Rediscovered Voices: the testimony of artefacts from territories of the British Empire.
Rediscovered Voices is the title of a new online distance learning course available to the public. It was created jointly by the University of Exeter and the Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery. The course is different in that brings two subjects together: a history of the British Empire and museum objects that were acquired by donors who served abroad in the Empire. Donors were either political officers, soldiers, traders, travellers and missionaries. The course challenges notions of Empire.
Course details
A 12 week course that covers the British Empire in Africa, the Americas, Asia and Oceania. Students will have the opportunity to access the Designated collections of the Royal Albert Memorial Museum in Exeter. This museum was founded in 1861 and built as a memorial to Prince Albert, a patron of the arts and sciences at a time when Britain was spreading its influence across the globe. RAMM is a good example of how local authority-run museums highlight local connections to the wider world.
The course is non-credit-bearing and so there are no exams or assessments – one does not need to have any academic qualifications or experience of studying history to do this course. There are also no compulsory texts to prepare students for the course but there is a recommended reading list to help broaden one’s learning.
There will be plenty of material to read and once completed students will have a better understanding of not only an aspect of British history but also about the role of museums and how they work. Each week students will have access to two papers; one dealing with Imperial history, the other is how museum objects are linked to that part of the world.
Students also have the option of using the course as part of the Continuing Professional Development (CPD). The course link above will provide you with more details.
The course is looking for new students. Enquiries to [email protected]
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