Who decides what gets shown in a museum? How it gets shown? Who is the intended audience, and how do these institutions engage with the public? This course peels back the curtain to examine how museums function, both as cultural institutions and as businesses. We will unpack the various roles museums play in our society, including meeting the players who make institutions tick. Through a series of themes, field trips, and meetings, we will analyze various kinds of museums, interact with museum professionals, and literally go behind the scenes to discuss issues such as collection storage and curation, exhibition implementation, development (fund raising), educational programming, and the handling of objects.
- Teacher: Sarah Gillespie