museums5304

Note for graduate students: This syllabus contains assignments for the undergraduates as well as your assignments. Note, however, the specific dates and requirements for your course. They are significantly different from the undergraduate assignments.

Course Description and Learning Outcomes

This course will introduce students to the basic elements of museology and museography (the theory and practice of museum work). Readings and course assignments are designed to expose students to the various aspects of museum studies and employment: collections, research, exhibits, interpretation education, administration, public relations, fund-raising, staffing, and ethics. Although the course will begin with an examination of the origins of the modern museum, our primary focus will be understanding the various challenges-- ethical, interpretive, organizational, and financial-- that museums face today.

As a seminar course, Introduction to Museum Studies is designed to afford students an opportunity to explore what employment options exist in the field. To that end, several guest speakers will visit the class and share their experiences as museum professionals in the region. The class also will serve as consultants to a local historical society museum and through hands-on learning activities gain firsthand knowledge of museum work.

Students interested in pursuing a museum career should consider attending at least part of the Georgia Association of Museums and Galleries= annual meeting in Athens, Georgia, January 30-February 1, 2002.

Course Readings

All Students:

Burcaw, G. Ellis, Introduction to Museum Work. Altamira Press, 1997.

George, Gerald and Cindy Sherrell-Leo, Starting Right: A Basic Guide to Museum Planning. Altamira Press reprint, 1995.

American Association of Museums, ACode of Ethics.@ AAM, 1994. (On reserve at Ingram)

American Association of Museums, AA Higher Standard: The Museum Accreditation Handbook.@ AAM, 1997. (On reserve at Ingram)

Art Students only:

Weil, Stephen E. A Cabinet of Curiousities: Inquiries into Museums and Their Prospects. Smithsonian Institution, 1995.

History Students only:

Leon, Warren and Roy Rosenzweig, History Museums in the United States: A Critical Assessment. University of Illinois Press, 1989.

History Graduate Students Only:

January 7:		Introduction to Museums; preliminary examination of local museum project.
January 14:		History and Philosophy of Museums and Museum Accreditation: Read: Burcaw, 13-36; Museum Accreditation Handbook, 8-23 (reserve); Leon & Rosenzweig essay 1 or Weil essays 1-2; George & Sherrell-Leo, 7-30. Due: Museum Exploration Assignment report come to class prepared to establish work project teams
January 21:		NO CLASS: Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday
January 28:		Museum Governance, Mission Statements, and Ethics: Read: Burcaw, 37-55; Museum Accreditation Handbook, 24-57(reserve); AMuseum Ethics,@ (reserve); Leon & Rosenzweig essay 2 or Weil essays 3-4; George & Sherrell-Leo, 33-47. Due: 1)Bring to Class an example of a Museum Mission Statement; 2)Two-page Report on a Museum Professional
February 4:		Museum Collections: Theory and Ethics Read: Burcaw, 56-92; Leon & Rosenzweig essay 3 or Weil essays, 9-10; George & Sherrell-Leo, 65-77, 89-101
February 11:		Museum Collections: Registration and Curation: Read: Burcaw, 93-101; Leon & Rosenzweig essay 4 or Weil essays, 11-12; George & Sherrell-Leo, 133-134, 137
February 18:		Museum Collections: Care and Conservation: Read: Burcaw, 102-117; Leon & Rosenzweig essay 5 or Weil essay 13
February 25		Research in Museums: Read: Burcaw, 121-128; Leon & Rosenzweig essay 6 or Weil essays 5-6

