London Museums

4 credits · Undergraduate

This course introduces students to the rich museum culture of London. Through lectures, seminars, and visits to museums we will explore how museums create histories of art, society, and national identity. The course draws on the approaches of several disciplines–art, social, and cultural history, anthropology, social geography, and critical theory–to interrogate the ways that museums reflect and shape what we know and how we see. Exploring a selection of sites dating from the 18th century to the present day, we will consider the historical context in which these museums came about, the nature of their collections, and debates on current presentation, considering issues of museology, curatorial practice, and the construction of knowledge.