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Historic Preservation Home > Syllabi > 200 Level Courses > HISP 200 Introduction to Museum Studies

 

University of Mary Washington
Department of Historic Preservation

Dr. Elisabeth Sommer
129 Combs Hall
654-1310 (office)
Office Hours MW 11-12 & 3-4pm; TR 2-3pm

HISP 200 Introduction to Museum Studies

Welcome to the wonderful and often whacky world of museums.  In this class we will explore the intellectual issues museums face, and the practical (and sometimes tedious) considerations of daily administration.  The big challenge, of course, is to try to reconcile these two things.  Therefore we will keep both in mind as we read and discuss a wide array of museum literature.  This is an introductory class and so we will touch on a number of aspects of museum work in order to give students a general understanding of what goes into making and running a museum, and the roles they can play in society.

Notice my use of the term “we.”  This class is not the Dr. Sommer show.  While I will certainly steer the discussion and occasionally regale you with tales from the field, the true success of the class will depend on your ability to keep up with the reading assignments and be prepared to discuss them on the date for which they are listed.  Readings are listed in parentheses after the topic for each day.  In addition to discussion, you will have the opportunity to practice doing various things that are part of professional museum work.  We will also be taking some field trips (yeah!) to local museums and be hearing from guest speakers with experience in the field.

Course Goals and Structure
This class is intended to give you a working acquaintance with museum functions and roles within the context of newer museum ideals and challenges.  This will include an understanding of museum origins and development, as well as ways that museums reflect cultural and social values.  The writing assignments should give you a taste of some of the activities of museum professionals.  To accomplish the goals, the course is divided into sections that address various aspects/roles that make up a museum.

Reading Assignments

  • Gail Anderson, ed. Reinventing the Museum: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives on the Paradigm Shift (in the bookstore)
  • Excellence and Equity: Education and the Public Dimension of Museums (in the bookstore)

In addition to these books/booklets, there are various articles and book chapters that will be available on Blackboard.

Writing Assignments
This is a writing intensive course, so you can expect that writing will play a significant role (as, in fact, it often does in museum work).  Required written work consists of both analytical papers and practical exercises.  You will be responsible for a field trip report from a museum visit, an exhibit review, and your choice of one of the following:

  • Cataloging exercise
  • Grant writing exercise
  • PR pamphlet exercise
  • Interpretive critique of new Kenmore tour (museum education exercise)

Please note that these exercises will be due on different days within the semester.

There will also be a midterm and a final paper in which you may either create your own museum or analyze a case study and reflect on the role of various facets of museum practice in the success or failure of institutional visions.

All papers and exercises must be clearly written and follow the basic rules of grammar and spelling.  In addition, papers (and midterm essays) must present a defined argument (where relevant to the assignment) and support it with specific examples.  All outside sources should be cited in proper form (standard to be given later).  Sloppy writing, including excessive typos, will affect your grade.  Assignments are due on the date given on the syllabus unless prior permission is given for an alternative due date.

Grades

Discussion/Participation 10%
Exhibit Review 20%
Field Trip Report 15%
Practical Exercise 15%
Midterm 15%
Final Paper 25%

And now for the important stuff…

Aug. 24: Introduction to the course: what makes a museum?

The Museum as a Changing Institution

Aug. 26: Defining Museums: Video Riches, Rivals and Radicals: 100 Years of Museums in America

Aug. 28: Discussion of video

Aug. 31: A Brief History of Museums

Sept. 2: Discussion of Two Views (From Reinventing the Museum, “The Gloom of the Museum” John Cotton Dana; “The Museum, a Temple or the Forum” Duncan F. Cameron)

Sept. 4: Discussion of Two Views continued

Sept. 7: Current Challenges (From Reinventing the Museum,“Museums in the Age of Desconstruction” Michael Ames)

Sept. 9: Current Challenges continued (From Reinventing, “‘Hey! That’s Mine’ Thoughts on Pluralism and American Museums” Edmund Barry Gaither)

Sept. 11: The Official Agenda (Excellence and Equity)

The Museum as a Public Institution

Sept. 14 Discussion of Visitors and the Museum (From Reinventing “Staying Away: Why People Choose Not to Visit Museums” Marilyn Hood and “The Visitors’ Bill of Rights” Judy Rand; From Museum, Sept-Oct. 2008 “Take a Seat” Steven Tokar)

Sept. 16: Discussion of Field Trip Experience—Field Trip Report due

Sept. 18: Who Owns History? (From Reinventing “Making Meaning Together: Lessons from the Field of American History” Lois H. Silverman)

Sept. 21: Who Owns History? A Case Study (From Displays of Power “Battle Royal: The Final Mission of the Enola Gay” Steven Dubin)

Sept. 23: Discussion of Museums and Community (From Reinventing “The Museum’s Role in a Multicultural Society” Claudine K. Brown and “Is There a Method in Our Madness?...” Mary Ellen Munley)

Sept. 25: Trust and Accountability in the Museum (From Reinventing “Museum Accountability: Laws, Rules, Ethics, and Accreditation” Willard L. Boyd; From Museum Sept-Oct. 2008 “Trust Buster” Nina Simon)

Sept. 28: Guest Speaker

Sept. 30: Midterm

The Museum as a Collecting Institution

Oct. 2: Class Field Trip!! (finally!) Hopefully we’ll be visiting the new exhibit at the James Monroe Museum.

