Stories of Power and Diversity: Inside Museums, Archives, and Collecting

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

What do the paintings and sculptures in museums and the manuscripts and antique books in archives tell us about our collective past? What do they tell us about how value, importance, and worth have been ascribed across time? As users of these cultural collections, how might we address inequities and silences within them? This course provides an introduction to the history of cultural heritage collecting and addresses major issues and questions in the field. Students will apply a critical gaze to the collections held in our campus repositories - the Snite Museum of Art, Rare Books and Special Collections, and University Archives - and in museums and archives beyond the Notre Dame campus. Students will reflect on what they read and discuss and collaboratively will build an online exhibition around themes of diversity in our campus collections. This exhibition will be published on the Hesburgh Library's Digital Exhibitions and Collections page and students will be given curatorial credit for their work. Note: This course will include a full day of site visits tentatively scheduled for September 30, 2022.