Museums: Contexts and Controversies

Catalog description

Museums today are a global phenomenon, as crucial for preserving local histories as they are for driving international tourism. More than 100,000,000 people will visit a museum each year; millions more will interact with museum collections via online programs and other forms of remote engagement. In the United States, museum attendance is particularly high, with 1 out of every 4 adults going to a museum at least once per year. As repositories of cultural as well as natural history, museums shape our knowledge of the past, our beliefs about the present, and our expectations for the future. Museums, in other words, contribute importantly to experiences of individual and collective identity. What is more, museums are key players in the global economy, as part of the tourism and entertainment industries as well as the international market for cultural artifacts and natural history specimens. Understanding of the history and current state of museums, therefore, enables unique insight into the interrelation of culture, politics, education, technology, mass entertainment, and global financial interests. This course introduces students to the history of museums, the ways museum collecting and exhibition practices have changed over time, the history of museum architecture, and the issues and debates currently shaping museums and the work of museum professionals.