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Full-Text Articles in Museum Studies
Cross-Institutional Collaboration And Exhibit Making: “On The Gold Mountain: Chinese Mining History And Heritage Of Idaho” At The Idaho Museum Of Mining And Geology, Jordan Kathleen Bennett
Cross-Institutional Collaboration And Exhibit Making: “On The Gold Mountain: Chinese Mining History And Heritage Of Idaho” At The Idaho Museum Of Mining And Geology, Jordan Kathleen Bennett
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
The Gold Rush, which brought many new immigrant communities to the American West, made a permanent impact on American culture by prompting the development of many Western towns. However, the Chinese immigrant mining population in the Boise, Idaho area has had little museum representation despite the more than 300,000 Chinese people who emigrated to the US between the 1840s and 1880. To rectify this, the Idaho Museum of Mining and Geology (IMMG), in collaboration with members of the Payette National Forest, the Asian American Comparative Collection, Boise State University/US Army Corps of Engineers, and the University of Denver, developed an …
Bolting The Landscape: An Ethnography Of Yosemite As A Significant Climbing Destination, Vanessa Taylor
Bolting The Landscape: An Ethnography Of Yosemite As A Significant Climbing Destination, Vanessa Taylor
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Yosemite Valley is a transformative landscape that helps to shape climbers’ identities and fosters a unique sense of community, which continually reinforces its status as a renowned and evolving climbing destination. The historical influence of Yosemite Valley on rock climbing began in the 1950s and has since defined itself as a prominent destination for climbers worldwide. This ethnographic research analyzes how climbers forge a meaningful connection with the Valley by forming a deep sense of place that intertwines with their personal identities as climbers and investigates the intricate relationship between climbers’ identities and the Yosemite landscape. This research also explores …
Queer Is Here, Hopefully To Stay: The Incorporation And Reception Of Lgbtq+ History At The History Colorado Center, Madeline Ohaus
Queer Is Here, Hopefully To Stay: The Incorporation And Reception Of Lgbtq+ History At The History Colorado Center, Madeline Ohaus
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Historically, the documentation of LGBTQ+ histories, struggles, and accomplishments has been absent from museum collections and exhibitions. Scholars argue that given the authoritative nature of museums and their influence on the public, exclusions of LGBTQ+ history can mount to institutional erasure of queer identities. However, in the past decade, there has been an increase in attempts to document and curate exhibitions highlighting and encouraging the public to engage with LGBTQ+ history. While this history is imperative to preserve and display, it can be met with controversy, leading some LGBTQ+ history exhibitions to be relocated or even removed. During the summer …
Stories Of Return: A Collection Of Repatriation Narratives, Lydia Degn-Sutton
Stories Of Return: A Collection Of Repatriation Narratives, Lydia Degn-Sutton
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
This thesis examines the museological phenomena of repatriation beyond NAGPRA and the incorporation of Indigenous curatorial methods into museum collections practices. The project explores repatriation and collections caretaking practices at ten settler institutions through narratives of experience collected from museum staff. The findings of this research suggest that repatriation beyond NAGPRA and the Indigenization of collections care are situated processes that should be understood contextually and historically. This thesis argues that, in some cases, repatriation beyond NAGPRA and the integration of Indigenous perspectives, practices, and protocols into museum collections stewardship demonstrates a willingness by institutions to go beyond the minimum …
Beyond Interventions: A Case Study Of The Denver Art Museum’S Native Arts Artist-In-Residency Program, Madison Sussmann
Beyond Interventions: A Case Study Of The Denver Art Museum’S Native Arts Artist-In-Residency Program, Madison Sussmann
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
The Denver Art Museum’s Native Arts Artist-in-Residency Program is an inter-departmental project dedicated to the collaboration between the museum, artists, and visitors. The residency and the physical studio were established to formalize artist involvement in the museum. There is no written mission statement for the program, but visitor engagement is central to the organization of the program and experience of the artist. This thesis explores the question: What can the experiences of the artists and museum professionals involved in the Native Arts Artist-in-Residency program tell about the residency’s contribution to critical museology and decolonization? Through exploring the definitions of critical …
