131-071 Museums, Objects, Spectacles: Exhibiting Histories and Cultures

Note

Availability

Credit Points

Coordinator

Prerequisites

Usually 25 points of first year History, see Prerequisites.

Semester

Contact

Subject Description

This subject traces the historical development through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries of western practices of exhibiting familiar and non-familiar cultures, ranging from the public spectacles of monarchy to international expositions, and with a focus on material culture and the role of museums. It investigates the role of emergent disciplines (e.g. ethnography) and technologies (e.g. photography) in authorising and popularising exhibits of 'other' societies, particularly in the context of European imperialism and postcolonialism; the cultural politics of collecting; concepts of tradition and nostalgia in public representations of the past; exhibition of indigenous peoples; the ways collecting and exhibiting practices create and maintain ideologies of racial, class and gender differences; and the WWW and 'virtual museum'. A range of visual and written texts, methodologies and theoretical frameworks will be examined, and the subject includes optional field trips to museums.

Assessment

Written work totalling 4000 words. 50% attendance at tutorials is required.