Art & the History of Art 200 - Museums and Society

This course offers a critical introduction to museums—their fraught histories, their roles in contemporary society, and their possible futures. Looking across cultural contexts, we will study museums not only as repositories of objects but as multifaceted and contested social spaces. We will focus on the relationships between museums and their diverse communities, including artists, visitors, staff, funders, and neighbors. Historical and theoretical readings will ground our discussions, and field trips will take advantage of the extraordinary collections and professionals on campus, across the Five Colleges, and in the Connecticut River Valley. We will grapple with key issues facing museums today, such as the use of digital technology and the restitution of stolen objects. Together, we will ask what museums have been and imagine what they might become.

Limited to 25 students. Spring semester: Professor Fein

How to handle overenrollment: Preference to ARHA majors.

Students who enroll in this course will likely encounter and be expected to engage in the following intellectual skills, modes of learning, and assessment: An emphasis on written work, readings, oral presentations, group work, and field trips.