 Module Content

This module will give students a broad and in-depth knowledge of the core concepts and practices underpinning the anthropology of museums and cultural heritage. We explore the life cycle of museum practices moving from processes of collection, classification, conservation, care, through to curation, participation, decolonisation, and display. Working closely with the UCL ethnographic collections as a case study, students will also practically apply their learning in practical sessions complementing the core lectures, and in their assessments. This module will also take you on field trips to explore how institutions manage, work with and present their collections, and encourage students to critically engage with the history of collecting and its implications for contemporary debates around cultural representation in museums and other heritage sites.

Learning outcomes

This module aims to:

·Explore the theories and methods employed in working with collections including: Object-based research

Curation

Collections care and management Exhibition

so that students are able to critique, select and apply approaches appropriately;

Interrogate the creation and use of collections and related documentation, and of archives;
	Build students’ practical skills in working with objects, documentation and exhibitions, including conducting original research into collections,;
	Explore the historical development of collection, curation, conservation and exhibition to examine motivations, meanings and ethical implications of these practices;
	Enhance students’ collaborative working
 

On successful completion of this module, students will:

Form an intermediate-level understanding of the curation and management of ethnographiccollections, including:
	Understanding objects from a wide range of different perspectives: material, social, political, and cultural. Collections care and management
	Museum/exhibition theory and practice;
	Visually assess object condition, identify deterioration and effectively suggest best-practice for culturally appropriate intervention and storage;
	Design and conduct research independently on collections through examining objects and their related documentation, and through comparing approaches to collection curation, management and exhibition in a range of museums;
Delivery

This module will be taught through weekly 3 one-hour sessions: 1-hour lectures (whole class), followed by 1- hour seminars (class divided in two), which will provide a forum for discussing the topics of the lecture and how these are practically applied when working with collections. There will also be weekly 1-hour practical lab sessions, in which students will be taught practical skills in working with objects and collections, including object handling, object and collection assessments, documentation, fundamentals of preventive object conservation, curation and communication/exhibition. Students will also be expected to undertake independent work to visit three exhibitions/museums in order to contribute to their summative and formative assessments.

Three field trips to Museums (of two 2.5 hours each) will give students an insight into how different institutions curate, work with and display their collections in a practical, working context, and will give students the opportunities to explore the challenges such institutions face.

Students will be expected to undertake two hours’ reading for each lecture/seminar, and two hours’ reading/preparation for each practical. They will also be expected to visit additional exhibitions/collections of their choice. Students will be expected to spend approximately 45 hours on the assessments (around 30 hours on the exhibition reconstruction and 15 hours on the object report).