March 4:		Tentative: Either Field Trip to Atlanta History Center or Work Day at Local County Museum (class meeting time will probably be adjusted to maximize work/research time and safety of travel) Read: Burcaw, 163-168
March 11:		Museum Interpretation: Read: Burcaw, 150-157; Leon & Rosenzweig essay 8 or Weil essays 7-8 Due: 1) Midterm take-home (5-6 pages) 2) Graduate Students Need to be prepared to lead class in a discussion of Tilden=s Aprinciples of interpretation@
March 18:		NO CLASS- SPRING BREAK
March 25:		Museum Exhibits: Read: Burcaw, 129-149; Leon & Rosenzweig essay 9 or Weil essays 17-18 Due: Museum Exhibit Review Due (4-6 double-spaced pages)
April 1:		Museum Education: Read: Burcaw 158-162; Leon & Rosenzweig essay 10 or Weil Essay 19 Due: 1) Bring in a schedule of school programs or school program materials from a museum 2) Graduate students will submit their Tilden reviews
April 8:		Museum Administration: Staffing, Marketing, Development, and Financing Read: Burcaw, 193-214; Leon & Rosenzweig essay 11 or Weil essays 14-16; George & Sherrell-Leo, 79-87, 103-122, 135-136, 139-141 Due: Bring a museum brochure
April 15:		The Museum in the Community: special events, volunteer, programs, and community involvement Read: Burcaw, 171-192; Leon & Rosenzweig essay 12 or Weil essays 20-21; George & Sherrell-Leo, 53-62 Due: Bring in a calendar of events from a museum
April 22:		Current Issues in Museum Work: Read: Burcaw, 215-225; Leon & Rosenzweig essay 7 or Weil essays 22-24 Due: Bring to class a recent newspaper or magazine article that raise current issues faced by museums
April 29:		Last Day of Class: Due: Conservation Assessment Program report due
May 6:		Final Exam, 5:30-7:30pm, presentation of final projects results

Due Date

Assignment

January 14:

Museum Exploration Report: Visit the website:

AMuseums in the USA@ http://www.icom.org/vlmp/usa.html

-- go to ATop Sites;@ choose a museum to profile. Write a two page report detailing: the museum=s location, types of collections, funding sources, mission, sponsored activities, outreach etc...

Other Museum links can be found at http://www.heritagepreservation.org

under APreservation Links@

Students may look ahead at other assignments and choose one museum which allows them to complete all related assignments or you may elect to investigate a variety of museums.

January 28:

1) Bring to Class an Example of a Museum Mission Statement

2)Submit a two-page report on a member of a museum staff and conduct an e-mail interview with that individual: how, why did they become involved in the museum profession, training or life experience that contributed to the acquisition of the position they hold today.

March 11:		Mid-Term Report: Museum Collections Policy Report: Pretend that the Polk County Historical Society has hired you to serve as a curations-expert and has asked you to design a manual of collection policies and procedures. For this assignment you should: describe the museum=s location, facilities for display and storage, and mission statement; provide an overview (based on the artifacts summary report given you at the beginning of the semester) of the museum=s current holdings and how well this collection supports the museum=s mission. Given the information that you have regarding the museum=s projected growth goals, what areas, artifacts etc... should the museum focus on for collections development.
Your report should be five to six pages in length, plus two forms (for collection and curation). Given that this assignment mimics actual internal museum reporting, in the sections where guideline/policy statements/observations are enumerated, double-spacing is not required.March 25:		Museum Exhibit Review: In a four to six page paper (double-spaced), review either a permanent or temporary exhibit of your choice. Please consider the following issues: 1. Goals and audience: What is the exhibit=s purpose? Who is the intended audience? Does the exhibit adequately reach this audience? Is the exhibit appropriate for the museum in which it is housed? 2. Research: Does the museum contribute to scholarship in its field? Is it well researched? Is the text appropriate and adequate? 3. Exhibit techniques: In addition, evaluate the overall design and layout of the exhibit, the exhibit labels, the artifact selection, and relevant security and conservation issues. 4. Programming: Please assess to what extent the museum has developed programs or tried to extend its research related to the exhibit topic and the quality of this programming. Is there a catalog and is it well-done? If not, would a catalog be appropriate? For sample reviews you might want to read other exhibit reviews in: newspapers: Atlanta Journal-Constitution, New York Times, Washington Post, Public Historian,* or American Quarterly, however, answering the issues and questions raised above are more important than mimicking the style of reviews from the suggested publications.
April 1:		1)Bring in a schedule of school programs or school program materials from a museum. 2) Graduate Students will submit a three page (double-spaced) review of Tilden=s Aprinciples of interpretation,@ paying particular attention to the validity of his theories and principles of interpretation to current museum work.
April 8:		Bring in a museum brochure.
April 15:		Review Paper Due: Go to the Smithsonian Museum Studies Bulletin website: http://museumstudies.si.edu/bull/bullt.htm ; read one of the articles from attached sheet, and submit a two page (double-spaced) review of the article, it is expected that you will relate your analysis of the article to issues raised in other required readings or class discussions.

