- Decolonizing the Museum: Addressing Systemic Racism and Promoting Social Justice

Catalog description

Examines historical, political, curatorial, and theoretical issues related to collections and exhibitions of South Asian, Islamic, African/African diasporic, and Indigenous arts in the west, focusing on the United States, to help students understand issues pertaining to power, justice, and identity in contemporary Northern America. From colonial expositions (world’s fairs) to the rise of national museums to recent curatorial debates, this course critically engages with practices of display and representation of South Asian, Islamic, African/African diasporic, and Indigenous arts in the colonial, modern, and contemporary eras. In particular, recent movements demanding social justice for marginalized communities are forcing western museums to re-evaluate their collections and modes of display; questions of reinterpretation, de- accessioning and repatriation are coming to the fore like never before. Students will engage with these efforts to decolonize the museum and critical curatorial practices as they design their own exhibits or propose a reinstallation of an existing one through developing exhibition narratives and physical display spaces of their own design.