The museum holds itself to be the preserver of cultural memory, yet museums as we know them are a nineteenth-century invention. This course explores their function as shapers of cultural practice and national identity while considering recent efforts to reach communities previously excluded from the museum world. We'll talk a great deal too about how museums work as classifiers of knowledge and how they represent culture, as commodity and experience.
This is a fun course, but it requires a lot of effort. Be prepared to read, write, and discuss your way through an activity-packed semester. Along the way, We'll visit ten local museums and historic sites for behind-the-scenes tours of some of the most historically significant and most cutting-edge museums in the United States.
Welcome back, too, those of you who've taken this course in the past and are still following along on the blog. Feel free to join in and share your expertise in the online conversation.
Looking forward to a great semester--see you all soon!
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Friday, November 5, 2010
Assignment IV : Welcome to America!
Assignment IV (10 points): “Welcome to America!”, due November 16
Throughout the semester, we've discussed how museums play a powerful role in shaping ideas about nation. History museums, in particular, contribute to and sometimes complicate our sense of shared national identity. How, though, might a museum respond to the variety of impressions about life in America that visitors from other nations bring into the mix? Your assignment is to answer that question in two stages:
1. Your peers at the University of East Anglia have provided nineteen wonderfully thoughtful responses to the question, "What does America mean to me?". Begin your assignment by reading their statements. Once you have, post a 500-word response on your blog that indicates how your own understanding of America most closely resembles AND most significantly differs from your peers’ impressions. Please be specific and use examples when possible.
2. Having reflected on how your counterparts in the UK understand America, propose a museum model--we'll call it the "Welcome to America!" museum--that is specifically designed to address the key themes raised in #1. Your proposal should reflect an understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the four exhibitionary modes that we've discussed in class: display, interactivity, experience, and archive. In other words, you must devise a combination of these modes that you think would be most effective for achieving the museum's mission.
You have wide latitude to determine how you will respond to #2. I will accept illustrations, models, papers, new media products, and etc. No matter what format you choose, however, #2 must:
-reflect a level of effort equivalent to the writing of a 750 to 1,250-word paper;
-demonstrate your understanding of our course readings and discussions;
-and, be presented to the class during our November 16 meeting.
Good luck!
Throughout the semester, we've discussed how museums play a powerful role in shaping ideas about nation. History museums, in particular, contribute to and sometimes complicate our sense of shared national identity. How, though, might a museum respond to the variety of impressions about life in America that visitors from other nations bring into the mix? Your assignment is to answer that question in two stages:
1. Your peers at the University of East Anglia have provided nineteen wonderfully thoughtful responses to the question, "What does America mean to me?". Begin your assignment by reading their statements. Once you have, post a 500-word response on your blog that indicates how your own understanding of America most closely resembles AND most significantly differs from your peers’ impressions. Please be specific and use examples when possible.
2. Having reflected on how your counterparts in the UK understand America, propose a museum model--we'll call it the "Welcome to America!" museum--that is specifically designed to address the key themes raised in #1. Your proposal should reflect an understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the four exhibitionary modes that we've discussed in class: display, interactivity, experience, and archive. In other words, you must devise a combination of these modes that you think would be most effective for achieving the museum's mission.
You have wide latitude to determine how you will respond to #2. I will accept illustrations, models, papers, new media products, and etc. No matter what format you choose, however, #2 must:
-reflect a level of effort equivalent to the writing of a 750 to 1,250-word paper;
-demonstrate your understanding of our course readings and discussions;
-and, be presented to the class during our November 16 meeting.
Good luck!
Friday, September 17, 2010
Grit & Beauty
GenEd PEX: Grit & Beauty Blog Contest.
Deadline: November 5th, 2010.
Explore the city.
Post words, images or video expressing the way you see the combination of the grit and the beauty of Philadelphia.
Ten winners will be chosen for ten $100 prizes.
Post—or change your post–anytime before the November 5th deadline.
Post as many entries as you like.
All students eligible.
Get started now and discover Philadelphia!
Deadline: November 5th, 2010.
Explore the city.
Post words, images or video expressing the way you see the combination of the grit and the beauty of Philadelphia.
Ten winners will be chosen for ten $100 prizes.
Post—or change your post–anytime before the November 5th deadline.
Post as many entries as you like.
All students eligible.
Get started now and discover Philadelphia!
Monday, September 6, 2010
Book has arrived!
*Museums and the Shaping of Knowledge* is now in the bookstore--grab a copy while you can.
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