Find the syllabus and assorted readings at umdrive/jgorman/public/museum%20practices
Below are my discussion notes for last night's class. We didn't get to everything, but we certainly had a great discussion about definitions and mission statements. The readings will clearly add a lot to the mix and we can certainly revisit the topic next week.
JMG
Discussion
Have students spend 10-15 minutes on the following objective:
• Define a museum for someone with no knowledge of one in about 50-75 words.
Have students go around the room reading their statements with the idea of thinking critically about them. Consider:
• What does the statement include/exclude
• What does it prioritize/marginalize
• Is the focus on functions or ideals
• Does the statement consider different roles for the museum
Having gone through these statements and thinking about them individually, ask broadly for the class, “What, then, is a museum?” What does it do? How does it do it? Who does it? Who is it done for?
Given the definitions you have outlined and discussed, would you consider the following museums?:
• a collection which is open to the public but which is static with no intent/possibility to acquire more to augment it.
• an exhibition with few, if any objects, fully accessible to eh public on a theme consistent with many museums such as war or ecology.
• a private collection occasionally exhibited to friends and others by appointment.
• a finely appointed historic house full furnished within period, including paintings bought over generations by the owners. It has excellent educational facilities and is fully accessible to the public.
• a building, holding collections, open to the public.
• an event with an educational or social purpose, stated in the community using original material.
• the Memphis zoo.
What are the types of museums in America?
What is the role of the museum in society?
What is the perception of the museum in society?
Are museums about people or collections?
Possible project surrounding break: Have Robert distribute recent Chucalissa Mission Statement and forward plan having students try to determine what chucalissa is and what it is about using questions we have had about their definitions of museums.
For the purpose of registration, the Musuems and Libraries Association of Britain requires that a museum mission answer:
• Why we exist (purpose)
• What we believe in (values)
• What we want to achieve (goals)
• What we do (function)
• Who we do it for (audience/stakeholders)
What do you think about these questions? How are they answered in Chucalissa’s mission statement?
Final question and discussion: What are some issues in contemporary museums? How might this class inform those issues? How might museum practice shape and be shaped by these issues.
Words to interrogate if used in class?
Public
Material evidence
Collection
Institution – governance/authority
Community
Education (goals/achievment)
