Course ID#: G49.3330
Section: 2
Topics in Museum Studies:
Blockbusters and Building Booms
Elective. 4 points.

Recent exhibitions including Tutankhamun and the Age of the Pharaohs at LACMA have revived ongoing discussions about the motivations that lead museums to program blockbusters and their effects on museum practices. Although financial pressures are often cited as a cause for such large, well-attended exhibitions, scholarly motivations should not be disregarded. Many museums in the US have recently undertaken building projects, which may be examined as part of broader initiatives -- such as re-branding and audience development -- that have also been linked to the blockbuster phenomenon. Historical and contemporary cases of the blockbuster, and recent instances of museum building projects will be examined in the course, in light of these museums' missions.