ARTH 594: The Museum
Prof. Robert DeCaroli
Tuesday: 7:20-10:00
Art and Design Building Room 2001
Course Description/Objectives:
This course will examine the history of the museum as an institution from its origins
among semi-private collections to it emergence as a highly visible global practice. How
and why did museums come into being? What ideologies guide their perpetuation and
what audiences do they serve? In addition to considering the historical development of
the museum we will also explore the complex issues that these institutions generate. In
particular, questions of nationhood, repatriation, forgery, and funding will guide our
analysis. This is a seminar-style course, so assignments will consist mainly of writing
assignments, class participation, and in-class presentations. The course will require a
museum visit.
Office Hours: Tuesday 3:00-4:00 and Thursday 4:00-5:30 and by Appointment
Email: rdecarol@gmu.edu
Course Requirements:
Participation
Exhibition Review
Paper Topic Proposal
Research Paper
Class Presentation
10%
20%
10%
50%
10%
The class meetings will consist of seminar-style discussions on specific topics.
These meetings will form the core of the course material so it is strongly advised that you
attend class consistently. ALL students are expected to participate in class discussions.
All students will need to turn in a Paper Topic Proposal with a Thesis and
annotated Bibliography in which the subject of the research paper is discussed and
bibliographic information is provided.
The Research Paper will be 15 to 20 pages in length and involves independent
research on a museum, exhibition, or Museum-related issue.
More information on all of these assignments will be provided during the term.
Grading Policies:
A
100-93%
A92-90%
B+
89-87%
B
86-83%
B82-80%
C+
C
D
F
79-77%
76-70%
69-60%
59% and lower
This class is a seminar centered on the discussion of assigned texts. A student’s
class participation grade will be evaluated not according to the amount of talking that
student does, but rather according to whether that student contributes thoughtfully and
constructively, based on a careful consideration of the class readings. Obviously,
students cannot contribute to class discussion if they are absent; consequently, repeated
unexcused absences will be reflected in their participation grade. Office hour discussions
will also apply to this portion of your grade.
Make-up tests and extensions will be given ONLY in cases of emergencies or
illnesses with proper documentation (doctor’s note etc.) In all other cases (family
obligations, religious holidays, disabilities etc.), extensions may be granted if I am
informed well BEFORE the deadline.
Papers are due IN CLASS on the day specified in the schedule. Late papers will
be marked down five points (half a grade) for every weekday and ten points (a full grade)
for every weekend they are late.
Adherence to codes of academic honesty is expected on all assignments and in all
testing situations. I take the Honor Code (as stipulated in the university undergraduate
catalog) very seriously. This code is a simple expression of respect for the course, your
classmates and yourself. Cheating and Plagiarism are forbidden (obviously).
Course Readings:
Articles and book chapters on electronic reserves and JSTOR
Books:
James Cuno. Who Owns Antiquity? Museums and the Battle over Ancient
Heritage. (Princeton: Princeton UP, 2011)
Carol Duncan. Civilizing Rituals: Inside Public Art Museums. (New
York: Routledge, 1995)
Jane R. Glaser and Artemis A. Zenetou. Museums: A Place to Work
Planning Museum Careers. (New York: Routledge Press, 1996)
Sally Price. Primitive Art in Civilized Places. (Chicago: University of
Chicago Press, 1991)
Lawrence Weschler. Mr. Wilsons’ Cabinet of Wonders: Pronged Ants,
Horned Humans and Other Marvels of Jurassic Technology. (Los
Angeles: Vintage Press, 1996)
Readings and Lectures: (This schedule is subject to change)
----Readings need to be completed BEFORE the day under which they are listed----
Week 1 -- Jan 25th
The Exhibit as an Object of Study
Read: The Getty Kouros Colloquium. A. Kokkou ed. (Athens: Nicholas Goulandris
Foundation, 1992) 5-7, 11-19, 37-38, 43-47, 57-59, 65-66.
Andrew McClellan. The Art Museum from Boullée to Bilbao. (Berkeley:
University of California Press, 2008) 107-154.
The Development of the Institution
Week 2 – Feb. 1st
Cultural Curios: Traditions of Collecting
Read: Craig Clunas, Superfluous Things: Material Culture and Social Status in Early
Modern China. (Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 1991) 91-115
Paula Young Lee, “The Musaeum of Alexandria and the Formation of the
Museum in 18th Century France” Art Bulletin. vol. 79, no. 3. (Sep., 1997), 1-28
(on JSTOR)
Week 3 -- Feb. 8th
Museums and the Nation State
Read: Duncan, Civilizing Rituals, 1-47. (Book)
Charles Coleman Sellers, “Peale’s Museum and ‘The New Museum Idea’,”
Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, vol. 124, no. 1. (Feb. 29,
1980), pp. 25-34. (on JSTOR)
Week 4 – Feb. 15th
Colonialism and Classification
-----Exhibition Reviews Due ---Read: Tim Barringer. “The South Kensington Museum and the Colonial Project’ in
Colonialism and the Object of Empire: Empire, Material Culture and the
Museum. (New York: Routledge, 1998) 11-27.
