ANTHR 4240

Collecting Culture: Museums and Anthropology

Course Description

Course information provided by the Courses of Study 2023-2024.

Ethnographic and archaeological objects are widely collected, by individuals and by institutions. This course will explore the history and processes of museums and collecting, and issues around working with collections. We will work with materials in the Anthropology Collections, and also draw on other resources on campus and in the area to experience a variety of ways that museums and collections are organized, maintained, conceptualized and presented. We also will consider challenges to collecting, such as its implication in nationalist and imperialist agendas, the problems of archaeological looting and ethnographic appropriation, and indigenous expectations and demands for inclusion in such activities.

When Offered Spring.

Permission Note Enrollment limited to: juniors or higher.
Prerequisites/Corequisites Prerequisite: at least one course in anthropology or archaeology.

Breadth Requirement (HB)
Distribution Category (ALC-AS, CA-AS, GLC-AS)

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