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Option Module: The Modern Museum—Society, Environment, Economy

In this module you will study the museum from a global perspective. You will explore the western origins of the museum, and trace how and why the concept of the museum has developed over time and space. You will examine how museums function in local, national and international contexts, considering how museums influence, and are influenced by, a range of social, economic and environmental issues. The module will be grounded in the UK context in that we will take fieldtrips to visit local museums, but you will be encouraged to develop your knowledge of museum practice in other countries according to your interests. The module will enable you to understand the context within which museums operate, the pressures they face, and their opportunities to play a role in contemporary society.
Illustrative Bibliography
Alivizatou, M. 2012. Intangible Heritage and the Museum: New Perspectives on Cultural Preservation (Left Coast Press).
Bennett, T. The Birth of the Museum: history, theory, politics (Routledge)
Bhatti, S. 2012. Translating Museums: A Counterhistory of South Asian Museology (Left Coast Press)
Brulon Soares, B. 2023. The Anticolonial Museum: Reclaiming our Colonial Heritage. (Routledge)
Candlin, F. 2016. Micromuseology: An Analysis of Small Independent Museums (Bloomsbury).
Deliss, C. 2020. The Metabolic Museum. (Hatje Cantze)
Desvallees, A. & Mairesse, M.(eds). 2010. Key Concepts of Museology (ICOM International Committee for Museology) Dewdney, D. et al (2013). Post-Critical Museology: Theory and Practice in the Art Museum (Routledge)
Drotner, K, et al. (2018). The Routledge Handbook of Museums, Media and Communication (Routledge)
Duncan, C. 1995. Civilizing Rituals. Inside Public Art Museums (Routledge). Gray, C. & McCall, V. 2020. The Role of Today's Museum (Routledge, 2020)
Harrison, R., et al. 2020. Heritage Futures: Comparative Approaches to Natural and Cultural
Heritage Practices (UCL Press). Hill, K. 2016. Culture and Class in English Public Museums 1850-1914 (Routledge)
Janes, R. 2023. Museums and Societal Collapse: The Museum as Lifeboat (Routledge).
Janes, R. & Sandell, R. (ed.) 2019. Museum Activism (Routledge).
Lonetree, A. 2012. Decolonizing Museums: Representing Native American in National and Tribal Museums (University of North Carolina Press).
Lu, T. 2013. Museums in China: Power, Politics and Identities. Routledge.
Marstine, J. (ed). 2011. The Routledge companion to museum ethics: redefining ethics for the twenty-first century museum (Routledge)
Mason, R. et al. 2018. Museum and Gallery Studies: The Basics
(Routledge).
Macdonald, S. (ed). 2011. A Companion to Museum Studies (Blackwell).
Merriman, N. (ed). 2023. Museums and the Climate Crisis (Routledge).
Morse, N. 2020. The Museum as a Space of Social Care. Routledge.
Newell, J. et al. (2016). Curating the Future: Museums, Communities and Climate Change (Routledge)
Witcomb, A. (ed). 2002. Re-imagining the museum: beyond the mausoleum (Routledge)
Witcomb, A & Message, K. 2020. Museum Theory. John Wiley & Son

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