April 22:

Bring to Class a recent newspaper or magazine article that raises current issues faced by a museum. (On-line articles from April 15 assignment not eligible for this assignment)April 29:

Conservation Assessment Program Report Due. Either individually or in teams (this will be determined during the course of the semester) students will fill the requirements of a mock-CAP program application on behalf of the Polk County Historical Society Museum. In addition to submitting the mock application, the student/teams will submit a two-five page report detailing the areas in which the Polk County Historical Society Museum do or do not meet the requirements to be a ACAPped@ museum, and what it would take to meet these requirements. Although we will discuss this during the course of the semester, you are encouraged to go to: http://www.heritagepreservation.org/ and begin learning about the Conservation Assessment Program (CAP) as soon as you can

May 6:

Final Examination Day: Presentation of Final Project Reports: The nature of these final project reports will be determined by the work the class Acontracts@ to do for the Polk County Historical Society Museum. However, the work load will not exceed that comparable for a ten-15 page research paper.

Attendance: Attendance is critical in a class which meets only once a week. More than two unexcused absences or four excused absences will lower your course grade and additional assignments may be given to compensate for missing class discussions.

Class Participation: Class participation in a class of this size is also expected; on days when students have been asked to bring Aexamples@ of assigned subject matter to class, failure to bring such materials will negatively affect the student=s participation ranking for that day. Late submission of these materials will not be accepted as they will no longer be relevant to the class discussions.

Discussion: It is expected that students will have read the assigned materials for each class. Because of the interdisciplinary nature of this course, being prepared to raise, discuss and debate issues is critical to the course=s success. Quality, not quantity, of student commentary will be most valued; but all students should come to each class with questions and comments to share.

Course Grade: These are tentative guidelines and subject to the availability of resources and the assessment of individual performance in the class

Vol.1 #1 May 1993	Kmetz, Deborah. ASeeing It With Your Own Eyes@ Kurin, Richard. AOur Society Does Not Need Culturally or Racially Specific Museums@ Screven, Chandler G. AMuseums and Informal Education@
Vol.1#2 October 1993	Brown, Claudine. ACommunity Focused Museums: Reflecting the Reality of a Plurality@ Ratcliffe, Stephanie. AIntegrating Parenting Skill Information into Exhibitions for the Early Childhood Audience@
Vol.4#1 April 1996	McRainey, D. Lynn. AInterpreting History Through Interactive Experiences@
Vol.6#1 May 1998	Barbosa, Maria Christina. APossibilities and Strategies for Implementing the Museum Library into the Activities of Other Museum Departments@ Moreno, Maria-Jose. AThe Organizational Behavior of Small Marginal Institutions: The Case of Hispanic Museums@
Vol.7#1 Jan 2000	Sheppard, Beverly. AMuseum Careers in the Next Millenium@ Harth, Marjorie. AOld Traditions/New Obligations: Museums and the Management of Indigenous Collections@

Undergraduates	Graduates:
Attendance &	Attendance &
Participation 10%	Participation 10%
3 (two page papers) 30%	3 (two page papers) & 1 (three page paper) 30%
Mid-Term Examination 15%	Mid-Term Examination 15%