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Preventive Conservation (CUMC90029)
Graduate courseworkPoints: 12.5Dual-Delivery (Parkville)
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About this subject
- Overview
- Eligibility and requirements
- Assessment
- Dates and times
- Further information
- Timetable(opens in new window)
Contact information
May
Overview
Availability | May - Dual-Delivery |
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Fees | Look up fees |
This subject critically evaluates current theories, international standards and guidelines for the preventive conservation management of museum environments and cultural collection contexts. It engages with risk management models, the agents of deterioration and sustainable thinking within localised decision-making contexts and values, the environmental conditions, management and stakeholder structures. It examines the physical and chemical causes of deterioration of collections, and considers how these can be effectively mitigated with the ten agents of deterioration: light, incorrect relative humidities, incorrect temperature, physical stresses, biodeterioration, pollutants, pests, fire, criminal activity and dissociation.
As such, this subject lays a critical foundation for effective professional practice as a preventive conservation conservator and steward of cultural collections. Off campus site visits are a regular activity for this subject, which may include visits to conservation laboratories, museums, galleries and art centres.
Intended learning outcomes
Upon completion of this subject students should be able to:
- Identify the main deterioration mechanisms that affect cultural material using the ten agents of deterioration;
- Explain the effects of diverse physical and environmental conditions on cultural materials;
- Apply preventive conservation principles to collection surveys, risk assessments, storage, packing, transport and display methods of cultural material to manage change in diverse contexts;
- Formulate the risks associated in diverse physical and environmental conditions, collection contexts, communities, geographic locations and eco-systems using an evidence-based framework
- Justify and apply sustainable risk management strategies in collection environments
Generic skills
- critical assessment of a diverse range of sources;
- technical conservation methods and skills;
- management and organisational skills for complex collection environments;
- adaptive approaches for practice-based projects and collection contexts;
- effective communication and written skills;
- collaboration and team-work.
Last updated: 31 January 2024
Eligibility and requirements
Prerequisites
Students enrolling into this subject must be admitted to the MC-CULMC Master of Cultural Material Conservation or the GCA-ARTS Graduate Certificate in Arts (Specialisation in Cultural Material Conservation).
Students who have completed CUMC40004 Preventive Conservation, are not eligible to enrol in this subject.
Corequisites
None
Non-allowed subjects
None
Inherent requirements (core participation requirements)
The University of Melbourne is committed to providing students with reasonable adjustments to assessment and participation under the Disability Standards for Education (2005), and the Assessment and Results Policy (MPF1326). Students are expected to meet the core participation requirements for their course. These can be viewed under Entry and Participation Requirements for the course outlines in the Handbook.
Further details on how to seek academic adjustments can be found on the Student Equity and Disability Support website: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/student-equity/home
Last updated: 31 January 2024
Assessment
Description | Timing | Percentage |
---|---|---|
Presentation (Group Project, Individually Assessed)
| End of the teaching period | 10% |
Written report (Group Project & Group Assessed)
| 2 Weeks after the end of teaching | 20% |
Group activity (Group Project. Individually Assessed)
| 2 Weeks after the end of teaching | 10% |
Essay
| 4 Weeks after the end of teaching | 60% |
Hurdle requirement: Students must attend 100% of seminars in order to pass this subject. | Throughout the teaching period | N/A |
Last updated: 31 January 2024
Dates & times
- May
Coordinator Nicole Tse Mode of delivery Dual-Delivery (Parkville) Contact hours 36 hours of lectures and seminars across the teaching period. Total time commitment 170 hours Pre teaching start date 2 May 2022 Pre teaching requirements During the pre-teaching period students are expected to complete the course readings, review the lectures and any other course preparation as outlined in the LMS. The LMS will be available at the commencement of the pre-teaching period. Teaching period 23 May 2022 to 3 June 2022 Last self-enrol date 6 May 2022 Census date 27 May 2022 Last date to withdraw without fail 3 June 2022 Assessment period ends 24 June 2022 May contact information
Time commitment details
170 hours
Last updated: 31 January 2024
Further information
- Texts
Prescribed texts
A subject reader will be available in the pre-teaching period with access to the Readings Online.
Recommended texts and other resources
Staniforth, S (ed) 2013 Historical perspectives on preventive conservation, Getty Conservation Institute, Los Angeles, UniM Bail High Use 069.53 HIST
Elkin, L & Norris, C (eds) 2019 Preventive Conservation: Collection Storage, Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections, New York.
- Related Handbook entries
This subject contributes to the following:
Type Name Course Master of Urban and Cultural Heritage Specialisation (formal) Principles of Cultural Materials Conservation - Links to additional information
Last updated: 31 January 2024