-Edson and Dean, The Handbook for Museums

All museums share the responsibility of preserving and interpreting some aspect of our cultural and natural heritage for the benefit of the public/society. However, museums are more than the collections they house and the exhibits and programs they present. They are also people. Each museum is a complex network of individuals whose common goal is to share knowledge and information and experiences with other people, the museum audience.

This course provides a broad introduction to the museum world. The first half of the course focuses on what a museum is, and examines the various types of museum (art, history, natural history, science, etc.).The second half of the course investigates the various jobs and responsibilities that people have within museums. Through readings, written assignments, and panel discussions involving museum people (directors, curators, designers, conservators, and educators from museums in the greater Boston area), students will gain an understanding of the museum as institution, and an understanding of the challenges and responsibilities that museums and museum staff members encounter.

Katherine Burton Jones
Director, Office of Information Technology and Media Services
Harvard Divinity School
45 Francis Avenue, G9
Phone: (617) 495-1969 E-mail: kathy_jones@harvard.edu
Office Hours: By appointment.

Shelley N. Monaghan
Exhibit Developer and Consultant
12 Conant Drive, Brockton, MA 02301
Phone: (508) 586-3541 Fax: 508-586-2435
E-mail: shelleyn@comcast.net
Office Hours: By appointment.

 

We will be offering a field trip for a behind the scenes look at a museum. The field trip's date (to be announced) will occur on the regular class day and during regular class time.

Edward P. Alexander, Museums in Motion, An Introduction to the History and Functions of Museums, Altamira Press, January1996, 308 pp., paper. ISBN: 0761991557 (available at the Textbook store and on reserve at Grossman Library)

Gary Edson and David Dean, The Handbook for Museums, Routledge, London and New York, 1997, 302 p., paperback. ISBN: 0415099536 (available at the Textbook store and on reserve at Grossman Library)

Various authors, America's Museums, Daedalus: The Journal of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Volume 128, No. 3, Summer 1999, Cambridge, MA, 338 p., paperback ISBN: 0877240167 (Out of Print. Several copies on reserve at Grossman Library.)

Stephen E. Weil, Making Museums Matter, Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington and London, 2003, 273 p., paperback ISBN: 1588340007 (available at Grossman Library; can be ordered through the Smithsonian bookstore, American Association of Museums bookstore, and many online bookstores.)

 

 

Several books focusing on the development of specific museums will be recommended in a bibliography/hand out. Students are asked to select one of these to read during the semester as a case study of a museum's formation/development.

Other readings: Other articles and books will be placed on reserve at Grossman Library (Sever Hall, 3rd Floor). Copies of all required and recommended texts will also be held on reserve. Note: This is not a lending library; however a photocopy machine is available.