Museum Studies Commons^™

Institutionalizing Identity: Examining The Louvre In Revolutionary And Napoleonic France, Emma Balda, Amy Woodson-Boulton

Honors Thesis

With the collapse of the French monarchy in 1789, France sought to solidify their sense of national identity in the wake of revolution. Since the late eighteenth century, museums have long been used to foster nationalism and belonging through the institutionalization of historical narratives-- the opening of the Louvre in 1793, and its transition from a royal palace to a palace of the people, served as a physical metaphor of the complete political transformation that occurred during the French Revolution. Existing literature examines the revolutionary nationalization of the Louvre as it relates to the concept of the modern museum and …

Museums And Shrines: Reflecting On Relationships And Challenges, Lorenzo Bagnoli, Rita Capurro

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

The aim of this paper is to introduce a method for analysing a specific kind of contemporary tourism positioned between two different traditional customs: visiting museums and going to pilgrimage sites. The case studies provided are focused on Italian shrine museums where it is difficult to ascertain whether visitors are cultural tourists or pilgrims or a combination of both. Regardless, the tourist flows and networks created by Italian shrine museums can provide promising elements for local development. Four case studies that are representative of different regions in Northern Italy and have specific features in common have been chosen: shrines dedicated …

Where Are The Women? A Feminist Field Guide To The Museum, Taylor Weaver

Theses

Linda Nochlin’s seminal 1971 essay, “Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?” was at the fore of the great battle cries of many feminist scholars that drew attention to the limitation’s that female artist’s face in the art world. Women have systematically been left out of the art historical narrative while their male counterparts remain at the forefront.

There are many women that are very prominently represented in museums. They are largely nude and have been represented by male artists. While I do not argue that nudity in paintings should not exist, I do insist that museum goers become …

Deaccessioning Relationships: The Role Of Academic Museums In Modern Postsecondary Education, Jeffrey Martin Elliott

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative exploratory study was to examine the role of academic museums in modern American postsecondary education. This research examined the relationships developed by academic museums in support of the mission of their parent institutions with special attention to the impact of the sale of donated objects from the museum collection for the purpose of relief from financial exigency. The study included document review, interviews, and reflexive notes.

The four thematic findings of this exploratory study depict an academic museum as a complex entity within its parent institution that has inward-facing and outward-facing components which support the …

Challenges Of Repatriation: Asante Artifacts At The American Museum Of Natural History, Abdul-Alim Farook

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Inspired by calls for the repatriation of famous artifacts like the Benin Bronzes and the Elgin Marbles, for this capstone project, I have analyzed and catalogued 250 sampled Asante artifacts at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH). Through this analysis, I discuss the many ways museums in North America acquired their collections. By doing so, I explore the difficulties that arise in debates surrounding repatriation due to the manner in which these artifacts were acquired. I argue that due to the many different types of donors of the Asante artifacts to the American Museum of Natural History, the Asante …

The 2020 Awakening: A Study On Exhibiting Topics Of Race And Identity In Mid-Sized Art Museums, Samantha Becker

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

After the many racial injustices that occurred in 2020, cultural institutions have been motivated to educate the public on historical and contemporary topics of race and identity. This project sought to analyze exemplary cases of exhibition production with topics of race and identity in mid-sized art museums. The goal was to provide a set of recommendations for exhibiting these topics to bolster community trust. Two museums were studied–the Montclair Art Museum and Newark Museum of Art–which revealed that the exhibitions at both institutions were relevant to contemporary issues, engaging to their respective communities, and educational for a wide range of …

Exhibitions Of Impact: Introducing The Special Issue, David H. Lee

Publications and Research

The Exhibitions of Impact (EOI) special issue of American Behavioral Scientist consists of six articles from authors in communication studies and rhetoric, public health, medicine and bioethics, memory studies, and art therapy. Each article profiles some exhibition or memorial related to a pressing social issue, including gun violence, racist terrorism, domestic violence, religious fundamentalism, corporations selling harmful products, and how society treats those regarded as cognitively and behaviorally different. First, examples from today’s headlines show a global outcry over racist monuments and artifacts, and a global pandemic, which casts doubt on the future of exhibitions. Historical examples and explanatory concepts …

The Last Prisoners Of War: How Nazi-Looted Art Is Displayed In U.S. Museums, Monica May Thompson

Geifman Prize in Holocaust Studies

How art museums approach NLA is important today because much of the public relies on museums for their education. NLA cases are especially controversial because they are not only legal battles, but ethical ones so museums have to be extra careful approaching them. Even if the museum has won the legal battle the public may not see them as winning the ethical one therefore they might want to avoid displaying this information to the public. However, as we can see with the previous websites, it actually looks worse for museums not to be open and honest about their NLA pieces …

We're All A Little Bit Gay: Female Homoeroticism In Greek Art, Devon A. Matson

Senior Independent Study Theses

This study provides a close analysis of women in artwork from Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic Greece (700-30 BC). Such images have traditionally been considered from exclusively heteronormative and androcentric perspectives. I employ queer and feminist theory in an attempt to provide a new understanding of the images present on these examples of ancient art which showcase women’s relationships. I examine a terracotta figure, a stamnos, a psykter, and a cup that display women interacting with one another. Their interactions demonstrate both homosocial and homoerotic relations. In an effort to reach a broader audience, I have curated a digital exhibit that …