This course provides an overview of museums in America, examining the history of the institution in this country, the philosophical backgrounds and ethical issues, and the underlying philosophies. The class will learn about the inner-workings of managing a museum, from accessioning artifacts to putting on an exhibition, to creating exciting programs and publications.

Course Requirements

Mid-term quiz, exhibition review, project paper, and final exam.

Schedule

Session I: Introduction to Museums

What is a Museum? What Purpose Does it Serve?

Goals: To discuss what a museum is, based on the perceptions of the students and their readings. Explore the place of the museum in the community at large, the roles museums have played in the past, both in America and worldwide. Establish goals for the course.

Readings: None

Session II: The Role of Public History in Museums ­ Who "Owns" History?

Goals: Surveys indicate that the public trusts museums to tell the "real" story about history, that in fact they trust what they learn in museums above most other sources. How has traditional academic history played a role in presenting the past in museums? What, in fact, is "public history?"

Guest Speaker: Andy Ambrose, Ph. D. Deputy Director, Atlanta History Center

Readings:

• Burcaw, Ellis, Introduction to Museum Work, pp. 3-37
• Edson & Dean, The Handbook for Museums, pp. 3-13
• Michael Kammen, "History as a Lightning Rod," OAH Newsletter, 23 May 1995, pp. 1 & 6.
• Michael Wallace, "The Politics of Public History," Past Meets Present: Essays about Historic Interpretation and Public Audiences, pp. 37-53.
• John Kuo Wei Tchen, "Back to the Basics: Who is Researching and Interpreting for Whom?" Journal of American History 81 (1994), pp. 1004-1010.
• Richard Kohn, "History & the Culture Wars: The Case of the Smithsonian Institution¹s Enola Gay Exhibition," Journal of American History, December 1995, pp. 1036-1063
• Thomas Woods, "Museums & The Public: Doing History Together," Journal of American History, December 1995, pp. 1111-1115.

Session III: Museum Collecting: Archives

Goals: To discuss traditional collecting in archives, examine what is involved, the ethics of collection, and the standards of care for archival objects.

Speaker: Michael Rose, Director of Archives, Atlanta History Center

Readings:

• William A. Deiss, Museum Archives: An Introduction. Society of American Archivists, 1999.
• AAM Museum Code of Ethics

Session IV: Field trip to the Atlanta History Center Archives & the Herndon Home Archives

Goals: A backstage look at the archives, what they collect and why, with reference to other museum/library and archives. We will meet at the Atlanta History Center at 10 a.m. at our archives.

Guest Speakers: Paul Crater, archivist, Atlanta History Center; Dr. Carole Merritt, the Herndon Home

Session V: Museum Collecting: Objects

Goals: Examine how museum¹s object collections develop, with a look at different types of museums, from historic houses to the High Museum of Art. Review the development of a collecting policy and the ethical issues associated with that policy. Some questions to be considered: what issues are involved with the collecting of animals, such as at ZOO Atlanta? How does history play a role in what has been collected by museums up to the present?

Guest Speaker: Susan Neill Doutt, Curator of Textiles, Atlanta History Center

Readings:

• Edson & Dean, The Handbook for Museums, pp. 67-113
• Burcaw, Introduction to Museum Work, pp. 47-99
• Anne Woodhouse, "Museum Curators," Public History: Esays from the Field, ed. By James Gardner & Peter LaPaglia (Krieger Publishing, 1999).
• Edward Alexander, Museums in Motion: An Introduction to the History & Functions of Museums. pp. 117-137
• "Laws Affecting Museum Collections"
• "NAGPRA at 10: A Critique" Museum News, September/October 2000.

Session VI: Museum Registration Methods

Goals: The abc¹s of museum registration ­ hows, whys and wherefores.

Guest Speaker: Katie Anderson

Readings: TBD

Session VII -- Field trip to Area Museums

Goals: No class time. Take a critical look at two of the exhibitions at the area museums, discuss what is effective and what areas need attention, and why. Having reviewed museum collecting ­ take a close look at what objects are used in the exhibitions, how are they used and do they effectively convey the message? Museums to be assigned later

Session VIII: Museum Exhibitions

Goals: The public learns about history, biology, and culture from museums through their exhibitions. Examine how those exhibitions are selected, developed, and installed. Particular emphasis will be placed upon translating academic subjects for public audiences. Go over exhibition reviews from previous weeks.

Guest Speaker: Daniel Hoover, Exhibitions Coordinator, Atlanta History Center

Readings:

• Burcaw, Introduction to Museum Work, pp. 115-141
• Edson & Dean, The Handbook for Museums, pp. 143-192
• William H. Truettner, "For Museum Audiences: The Morning of a New Day?" in Exhibiting Dilemmas: Issues of Representation at the Smithsonian, eds. Amy Henderson and Adrienne Kaeppler (Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1197, pp. 28-46.
• Alexander, The Museum in American: Innovators & Pioneers. pp. 33-50 & 117-133.
• "Exhibition Conservation Strategies for Producing a Preservation ­Responsible Exhibition," by Nancy Jean Davis. Technical Leaflet from the American Association for State & Local History.
• "In the Beginning (and the End) is the World: Best Practices in Museum Exhibition Writing." A Handout from the 2001 AAM Annual Meeting and the AAM Curators Committee.

Session IX: Exhibition Controversy ­ Mid Term Exam

Goals: Explore recent controversies in museum exhibitions, from the canceling of an exhibition entitled "The Big House" at the Library of Congress to the recent proposed exhibition about lynching here in Atlanta. What responsibilities do museums have to the public, their boards, and other constituencies in developing and displaying these exhibitions?

