Course ID#: G49.3330
Section: 1
Topics in Museum Studies:
Heritage and Memory in History Museums
Elective. 4 points.

This class examines the controversial subject of museums that represent heritage, history and memory. Considering cases as diverse as Colonial Williamsburg, immigration museums, Slavery museums in Africa, Holocaust museums, Museums in former Communist states, and museums of Native American history, we seek out common themes and problems that define museum representations of the past. Topics covered include: authenticity, race, cultural property, cultural brokers, nationalism, interpretation, multivocality, photography, contact zones, context, multiculturalism and community outreach. Our objective is to examine the connections and distinctions between the theory and practice of exhibiting history and to understand how material culture, social process and historical events converge in the social production of collections and institutions. Our focus is on museums not merely as containers of history, but as social arenas that influence and determine the politics, value and experience of the past. Accordingly, students are expected to develop a theoretical toolkit for contextualizing and addressing controversies in the heritage industry.