When Repatriation Doesn’T Happen: Relationships Created Through Cultural Property Negotiations, Ellyn Demuynck
When Repatriation Doesn’T Happen: Relationships Created Through Cultural Property Negotiations, Ellyn Demuynck
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
This thesis analyzes the discourse of repatriation in connection to the Encounters exhibition held by the National Museum of Australia in 2015. Indigenous Australian and Torres Strait Islander artifacts were loaned to the Australian museum by the British Museum. At the close of the exhibition, one item, the Gweagal shield, was claimed for repatriation. The repatriation request had not been approved at the time of this research. The Gweagal shield is a historically significant artifact for Indigenous and non- Indigenous Australians. Analysis takes into account the political economy of the two museums and situates the exhibition within the relevant museum …
Behind The Exhibit: Exploring The Processes Of Indigenous Rights Representation At The Canadian Museum For Human Rights, Madison Caroline Dillard
Behind The Exhibit: Exploring The Processes Of Indigenous Rights Representation At The Canadian Museum For Human Rights, Madison Caroline Dillard
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Focusing on the representation of Indigenous human rights at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights (CMHR) in Winnipeg, Manitoba, this study examines how museums can represent, educate, and advocate for Indigenous human rights. The study is based on ethnographic fieldwork carried out at the museum in July 2019 and the literature on anthropology and human rights, decolonizing museum practices, and museums as spaces for human rights dialogue. The study shows how museums can change their history of racist and inaccurate representation of Indigenous people. Through extensive and “deep collaboration” between Indigenous partners and museum staff, Indigenous culture, history, and rights …
People And Place: A Journey Through Film, Tourism, And Heritage, Sarah Beals
People And Place: A Journey Through Film, Tourism, And Heritage, Sarah Beals
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Old Tucson Studios is a theme park where film, tourism, and heritage all converge through the American Western genre. During national social change, Westerns increase in number to reflect national values and identity. Westerns that ally with landscapes and people are potentially the most powerful storytelling tool in mainstream media. My research shows that this paring of people and place creates a prevailing image in the audience’s memory. The results suggest that the current image of the West comes from films made between 1951-1970, despite there being newer Westerns. John Wayne and saguaro cactus are enduring images with historic, cultural, …
The Role Of Amache Family Objects In The Japanese American Internment Experience: Examined Through Object Biography And Object Agency, Rebecca Michele Cruz
The Role Of Amache Family Objects In The Japanese American Internment Experience: Examined Through Object Biography And Object Agency, Rebecca Michele Cruz
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
This project investigates the meaning of Japanese American families' personal possessions associated with internment through the concepts of object biography and object agency. It uses material culture analysis to help anthropologists understand the Japanese American internment experience, specifically through a case study at Amache, the Japanese American internment camp in southeastern Colorado. Five semi-structured phone interviews, and one structured email interview, are the primary data used to explore the importance of material culture associated with the site and to help preserve the cultural heritage of Amache. Object agency and object biography are key components of the new material culture theory. …
Interpreting The Intangible: Challenges To The Display Of Dance Objects In Museums, Kathryn Louise Brundige Grossman
Interpreting The Intangible: Challenges To The Display Of Dance Objects In Museums, Kathryn Louise Brundige Grossman
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
This thesis analyzes Indigenous and non-Western dance objects in museums, examining the role of theory from material culture studies, critical museology and museum education on approaches to their interpretation and display. To explore this topic, I conducted a comparative analysis of Indigenous and non-Western dance object displays at four museums - Denver Art Museum, Denver Museum of Nature and Science, the Thomas Gilcrease Institute of American History and Art in Tulsa, Oklahoma and the Sam Noble Museum of Natural History in Norman, Oklahoma - investigating the use of Native voice, reflexive analysis and multisensory elements in the exhibits' organization, narrative …