 pages. The nature of the assignments and possible
approaches will be discussed in class, in advance of the submission deadlines.
Submission of Coursework
Because the assessed work contributes to the final mark for the course, the submission deadline
for each piece of work is ABSOLUTE. Late work will incur a penalty unless an extension has
been granted in advance. If students are ill or have serious personal or family difficulties, they
must obtain the approval/ notify without delay; the lecture, and/or the Chairman of the
Department before the submission date.
All assignments and group presentations should have write ups and these must be handed-in
either to the lecturer or into Department Office for the lecturer before 1pm on the submission
date specified. Please make use of your Class Representative/s. Allowing for vacations, every
effort will be made to return assessed work within two weeks of the submission date. If an
assignment and/ group presentation write-up is not presented to the lecturer, the student/s will be
deemed not to have completed the course hence, unless some arrangement is made between the
students and the lecturer, the student/s is/are not to sit for the final exam in the module. Students
are strongly advised always to keep a copy of all work, and to make a copy for retention of all
work after it has been assessed and commented upon by the lecturer, if they wish to make future
reference to the comments on the work.
Coursework Format and Presentation
Essays must be word-processed and should be printed on one side of the paper, using at least
one-and-a-half-line spacing. Students are encouraged to use diagrams and/or tables where
appropriate. These should be clearly referred to at the appropriate point in the text, and if derived
from another source, this must be clearly acknowledged. Students should adhere to page limits
on essays; they are intended to help ensure equality of workloads between courses as well as to
encourage the useful transferable skills of clearly structured argumentation and succinct writing.
It is important that students reference their sources of information as accurately and as fully as
possible. If a student summarizes another person's ideas or judgments, or reproduces their figures
or diagrams, a reference must be made in the text (using the Harvard convention) and all works
referred to must be documented in full in a bibliography.
Plagiarism
All work submitted as part of the requirements for any examination (which includes all assessed
work) Midlands State University must be expressed in the student's own words and incorporate
their own ideas and judgements. The examiners for this course will scrutinize all work for
evidence of plagiarism or collusion between students. Plagiarism is defined as the presentation of
another person's thoughts or words as though they are one's own. Plagiarism constitutes an
academic offence under the University Regulations and students found to have committed
plagiarism may be excluded from all further examinations of the University. ANY
QUOTATION FROM THE PUBLISHED OR UNPUBLISHED WORKS OF OTHER
PERSONS MUST BE IDENTIFIED AS SUCH BY PLACING THE QUOTE IN
QUOTATION MARKS, AND THE SOURCE OF THE QUOTATION MUST BE
REFERENCED APPROPRIATELY. The concept of plagiarism also includes self-plagiarism,
which is the extensive use of the same sources and materials in more than one piece of assessed
coursework, submitted for the same or for other courses taken as part of the degree. To avoid
charges of collusion, students should always ensure that their work is their own, and not lend
their essays or essay drafts to other students because they are likely to be penalized if the second
student copies the work and submits it as their own.
Libraries and Other Resources
Whilst every effort is made to make available relevant text materials, students are encouraged to
responsibly make use the invaluable, though limited, facilities currently available in the library in
their academic research.
1) To search for textbooks (available) provided through the university library, please make
use of the university library’s computerized system (ISIS), which will inform you if the
book is available or out on loan.
2) For Electronic journals, please make use of the university’ website through following the
link; msuhomepage/libraries/electronicresources/electronicjournals. Make use of relevant
journals such as JStor.
3) In the case that the lecturer has extra materials (personal), these could be made available
through your e-learning accounts or through class distributions.
4) The university has an established internet service made available free of charge to all
students through the Wireless Network (for those with laptops with the relevant software)
and the wired local area network. Access to internet is available from the Main Campus
Library (excluding for those with LAPTOPS) and from the Hellenic Hall (in town).
CAUTION: A lot of students have a tendency to use search engine (Google). Whilst it
can give you answers (usually not less than fifty thousand responses), it does not usually
contain scholarly material hence not suitable for academic purposes. The same goes for
Wikipedia (which anybody can edit). For search engines, please try; Dogpile, Scholar
Google and electronic journals such as JStor.
Communications
The primary channel of communication between students and lecturers within the institution is
through students’ e-learning accounts as well as the class representative verbal communications.
If you wish to be contacted on your personal or work e-mail address, please arrange for e-mail
sent to your e-learning account. Students must consult their e-learning accounts regularly.
Attendance
It is a university regulation that attendance at lectures, seminars and practicals be maintained by
all students unless a valid reason is given. The lecturer will monitor attendance. A 75%
minimum attendance at all scheduled sessions is required (excluding absences due to illness or
other adverse circumstances, provided that these are supported by medical certificates or other
documentation, as appropriate). Students should also be aware that potential employers seeking
references often ask about attendance and other indications of reliability.