CCHU9013 Arts and Humanities
Cultural Heritage in the Contemporary World

SDG-08
SDG-11
Sustainable Development Goals

Timetable for Lectures

Course Description

Welcome to the world of cultural heritage! This course examines the background, debates, policies, and politics of cultural heritage from interdisciplinary perspectives, particularly through the sociological and anthropological lens. UNESCO includes a wide range of definitions of cultural heritage, such as ‘tangible’ and ‘intangible’ heritage. All categories of cultural heritage are now regarded as essential to community building, proper governance, and economic development. The preservation, conservation, destruction, demolition, listing and delisting of heritage sites and historic documents have regularly attracted media and public attention, commercial interest, and contention among different communities. By introducing thematic issues through case examples from Hong Kong and other places around the world, students will be introduced to basic readings on cultural heritage, conservation policies, heritagization, tourism industries and the latest trends of heritage preservation.

There are four key themes in our course. First, we will explore the meaning of cultural heritage, and highlight some general issues and approaches to the study of heritage. Second, we will critically examine the socio-cultural significance of cultural heritage with different case examples. Third, we will consider the management of cultural heritage, including different preservation and conservation methods, as well as the politics behind the making and protection of heritage. Finally, we will look at the uses of cultural heritage in urban development and tourism. Together, we will explore our cultural stories, rituals, architectures, and ways of living. Come learn with us the cultural richness of Hong Kong and beyond.

[An optional field trip will be arranged during Reading Week.]

Course Learning Outcomes

On completing the course, students will be able to:

  1. Connect the basic concepts and theories pertaining to cultural heritage using appropriate academic language.
  2. Critically examine the preservation and conservation of cultural heritage in Hong Kong and other Asian societies using relevant theoretical knowledge.
  3. Demonstrate an awareness of the need for the sustainability of cultural heritage in contemporary society.
  4. Explain the significance of cultural heritage in everyday life and society from historical and contemporary perspectives.
  5. Evaluate the relationship between intangible cultural heritage, and the tourist industry in the local and global environment.

Offer Semester and Day of Teaching

First semester (Wed)

Study Load

Activities Number of hours
Lectures 24
Seminars / Tutorials 10
Reading / Self-study 20
Assessment: Individual report on group project 30
Assessment: Group presentation (incl preparation) 40
Assessment: In-class test (incl preparation) 8
Total: 132

Assessment: 100% coursework

Assessment Tasks Weighting
Tutorial participation 20
Group project 50
In-class test 30

Required Reading

  • Bandarin, F., Hosagrahar, J., & Albernaz, F. S. (2011). Why development needs culture. Journal of Cultural Heritage Management and Sustainable Development, 1(1), 15-25.
  • Bourdieu, P. (1997). The forms of capital. In A. H. Halsey, H. Lauder, P. Brown & A. S. Wells (Eds.), Education: Culture, Economy and Society (pp. 46-58). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Chan, S. C. (2019). Tea cafés and the Hong Kong identity: Food culture and hybridity. China Information, 33(3), 311-328.
  • Chew, M. M. T. (2009). Cultural sustainability and heritage tourism development: Problems in developing bun festival tourism in Hong Kong. Journal of Sustainable Development, 2(3), 34-42.
  • Crane, S. A. (Ed.) (2000). Museums and Memory. Stanford: Stanford University Press. [pp. 1-13 “Introduction: Of museums and memory”]
  • Harrison, R. (2013). Heritage: Critical approaches. New York: Routledge. [pp. 1-11, 14-20]
  • Harrison, R. (Ed.). (2010). Understanding the Politics of Heritage. Manchester: Manchester University Press in association with the Open University. [pp. 154-173 “The politics of heritage”]
  • Ho, J. W., & Law, L. Y. (2023). Customary and customised: Nation-building at the Hong Kong Palace Museum. International Journal of Heritage Studies, 29(3), 122-144.
  • Kempiak, J., Hollywood, L., Bolan, P., & McMahon-Beattie, U. (2017). The heritage tourist: An understanding of the visitor experience at heritage attractions. International Journal of Heritage Studies, 23(4), 375-392.
  • Ku, A. S. M. (2010). Making heritage in Hong Kong: A case study of the central police station compound. The China Quarterly, 202, 381-399.
  • McDowell, S. (2008). Heritage, memory and identity. In B. Graham & P. Howard (Eds.), The Ashgate Research Companion to Heritage and Identity (pp. 37-53). Burlington, VT: Ashgate Pub. Co.
  • Ng, M. K. (2018). Sustainable community building in the face of state-led gentrification: the story of the Blue House cluster in Hong Kong. Town Planning Review, 89(5), 495-512.
  • Peoples, J., & Bailey, G. (2017). Humanity: An introduction to cultural anthropology (11th ed.). Australia: Cengage Learning. [pp. 10-30]
  • Silberman, N. A. (2020). Good-bye to all that: COVID-19 and the transformations of cultural heritage. International Journal of Cultural Property, 27(4), 467-475.

Course Co-ordinator and Teacher(s)

Course Co-ordinator Contact
Dr S.W.L. Cheung
Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social Sciences		 Tel: 3917 2064
Email: stevecwl@hku.hk
Teacher(s) Contact
Dr S.W.L. Cheung
Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social Sciences		 Tel: 3917 2064
Email: stevecwl@hku.hk