Topics in Museum Studies: Museums and Society

Catalog description

This variable topic course examines one or more methods, concepts, or theories of museum studies as a framing for understanding of the diversity of human cultures today and over time. Whether focusing on the content of collections (i.e., cultural heritage, undocumented migration, wrongful imprisonment, de-colonization) or the conceptual development of displays informed by a curatorial premise informed by methods, concepts, and theories of museum studies, the course examines topics of social relevance in relation to exhibition projects. The course centers themes, figures, movements, or issues of contemporary society, and/or the historical, cultural, and theoretical questions of exhibitions and display. The topic for the course is chosen by the instructor, announced in the course subtitle, and developed in the syllabus, particularly through the readings and deliverables. The course can be taken multiple times provided that the topic is different.