History 397VW - ST-Public History Workshop
Spring
2019
01
3.00
LaShonda Barnett
TU TH 4:00PM 5:15PM
UMass Amherst
15476
Herter Hall room 225
lbarnett@umass.edu
This workshop provides students with a foundation on emerging methods in digital and public history -- such as geo-mapping and the online exhibition of historical source materials. Class activities and assignments will include both digital components and field experiences around Amherst and the surrounding area.
Open to Seniors, Juniors & Sophomores only. The Spring 2019 Course Topic for History 397VW is: "The Museum in African America"
In a museum, an object as simple as a hairbrush or as ephemeral as a song can be the means by which we imagine the past. This course is designed to introduce students to museology (the study of museums with regard to their roles, functions, and histories), and the political and theoretical issues that occupy curators daily as they design, shape and produce the historical narratives of museum exhibits. Several key questions guide our inquiry, including: What types of objects and what kinds of materials conjure the past? How do museums as ideological sites produce moral and cultural systems that maintain existing social orders? How do history museums become opportunities for African Americans to redefine themselves? Particular attention will be given to issues of theory and practice as they relate to African American museums. We will examine the museum?s functions in arenas of: collection, research, exhibition and interpret- tation. Students will read secondary sources from museum studies and the three academic disciplines most concerned with museum studies, material culture, anthropology and history (including art history); we will also consult cultural theory from black expressive culture studies and popular culture. Students will:
? Visit history museums and historic sites
? Familiarize themselves with basic conservation and preservation techniques
? Gain experience with collection registration and documentation
? Plan an exhibit
? Write exhibit labels
? Produce a case study for an African American history museum in the United States, which will include an personal interview conducted with the museum?s director.
In a museum, an object as simple as a hairbrush or as ephemeral as a song can be the means by which we imagine the past. This course is designed to introduce students to museology (the study of museums with regard to their roles, functions, and histories), and the political and theoretical issues that occupy curators daily as they design, shape and produce the historical narratives of museum exhibits. Several key questions guide our inquiry, including: What types of objects and what kinds of materials conjure the past? How do museums as ideological sites produce moral and cultural systems that maintain existing social orders? How do history museums become opportunities for African Americans to redefine themselves? Particular attention will be given to issues of theory and practice as they relate to African American museums. We will examine the museum?s functions in arenas of: collection, research, exhibition and interpret- tation. Students will read secondary sources from museum studies and the three academic disciplines most concerned with museum studies, material culture, anthropology and history (including art history); we will also consult cultural theory from black expressive culture studies and popular culture. Students will:
? Visit history museums and historic sites
? Familiarize themselves with basic conservation and preservation techniques
? Gain experience with collection registration and documentation
? Plan an exhibit
? Write exhibit labels
? Produce a case study for an African American history museum in the United States, which will include an personal interview conducted with the museum?s director.