AHY 2210 - A History of Exhibitions

Credits: 4
This course explores the practice of collecting and modes of displaying images and objects across time and world cultures. We will examine how the museum has served to shape racial and national narratives and identity through various case studies including ekphrastic writings from late antiquity, medieval hoarding, and 17th century Curiosity Cabinets and to the formulation of the idea of the encyclopedic museum, World’s Fairs, museums of ethnography and natural history, and art exhibitions. Students will discuss and debate a variety of primary and theoretical texts on the power of exhibition planning, as well as topics related to “othering,” subjugating and/or objectifying marginalized communities and cultures. Special emphasis will be placed on the role of repatriation of art that has been stolen from original cultures through role-playing scenarios.
McDaniel Plan: International; Social, Cultural, Historical Understanding; Experiential Learning