Guest Speakers: Louise Shaw, former executive director of the Contemporary Arts Center and Daniel Hoover

Readings:

• Neil Harris, "Museums & Controversy: Some Introductory Reflections," Journal of American History, December 1995, pp. 1102-1110.
• Stewart Desmond, "Risk & Reward: The Story of Without Sanctuary," Museum News, March/April 2001, pp. 42-47
• Cathryn Keller, "Faith and the First Amendment: Santa Fe Style," Museum News, July/August 2001, pp. 33-35.
• Donald Garfield, "Making the Museum Mine: An Interview with Fred Wilson," Museum News, May/June 1993, pp. 46-49, 90.
• Robert R. Macdonald, "Tolerance, Trust and the Meaning of Sensation," Museum News, May/June 2000, pp. 47-53.
• "A Curator Defends His Show Exploring Nazi Imagery," New York Times on the Web, February 6, 2002.
• Jay Rounds, "Measure for Measure: Purpose and Problems in Evaluating Museums," Museum News, July/August 2001, pp. 43-45, 66-67, 70.

Session X: Museum Education, Part I

Goals: Review history of museum education. Modern museum education ideas have been around since the early 20th century, however, museum education in its current form began really in the 1960s. What happened to force this evolution and where is museum education going in the future?

Readings:

• Alexander, The Museum in America: Innovators & Pioneers, pp. 51-67, 85-100, 133-172.
• Burcaw, Introduction to Museum Work, pp. 135-145.
• Edson & Dean, pp. 161-202.
• Hein, George & Mary Alexander, Museums: Places of Learning, AAM EdCom, 1998.
• "Ageless Wisdom of the New Museum: Excerpts from the Writings of John Cotton Dana," Museum News, pp. 47-49, 68.
• Benjamin Ives Gilman, "The Museum Docent," an abridged version of the article originally published in 1915. Museum Education Anthology: 1973-1983, Museum Education Roundtable, 1984, pp. 148-167
• Deanna Kerrigan, "Developing Effective Educational Programs," History News Technical Leaflet, 1998.
• Atlanta History Center, Program Planning and Evaluation Forms

Session XI: Museum Education & Audiences

Goals: Discuss the museum¹s various audiences and their different needs. Examine the multiple learning styles museums can address. Explore program development and implementation.

Readings:

• David Thelen, "Learning Community: Lessons in Co-Creating the Civil Museum," Museum News, May/June 2001, pp. 57-69, 68-73, 92-95.
• John Falk, "A Framework for Diversifying Museum Audiences: Putting Heart and Head in the Right Place," Museum News, September/October 1998, pp. 36-39, 61.
• John Falk, "Museum Visitors: Who Does, Who Doesn¹t, and Why," Museum News, March/April 1998, pp. 38-43.
• Lynn Dierking, Jessica Luke, Kathryn Foat, & Leslie Adelman, "The Family & Free Choice Learning," Museum News, November/December 2001, pp. 38-43, 67-69
• Also, please check out The Institute for Learning Innovation and read the section about Free Choice Learning at www.ilinet.org

Session XII: Museum Management

Goals: An overview of the structure of non-profits, in particular museums, with a look at budgeting, income sources, and tax issues. We will also examine non-profit board and their roles and responsibilities.

Guest Speaker: Pam Meister, Atlanta History Center

Readings:

• Edson & Dean, The Handbook for Museums, pp. 1-54
• Burcaw, Introduction to Museum Work, pp. 39-46, 180-194
• "30 Years: A Higher Standard: AAM¹s Accreditation Program Celebrates its 30th Anniversary," Museum News, March/April 2001, pp. 49-56.
• "AAM Accreditation Program Benefits", from the website for the American Assocation of Museums.

Session XIV: Fundraising & Volunteerism

Goals: An overview of fundraising in the museum field, including a look at where the income of most museums originates. Examination of different grant/foundation processes and how they work. Second half of the class looks a one of a museum¹s most valuable resources, volunteers, and how you manage them.

Guest Speakers: TBD

Session XV: Field Trip to Museum Program, Sheep to Shawl

Goals: See a large museum program in action, with public/living history geared to different levels. Evaluate the effectiveness of the program in teaching the general public about farm life in the mid-19th century.

Session XVI: Marketing

Goals: Creating great exhibitions and programs is only part of the story, but how do you tell the public? This class will examine marketing methods from the small historic house museum to larger institutions such as the Atlanta History Center. Visitor¹s surveys and other issues will also be discussed. Students will review print advertisements from various museums and evaluate their effectiveness.

Guest Speaker: Shawndell Gainous

Readings:

• Burcaw, Introduction to Museum Work , pp. 168-179
• Marjorie Schwarzer, "Schizophrenic Agora: Mission, Market, and the Multi-Tasking Museum," Museum News, November/December 1999, pp. 40-47.
• Fiona McLean, Marketing the Museum, New York: Routledge Press, 1997, pp. 46-60, 89-104, 138-155.
• John Falk & Lynn Dierking, The Museum Experience, Washington, D.C.: Whalesback Books, 1992, pp. 25-37
• Joseph Pine II & James Gilmore, "The Experience Economy," Museum News, March/April 1999, pp. 45-48.
• Neil Kotler, "Marketing the Museum¹s Full Range of Assets," Museum News, May/June 1999, pp. 30-39, 58-61.

Session XVII: Museum Standards & Review of Semester

Goals: Discuss the current push towards benchmarking and success measurements, as well as deciding what "best practices" are in the variety of areas in which museums work. Review of Semester

Readings:

• "Performance Checklist for Historical Organizations: Parts I & II" by Charles F. Bryan, Jr., James C. Kelly, Frances S. Pollard, William Oborchta, Nelson Lankford, Pamela Seay, and Robert F. Strohm, History News Technical Leaflets, 2001

Papers are due on April 24

Session XVI: Final Exam