Museums and Social Justice

3 Credits · Level: Graduate, Undergraduate

What is the role of American museums in fostering social justice? How can museums provide a more inclusive narrative of American art, history and culture? Taking four area museums as case studies, this course will explore how the National Museum of the American Indian, the Freer|Sackler Galleries, the National Museum of Women in the Arts, and the National Museum of African American History and Culture shape our understanding of American cultural life. We will investigate how museums define ‘art’ in a non-western context, how they collect and display non-western material, and how they use material culture to create a more inclusive historical narrative. We will also consider the relevance of ‘intersectionality,’ ‘agonism,’ and the ‘postcolonial museum,’ and will consider the work of advocacy blogs/groups such as Museum Hue and The Incluseum. In the course of our discussion, students will also learn about three of the core museum areas: collections management, education, and curating, and will discuss issues of diversity in museum audiences, boards, and staffing. This course will require at least three site visits to museums during class time, as well as at least one visit outside of class.