Cultural Heritage: Libraries, Archives and Museums

The Cultural Heritage Studies course has a strong history component and allows you to combine an interest in history with practical and theoretical understandings of how information is valued and utilised in all walks of life – historical, educational and social. Offered jointly by the Department of History and Welsh History and the Department of Information Studies, this degree draws upon our established strengths in professional training in information and library studies, archives and records management, alongside History and Welsh History. 

You will receive training in the management and use of information, heritage resources, archives and records in both digital and physical formats. You’ll also develop skills in the application of information technology in this field. This degree scheme promotes your ability to conduct research, to investigate and analyse, and to articulate your ideas. 

Opportunities for students of Cultural Heritage Studies at Aberystwyth include:

• studying in a historically ‘information rich’ town that includes the National Library of Wales (one of only five copyright libraries in the UK, and home to the National Screen and Sound Archive of Wales, and a regular host of exhibitions relating to Welsh culture and heritage); the Welsh Books Council
• the Royal Commission for Ancient and Historical Monuments, Ceredigion Museum, the University libraries and archives, and a range of other relevant resources and organisations
• being taught by experts in their field.

Our Staff

Department of History and Welsh History lecturers are all qualified to PhD level, and most also have a PGCHE.

Department of Information Management, Libraries & Archives lecturers are either qualified to PhD level or work in areas of the subject where professional practices are the focus. Many of the staff engage in research relevant to the theoretical and practical development of the discipline and the associated professions.

Graduates of this degree will be well prepared for a career within a cultural organisation, or in an administrative position which would include responsibility for record keeping. It would also be relevant to those considering work as a graduate archive assistant or postgraduate professional training in archive administration and records management, to name a few examples.

What will I learn?

The breakdown below will provide you with an illustration of what you may study during the three year degree scheme.

In your first year you will discover: 

• Foundations of Information Studies
• The Cultural Heritage Landscape
• Human Communication
• The Archival Inheritance
• Introduction to History.

In your second and third years you will explore: 

• Information in a Changing World
• A cultural history of record keeping
• Resource discovery and digital information management
• Collection management and heritage organisations
• Making History
• Local studies and community heritage.

Please note that during your second and third years, you will be able to choose from a range of optional modules that will complement your core modules.