Department of Anthropology
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University of Arkansas Department of Anthropology |
ANTH
4453: Introduction to Museum Studies:
Museums, Material Culture, and Popular Imagination
Dr. JoAnn D’AliseraUniversity of Arkansas
Office: 346 Old Main
Fall 2001 Office Hours: Th 9:30-12:30 & by appointment
dalisera@uark.edu 575-4460
In this course we will explore how museums as ideological sites produce cultural and moral systems that legitimate existing social orders. We will focus on strategies of representation and the continuous process of negotiating social and cultural hierarchies with and through objects that are displayed. As such, we will explore the secret, hidden lives of “things” and the way in which they reflect back to us innumerable clues about who we are, where we are going, and what is important to us.
Required Texts:
Ben-Amos and Lillian Weissberg (1998) Cultural Memory & the Construction of Identity. Detroit: Wayne State University Press.
Handler, Richard & Eric Gable (1997) The New History in an Old Museum: Creating the Past at Colonial Williamsburg. Durham: Duke University Press.
Henderson, Amy (1997) Exhibiting Dilemmas: Issues of Representation at the Smithsonian. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press.
Lindfors, Bernth (1998) Africans on Stage: Studies in Ethnological Show Business. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Lutz, Catherine and Jane Collins (1993) Reading National Geographic. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Macdonald, Sharon and Gordon Fyfe (1996) Theorizing Museums: Representing Identity and Diversity in a Changing World. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.
Requirements:
Research Paper -- Graduate Students Only (200pts)
You will write a research paper (20-30 pgs) based on a topic that interests you and after consultation with me (I suggest meeting with me as soon as possible). I recommend you choose a topic for which there exist sufficient data. I strongly encourage graduate students to choose a research topic that closely relates to future research plans. If you have conducted fieldwork, I suggest that you choose a topic that incorporates your field data. In any case, your analysis should be well grounded in data, and should be theoretically informed, keeping in mind issues that come up in the class readings and discussions. You will be required to:
1. Write a proposal (2-3 pgs) stating your choice of topic to be researched. Your proposal will be due mid semester (10/11). A set of general guidelines will be provided at the start of the semester.
2. Construct an annotated bibliography. The bibliography will be due mid semester (10/11). A final version of your annotated bibliography should be submitted with your final paper. Bibliographies should include books, articles, and other relevant materials. I expect a minimum of 25 entries. A set of general guidelines will be provided at the start of the semester.
3. Meet with me on 2 occasions. All will be related to your final paper. Prior to beginning your research, and within two weeks of the semester, you will meet with me to discuss your research plans. Come to this meeting with an outline/draft of your proposal in hand. We will meet a second time, on or before week 12 (11/15), to discuss the progress of your research, bring your notes and bibliography to this meeting. All meetings are by appointment only and I strongly encourage you to meet with me to discuss your project more then the two required times.
4. At the start of the semester you will be assigned a writing partner. You will exchange a draft of your final paper in week 14 (11/29). A set of general guidelines on how to do a peer review will be provided at the start of the semester. I strongly suggest that you get to know each other as soon as possible.
5. Give a 10-15 minute in-class presentation of your paper in week 15 (12/6).
Final Paper – 100ptsProposal – 50ptsAnnotated Bibliography – 50 pts
Book Review – Undergraduates Only (200pts )
You will write a 5-8 page book review for one of the texts read in class. The review should describe the authors intent, the issues addressed, and the broad and specific questions posed by the author. However, it should not be a mere regurgitation of the authors ideas, but include a thoughtful assessment of those ideas. It should show me that you have read the book carefully, and participated in class discussions. It should be concise, clear, and well written. All direct quotes and key ideas from the text should be properly acknowledged and a standard reference/citation format should be used. I prefer American Anthropologist or American Ethnologist style. Your review is due the last day of class (12/6).
Team Projects and Presentations – All Students (200pts)
You will be assigned a partner at the start of the semester. As a team you will work together to complete two class projects to present to the entire class. Project handouts and a set of general guidelines will be provided at the start of the semester. You are required to:
1. Present your findings to the entire class as a team.
2. Write-up your findings in a co-authored essay. Your essay is due the day of your presentation.
Presentation – 100ptsEssay – 100pts
Participation/Reading Groups (200pts)
You will be assigned to a reading group at the start of the semester. Your group will be responsible for presenting an assigned set of readings from the syllabus. I expect everyone in the group and in the entire class to participate in discussing the readings. So it is expected that you read all assigned material prior to class. Come prepared to discuss and/or ask questions.