Clunas, Craig. “Oriental Antiquities/Far Eastern Art.” Positions: East Asia
Cultures Critique. Vol. 2, No. 2 (Fall 1994) 318-355.
James Hevia, “Looting Beijing: 1860-1900” in Tokens of Exchange: The Problem
of Translation in Global Circulations. Lydia H. Liu ed. (Durham: Duke
University Press, 1999) 192-213.
Art, Power, and Otherness
Week 5 – Feb. 22nd
Ethnography vs. Art
(Video: In and Out of Africa)
Read: Sally Price. Primitive Art in Civilized Places. (Book)
Susan Vogel, “Always True to the Object in our Fashion” in Exhibiting Cultures:
the Poetics and Politics of Museum Display. I. Karp and S Lavine eds.
(Washington D.C.: Smithsonian Institution, 1991) 191-204
Week 6 -- Mar. 1st
Looting, Possession, and Repatriation
Paper Topic Proposal Due
(Video: The Stolen Treasures of Cambodia)
Read: James Cuno. Who Owns Antiquity? Museums and the Battle over Ancient
Heritage. (Book)
Roger Atwood’s response in Archaeology (2008) online at:
http://www.archaeology.org/0807/etc/insider.html
Week 7 ---- Mar. 8th
Authenticity: the Problem of Fakes and Forgeries
(Video: Fine Art of Faking It)
Read: Jeffrey Spier, “Blinded with Science: The Abuse of Science in the Detection of
False Antiquities” The Burlington Magazine, vol. 132, no. 1050. (Sep., 1990)
623-631. (JSTOR)
Mark Jones, “What is a Fake?” in Fake? The Art of Deception. (Berkeley:
University of California Press, 1990) 11-16
Stuart Fleming. “Art Forgery: Some Scientific Defenses” Proceedings of the
American Philosophical Society, Vol. 130, No. 2 (Jun., 1986)175-195. (JSTOR)
Theodore Rousseau. “The Stylistic Detection of Forgeries.” The Metropolitan
Museum of Art Bulletin, New Series, Vol. 26, No. 6, Art Forgery (Feb., 1968),
247-252. (JSTOR)
Week 8 -- Mar. 15th Spring Break
Curatorial Practice
Week 9 -- Mar. 22nd
How Museums Function – Donors and Duties
Read: Carol Duncan, Civilizing Rituals. (Book) 48-101.
Jane R. Glaser and Artemis A. Zenetou. Museums: A Place to Work
Planning Museum Careers. (Book) – Selected Portions
Week 10 -- Mar. 29th
Advocacy and Controversy
Read: Steven C. Dubin. “Battle Royal: The Final Mission of the Enola Gay”. Displays of
Power: Memory and Amnesia in the American Museum. (New York: NYU Press,
1999) 186-226.
Timothy W. Luke. Museum Politics: Power Plays at the Exhibition. (Minnesota:
University of Minnesota Press, 2002) 37-64.
Plus locate an additional reading on an example of museum controversy or
advocacy of your choice.
Week 11 -- Apr. 5th
Forces of Preservation and Change
Read: Day, Holliday and Sturges, Hollister. “Introduction” Art of the Fantastic:
Latin America 1920-1987. (Indianapolis Museum of Art, 1987) 38-40
Ramirez, Mari Carmen. “Beyond the Fantastic Framing identity in US Exhibitions
of Latin American Art.” Beyond the Fantastic. (MIT press, 1996) 229-246.
Steven C. Dubin. Transforming Museums: Mounting Queen Victoria in a
Democratic South Africa. (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006) 31-53.
Vishakha Desai. “Re-Visioning Asian Arts in the 1990’s: Reflections of a
Museum Professional.” Art Bulletin. LXXVII No. 3 (June 1995)169-174.
Week 12 -- Apr. 12th
New Visions of the Museum
(Video: Inhaling the Spore)
Read: Lawrence Weschler, Mr. Wilson’s Cabinet of Wonder. (Book)
Museum of Jurassic Technology Website. http://www.mjt.org/
Week 13 -- Apr. 19th Student Presentations
Week 14 -- Apr. 26th Student Presentations
Week 15 -- May 3rd Student Presentations
----Final Paper’s Due ------