ARTH 4720

Curating the British Empire

Course Description

Course information provided by the 2025-2026 Catalog.

During Europe's colonial era, the modern museum emerged as a site of cultural and scientific authority. This course investigates the history of imperial collections and collectors, with a focus on Britain and the East India Company in the nineteenth century. Examples of topics include: the supply chain for artifacts and knowledge resources; changing conceptions of intellectual property, ownership and access; household versus public versus for-profit collections; museums and the narration of social values and cultural identities; debates over the function or aims of museums and related institutions; the collections and the administration of the empire; the collections and the growth of the sciences; the postcolonial legacies of colonial collections.

Distribution Requirements (CA-AG, HA-AG), (GLC-AS, HST-AS)

Last 1 Terms Offered 2022FA

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