ART-265 Museums Are Not Neutral

GER: WR (Writing-Research Intensive)
It is recommended, but not required, that students take at least one art history course at the 100- or 200-level before enrolling in this class.
This course interrogates the myth of museum neutrality and examines cultural institutions-museums of art, history, natural history, science, ethnography as well as libraries and archives-as spaces for socially-engaged activity in our communities. It does so by tracing the development of the “national museum,” while also debating the purpose of museums and public art installations in the twenty-first century. We will look at a variety of case studies using primary and secondary sources that explore how collecting practices, exhibition organizing, and community protests have reconstituted the museum space into a site for activism and resistance in contemporary society. 4 credits.