Format for Written Assignments
Please note that all assignments should be typed and doubled-spaced. Type should be no smaller than 10pt or larger than 12pt. You may use any common, distinctly legible, non-script font. Failure to adhere to these standards will result in a loss of points.
Grading
You are expected to complete ALL written assignments. If you fail to hand in an assignment you will receive an F for that assignment. If you fail to hand in an assignment ON TIME without a DOCUMENTED excuse, I will deduct 10% from the grade for that assignment. Class discussions are structured around readings. I expect you to have completed ALL of the assigned readings for a given day and that you come to class prepared to discuss and/or ask questions related to those readings. This is not a course in which passive note taking and night-before-the-test memorization are important. I want you to think, actively and often.
Grading Scale
Your final grade will be based on the total number of points you have accumulated for all assignments. Your grade will be a percentage of that score. The percentages to be used are as follows:
A 90-100%; B 80-89%; C 70-79%; D 60-69%; F Below 60%
Grading Philosophy -- Written Assignments
My grading philosophy is as follows:
An A paper is an excellent paper that uses information from class readings and independent research to make an argument that is not simply a repetition of arguments made in those readings, but goes well beyond them. An A paper should be a sophisticated, insightful, and convincingly made synthesis of ethnographic and theoretical resources. An A paper is very well written, that is, your paper should have outstanding grammar, spelling and organizational style.
A B paper is an above average paper that contains good coverage of topics covered in class readings and independent research. A B paper should be an articulate synthesis of ethnographic and theoretical resources. A B paper is well written with good grammar, spelling and organizational style.
A C paper is an average paper that recapitulates information correctly from class readings and independent research. It may be a B paper with some shortcomings.
A D paper is a paper with errors in information (these range from misidentifying authors, people, and places- including misspellings- to broader misrepresentations). A D paper is poorly written with numerous mistakes in grammar and spelling. A D paper is poorly organized.
An F paper is riddled with error, is badly written, and makes no attempt beyond repeating (albeit badly) information. Or it may reveal openly that the writer has not done the work upon which the assignment was based.
Academic Honesty
I expect that all written work that you turn in for this class is ultimately authored by you and you alone. Any student found to be deliberately copying from the written work of someone else (this includes fellow students, a published author or anyone else) without acknowledgment will receive 0 points for that assignment. In severe cases (100% plagiarism) you will receive an F for the entire course. There will be NO second chances. If you are unsure what constitutes legitimate paraphrasing vs plagiarism please see me or check your University Catalog.
Inclement Weather
In icy or snowy weather, I will have a voice mail message (575-4460) about whether or not class will be held.
Please note if you have a documented disability and wish to discuss academic accommodations, please contact me A.S.A.P.
COURSE OUTLINE
The Gaze – Looking at Looks
Week 1 8/30
Reading National Geographic pp. 1-119
Week 2 9/6
Reading National Geographic pp.119-285
Week 3 9/13
Africans on Stage: Studies in Ethnological Show Business
pp. 1-135
Week 4 9/20
Africans on Stage: Studies in Ethnological Show Business
pp. 135-290
Project #1
– team presentation
– essay due
Museums and Material Culture
Week 5 9/27
Theorizing Museums: Representing Identity and Diversity in a Changing World pp. 1-115
Week 6 10/4
Theorizing Museums: Representing Identity and Diversity in a Changing World pp. 127-229
Week 7 10/11
Exhibiting Dilemmas: Issues of Representation at the Smithsonian pp. 1-143
Paper proposal and bibliography Due
Week 8 10/18
Exhibiting Dilemmas: Issues of Representation at the Smithsonian pp. 143-272
Project #2
– team presentation
– essay due
Memory/Tradition/Heritage
Week 9 10/25
Cultural Memory & the Construction of Identity
pp. 1-136
Week 10 11/1
Cultural Memory & the Construction of Identity
pp. 136-301
Week 11 11/8
The New History in an Old Museum: Creating the Past at Colonial Williamsburg pp. 1-125
Week 12 11/15
The New History in an Old Museum: Creating the Past at Colonial Williamsburg pp. 125-236
Week 13 11/22
Thanksgiving Break!
Week 14 11/29
Guest Speaker – TBA
Exchange draft of your paper with your writing partner
Week 15 12/6
Final Paper Presentations
Final paper due
Book review due