LW2ART: Art and Cultural Heritage Law

Module code: LW2ART

Module provider: School of Law

Credits: 20

Level: 5

When you’ll be taught: Semester 1

Module convenor: Dr Melanie Stockton-Brown , email: m.w.stockton-brown@reading.ac.uk

Pre-requisite module(s):

Co-requisite module(s):

Pre-requisite or Co-requisite module(s):

Module(s) excluded:

Placement information: NA

Academic year: 2025/6

Available to visiting students: Yes

Talis reading list: No

Last updated: 3 April 2025

Overview

Module aims and purpose

This optional module will introduce students to the fundamental concepts within the laws of cultural heritage and art. The focus is on the law relevant to the UK as well as diverse international perspectives, and in particular Indigenous perspectives.

This module aims to engage students with the law and policies relevant to safeguarding intangible and tangible cultural heritage; and the vital role of cultural heritage institutions (such as museums and archives) in preserving our collective cultural heritage. This module also aims to engage students with the various laws relevant to visual and contemporary artworks, with a focus on both how art portrays law, and how laws impact on artworks.

Students will examine this intersectional interrelationship between law and the other social and cultural elements, whilst developing critical and analytical skills. This will be achieved through analysis of, and engagement with, relevant case law, legislation, artworks and heritage artefacts, academic work, historical influences, and public policy. Students will also enhance their key employability skills in responding to a client brief, and be introduced to potential legal careers within the arts and within the cultural heritage sector.

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, it is expected that students will be able to:

1. Demonstrate a critical understanding of the laws of cultural heritage from both international and UK perspectives.
2. Demonstrate a critical understanding of the laws relating to artworks from varying intersectional and socio-legal perspectives. 
3. Students will also develop research and critical analytical skills especially when interpreting case law, legislation, and also artwork artefacts.
4. Demonstrate an ability to apply core legal and transferable skills, particularly skills of legal research, analysis, writing, and oral presentation to definite factual situations and problems.

Module content

The module will look at a range of topics, and specific topics may change on a yearly basis. As an indication:

The International legal protection of tangible and intangible cultural heritage

• International understandings of tangible and intangible cultural heritage
• International treaties and international protection of cultural heritage 
• The destruction of cultural heritage as a war crime and during armed conflicts
• Historic and medieval laws protecting artworks and cultural heritage
• Geographical Indications, Traditional Knowledge and Traditional Cultural Expressions

Museum and archival collections and the law

• Cultural heritage institutions (CHIs) and the law of accessioning and deaccessioning collections 
• Repatriation and restitution of cultural heritage items, including the decolonisation of CHIs
• Indigenous peoples' cultural heritage
• Crimes of antiquity and stolen artworks
• Orphan works and out-of-commerce archival collections

Contemporary, Visual and Performing Artworks and Law

• The use of the public domain and archival materials in art and the law
• The body as artworks: BioArt and tattoos
• Graffiti and statutes as artworks of protest
• Graphic justice: how law is portrayed through comics and graphic novels
• Theatre, musicals and the law
• Digital and found footage filmmaking and the law
• Fashion & costume design and the law

Structure

Teaching and learning methods

This module will be taught through a combination of lectures, seminars, and workshops, with additional elements to support student learning being available online. 

11 x 2 hr lectures

9 X 1 hr seminars

2 X 2hr workshops

Students will be set assigned reading material and practical tasks in relation to each topic and in preparation for seminars and workshops. The module requires robust participation in these seminars and workshops, and requires a thorough understanding of the materials. 

Study hours

At least 35 hours of scheduled teaching and learning activities will be delivered in person, with the remaining hours for scheduled and self-scheduled teaching and learning activities delivered either in person or online. You will receive further details about how these hours will be delivered before the start of the module.

Please note the independent study hours above are notional numbers of hours; each student will approach studying in different ways. We would advise you to reflect on your learning and the number of hours you are allocating to these tasks.

Semester 1 The hours in this column may include hours during the Christmas holiday period.

Semester 2 The hours in this column may include hours during the Easter holiday period.

Summer The hours in this column will take place during the summer holidays and may be at the start and/or end of the module.

Assessment

Requirements for a pass

Students need to achieve an overall module mark of 40% to pass this module.

Summative assessment

Penalties for late submission of summative assessment

The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

Assessments with numerical marks

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each working day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of three working days;
• the mark awarded due to the imposition of the penalty shall not fall below the threshold pass mark, namely 40% in the case of modules at Levels 4-6 (i.e. undergraduate modules for Parts 1-3) and 50% in the case of Level 7 modules offered as part of an Integrated Masters or taught postgraduate degree programme;
• where the piece of work is awarded a mark below the threshold pass mark prior to any penalty being imposed, and is submitted up to three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline), no penalty shall be imposed;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): a mark of zero will be recorded.

Assessments marked Pass/Fail

• where the piece of work is submitted within three working days of the deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): no penalty will be applied;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): a grade of Fail will be awarded.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: /cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/qap/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf

You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Formative assessment

Formative assessment is any task or activity which creates feedback (or feedforward) for you about your learning, but which does not contribute towards your overall module mark.

Formative assessment is any task or activity which creates feedback (or feedforward) for you about your learning, but which does not contribute towards your overall module mark.

In-class self-assessment and peer-assessment in a workshop of a mock client brief as the scaffolding activity for the Summative Assessment 1

In-class self-assessment and peer-assessment in a workshop of an artwork case study as the scaffolding activity for the Summative Assessment 2

Reassessment

Additional costs