Heritage Studies by Sørensen, Marie Louise Stig; Carman, John;

Short description:

This is the first volume specifically dedicated to the consolidation and clarification of Heritage Studies as a distinct field with its own means of investigation. It presents the range of methods that can be used and illustrates their application through case studies from different parts of the world, including the UK and USA. The challenge that the collection makes explicit is that Heritage Studies must develop a stronger recognition of the scope and nature of its data and a concise yet explorative understanding of its analytical methods.

The methods considered fall within three broad categories: textual/discourse analysis, methods for investigating people’s attitudes and behaviour; and methods for exploring the material qualities of heritage. The methods discussed and illustrated range from techniques such as text analysis, interviews, participant observation, to semiotic analysis of heritage sites and the use of GIS. Each paper discusses the ways in which methods used in social analysis generally are explored and adapted to the specific demands that arise when applied to the investigation of heritage in its many forms.

Heritage Studies is a seminal volume that will help to define the field. The global perspective and the shared focus upon the development of reflexive methodologies ensure that the volume explores these central issues in a manner that is simultaneously case-specific and of general relevance.

Long description:

This is the first volume specifically dedicated to the consolidation and clarification of Heritage Studies as a distinct field with its own means of investigation. It presents the range of methods that can be used and illustrates their application through case studies from different parts of the world, including the UK and USA. The challenge that the collection makes explicit is that Heritage Studies must develop a stronger recognition of the scope and nature of its data and a concise yet explorative understanding of its analytical methods.

The methods considered fall within three broad categories: textual/discourse analysis, methods for investigating people’s attitudes and behaviour; and methods for exploring the material qualities of heritage. The methods discussed and illustrated range from techniques such as text analysis, interviews, participant observation, to semiotic analysis of heritage sites and the use of GIS. Each paper discusses the ways in which methods used in social analysis generally are explored and adapted to the specific demands that arise when applied to the investigation of heritage in its many forms.

Heritage Studies is a seminal volume that will help to define the field. The global perspective and the shared focus upon the development of reflexive methodologies ensure that the volume explores these central issues in a manner that is simultaneously case-specific and of general relevance.

Table of Contents:

Part 1: Setting the Scene  1. Introduction: Making the Means Transparent: Reasons and Reflections 2. Heritage Studies – An Outline   3. Public Archaeology in United States in the Early Twenty-First Century Part 2: Heritage Methodologies: Investigating Texts  4. The History of Heritage: A Method in Analyzing Legislative Historiography  5. Means Maketh the End – The Context for the Development of Methodologies to Assessing the State of the Historic Environment in the UK  6. Methods Used to Investigate the Use of the Past in the Formation of Regional Identities Part 3: Heritage Methodologies: Investigating People  7. Reflections on the Practice of Ethnography Within Heritage Tourism   8. Heritage Ethnography as a Specialised Craft: Grasping Maritime Heritage in Bermuda 9. Between the Lines and in the Margins: Interviewing People About Attitudes to Heritage and Identity   10. Walking a Fine Line: Obtaining Sensitive Information Using a Valid Methodology   11. Methods for Investigating Locals’ Perceptions of a Cultural Heritage Product for Tourism: Lessons from Botswana Susan 12. The Public Archaeology of African America: Reflections on Pragmatic Methods and their Results   Part 4: Heritage Methodologies: Investigating Things  13. The Use of GIS in Landscape Heritage and Attitudes to Place-Digital Deep Maps  14. Making them Draw: The Use of Drawings in Research into Public Attitudes Towards the Past   15. The Heritagescape: Looking at Heritage Sites  16. The Intangible Presence: Investigating Battlefields Part 5: Commentaries  Commentary: the View from Social Anthropology   Commentary: The View from Environmental Psychology