Oct. 5: Discussion of the Role of Objects in the Museum (From Reinventing “What is the Object of This Exercise?” Elaine Hermann Gurian)

Oct. 7: Collecting in the 21st Century (From Reinventing “Collecting Then, Collecting Today: What’s the Difference?” Stephen E. Weil)

Oct. 9: Collections Management (From Reinventing “Collections Planning: Pinning Down a Strategy” James Gardner and Elizabeth Merritt and “Who Cares? Conservation in a Contemporary Context” Carole Milner)

Oct. 12: Fall Break! Fall Break!! Fall Break!!!

Oct. 14: Issues in Deaccessioning (From Reinventing “Deaccessioning: the American Perspective” Marie C. Malaro)

Oct. 16: Paperwork, Paperwork, Paperwork (no reading assignment but…exhibit review due)

Oct. 19: Discussion of Display, Identity and Ownership (reading from Exhibiting Dilemmas: Issues of Representation at the Smithsonian on Blackboard)

Oct. 21: Guest Speaker—cataloguing exercise due

The Museum as an Educational Institution

Oct. 23:  Changes in Attitude in Museum Education (From Reinventing “Changing Practices of Interpretation” Lisa Roberts)

Oct. 26: Learning in the Museum (assignment TBD)

Oct. 28: Discussion of Interpretation in Historic House Museums (reading from article by Barbara Levy on Blackboard)

Oct. 30: Discussion, Pushing the Envelope (From Reinventing “Mining the Museum: an Installation Confronting History” Lisa G. Corrin; from The Journal of Museum Education vol. 23, no.3, “An Interview with Fred Wilson” on Blackboard)

Nov 2: Discussion of the Role of Exhibit Design (From Reinventing “United States: a Science in the Making” C.G. Screven; from Ideas and Images: Developing Interpretive History Exhibits “Fit for America: How Fit for Visitors?” Lizabeth Cohen)

Nov.4: Field Trip to Kenmore

Nov. 6: Lessons From the Field:  Senior Student Panel Discussion

The Museum as a Financial/Bureaucratic Institution (well, you knew it was coming)

Nov 9: The Nitty Gritty of Museum Structure—museum education exercise due

Nov.11: Discussion of the Role of PR and Marketing (From Reinventing “Can Museums be All Things to All People? Missions, Goals, and Marketing’s Role” Neil Kotler and Philip Kotler)

Nov. 13: Critiquing Museum Brochures (group exercise)

Nov. 16: Fundraising: Challenges and Approaches (From Reinventing “Creampuffs and Hardball: Are You Really Worth What You Cost, or Just Merely Worthwhile?” Stephen E. Weil; also explore this website www.foundationcenter.org

Nov. 18: Museum Management: Planning and Policy (reading from The Manual of Museum Management, pp.48-53 on Blackboard)--PR pamphlet exercise due

Nov. 20: Museum Management: Qualities of Successful Leadership (From Reinventing “The Well-Managed Museum” Stephen E. Weil and Earl F. Cheit; from Manual pp.59-62 on Blackboard)

Nov. 23: Guest Speaker—grant-writing exercise due

Nov. 25: Happy Thanksgiving! (give thanks that we’re almost at the finish line)

Nov. 27: Still Giving Thanks

The Museum as an Institution of the Present and Future

Nov. 30: Discussion of Being Too Close for Comfort (From Exhibiting Dilemmas “Curating the Recent Past: the Woolworth Lunch Counter, Greensboro, N.C.”  William Yengst and Lonnie Bunch; “The Unstifled Muse: the ‘All in the Family’ Exhibit and Popular Culture at the National Museum of History” Ellen Roney Hughes, both on Blackboard; choose one of these to read for class)

Dec. 2: Once and Future Challenges (From Reinventing “Persistent Paradoxes” Robert James)

Dec. 4: Museums of the Future, the Future of Museums: the National Museum of the American Indian and the National Museum of African American History and Culture (From The Native Universe and Museums in the Twenty-First Century “Cultural Futures” Richard West, on Blackboard) Possible Guest Speaker

Dec. 10: Final Exam/Paper due to me by 6:00! Absolutely no Extensions (outside of extreme circumstances)