Keepers of Culture, Catalysts for Change: The History of Museums and their Role in the Future

Authors

Meredith Fluke, College of the Holy CrossFollow
Kristyn Dyer, College of the Holy CrossFollow
Office of Alumni Relations, College of the Holy Cross

Files

Description

Museums are much more than containers of things. They are institutions that reveal a great deal about the interests, outlooks, and attitudes of the cultures that produce and use them. From what they put on view to how it is displayed, from who controls their contents to how they fit into larger intellectual and social programs, museums provide a unique point of view into cultural moments both past and present.

This webinar explores the history of the museum, and its role as an educational and social force. As we trace its development from the princely collection of early-Modern Europe, through the public institutions of the Enlightenment Age, to the Progressive-Era foundations of American civic museums, we discuss how the motivations and goals of museums have reflected the values of their societies in their practices of collecting, categorizing, and display. In addition, we consider the complex issues surrounding the modern museum: in this shifting landscape, how do museums respond to the competing needs of stakeholders? And what is the role of museums in structuring knowledge for their constituencies today?

Publication Date

8-4-2020

Keywords

museums, culture, history

Disciplines

Museum Studies

Comments

Faculty/Student Webinars, presented by the Office of Alumni Relations.

Duration: 1:14:40

Recommended readings:

• For up-to-date news and think pieces on the art and museum world: https://www.artnews.com/ https://hyperallergic.com/
• For a good column on the art market, see Tim Schneider’s (a former student!) Gray Market column on artnet news: https://news.artnet.com/about/tim-schneider-641
• And finally a good in-print book about Museums and Nationalism by Sociologist Peggy Levitt: Artifacts and Allegiances: How Museums Put the Nation and the World on Display (University of California Press, 2015) https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520286078/artifacts-and-allegiances
• And the link to the Society of Architectural Historians statement on Confederate Monuments: https://www.sah.org/about-sah/news/sah-news/news-detail/2020/06/19/sah-statement-on-the-removal-of-monuments-to-the-confederacy-from-public-spaces

Recommended Citation

Fluke, Meredith; Dyer, Kristyn; and Office of Alumni Relations, College of the Holy Cross, "Keepers of Culture, Catalysts for Change: The History of Museums and their Role in the Future" (2020). Live Lectures Series. 8.
https://crossworks.holycross.edu/live_lectures/8