Readings

A note on the reading schedule: Since I’m still finalizing the dates for guest speakers and other special events, this reading list will likely change, perhaps a lot, over the quarter. Be sure and check the reading in advance of each class.

If readings are freely available, they’re linked directly from this list. If the readings aren’t linked here, they’re available on CCLE.

WeekDayDateTopicReading 1Reading 2Reading 3AssignmentKeyword(s)
1MJan. 9Introduction
1WJan. 11Special Collections visit. Meet on Level B of Young Research LibraryFinding aid for the George P. Johnson collectionGeorge P. Johnson oral history (click on "Interview Full Transcript")Early African American Filmartifact
2MJan. 16NO CLASS
2WJan. 18MaterialityJeeHee Hong, "material/materiality," The Chicago School of Media TheorySteven Conn, "Do Museums Still Need Objects?"Please explore the Smithsonian's X3D objectsBlog Post Onemateriality
3MJan. 23Race at the MuseumLucille Clifton, "at the cemetery, walnut grove plantation, south carolina, 1989" (just the poem) and contextVisitors of Color (please browse this site and read entries that interest you)Kathleen Fine-Dare, "Museums and Objects of Empire" (see also some additional suggested readings)Two comments on your classmates' blog posts
3WJan. 25Nuts and bolts 1Selections from Lord and Piacente, Manual of Museum Exhibitionscuration, exhibit design, interpretive plan
4MJan. 30What is a museum?Eugene Dillenberg, "What, If Anything, is a Museum?"Geoffrey D. Lewis, "History of Museums" (don't hate, it's a good article)Blog Post Twomuseum
4WFeb. 1Radical curation. Special guest: Hanna Girma, assistant curator, The Mistake Room (and DH alumna!)Tony Bennett, "The Exhibitionary Complex"Deborah Vankin, "The Mistake Room brings global view to gritty downtown L.A. art scene"Shana Nys Dambrot, "The Mistake Room: The L.A. Art World's Next Big Thing"Two comments on your classmates' blog postsexhibitionary complex
5MFeb. 6Museums' "Digital Dilemma" (special guest: Dr. Emily Pugh, Getty Research Institute)Marissa Clifford (UCLA DH alumna, woot!), "Metadata Specialists Share Their Challenges, Defeats, and Triumphs"Robert J. Weisberg, "Metadata and the Museum Digital Dilemma"
5WFeb. 8Research symposiumSee Blog Post Three for details.Watch Within Our Gates (Micheaux, 1920)Blog Post Three
6MFeb. 13How are museums using technology now?Andrea Shea, "Beacons, QR Codes And 3-D Printing: Enter The Museum Of The 21st Century"Arup Foresight, Museums in a Digital Age" (PDF)Design a Wig, Ripped Apart: A Civil War Mystery (or download the app), The Artist ProjectTwo comments on your classmates' blog poststechnology
6WFeb. 15Trip to Special CollectionsMaggie Burnette Stogner, "Communicating Culture in the 21st Century
The Power of Media-Enhanced lmmersive Storytelling"
Beth A. Twiss-Houting et al., "Learning Theory in the Museum Setting"Blog Post Four
7MFeb. 20NO CLASS
7WFeb. 22EXCITING FIELD TRIP! California African American Museum, with Deputy Director Naima KeithRobert R. Janes, "Museums, Social Responsibility, and the Future We Desire"Two comments on your classmates' blog posts
8MFeb. 27Working sessionOptional: Stephen Greenblatt, "Resonance and Wonder"Optional: Susan Vogel, "Always True to the Object, in Our Fashion"resonance, wonder
8W1-MarProf. Posner out of town for conference. Please us this class session for group work.
9M6-MarTechnology and the exhibitionary complexGwyneira Isaac, "Technology Becomes the Object"Deidre Brown and George Nicholas, "Protecting indigenous Cultural Property in the Age of Digital Democracy"postcolonial
9W8-MarGuest: Deborah Horowitz, Managing Director, Creative Content, Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences MuseumBlog Post Five
10M13-MarCurating HistoryRichard Rabinowitz, "Eavesdropping at the Well: Interpretive Media in the Slavery in New York Exhibition"Leslie Harris, "Imperfect Archives and the Historical Imagination"Two comments on your classmates' blog posts
10W15-MarWorking session
11F24-MarDue date for final group report