COURSE SCHEDULE (Subject to change)
August 22: Course overview, introductions, discussion of assignments and a discussion of the question “What is a Museum?” Read in advance of first meeting: Wexler, Mr. Wilson’s Cabinet of Wonder
August 29: Revisiting the Question: What is a Museum? Reading: Weil, Making Museums Matter, Chapters 1-13.
September 5: Museums as Community Institutions & in the Public Sphere–Meet at Levine Museum of the New South. Read: Weil, Making Museums Matter, Chapters 14-24. Short paper on the role of museums. (Guidelines online)
September 12: Interpreting Heritage
Tilden, Interpreting Our Heritage, Parts I & II
September 19: Read Siloam School news articles; Mary Newsom, Chairman of the Board of the Charlotte Museum of History will meet with class during first hour.
Read: Tilden, Interpreting Our Heritage, Part III; Part I (Ch. 1-4) of The Participatory Museum.
September 26: NO CLASS. You are to use this week to visit a museum to fulfill the Exhibit Review Assignment if you haven’t already. If you are not busy, you are encouraged to attend the Personally Speaking series at UNC Charlotte’s Center City Campus. Details TBA.
October 3: Audiences and Exhibits.
Read: Exhibit Labels (other readings may appear online)
Exhibit Review Due (Guidelines online)
October 10: Fall Break. No class.
October 17: Museum Education. Watch this video from the Center for the Future of Museums. Read the 4 PDFs on education.Guest: Lauren Wallace, Education Specialist, Charlotte Museum of History.
Sources from a Committee on Education
Developing Educational Resources
Building the future of education
October 24: Rosenwald Schools
Read: Hoffschwelle, The Rosenwald Schools of the American South and the PDF on Preserving Rosenwald Schools by the same author. *Formulation of groups. Meet in special collections on the 10th floor of Atkins Library for some instruction on UNC Charlotte’s resources on Rosenwald Schools and the history of Charlotte education.
October 31: Museums and the use of Digital and Social Media. Readings linked below:
Singapore (short news video)
Museums, the New Social Media Darlings
One regional history museum & social media
November 7: We will begin work in class working on storyboards for the project.
November 14: No Class. Continue to develop group presentations.
November 21: Class time will be spent in group work. Each group will report on their portion(s) of the project followed by discussion of how groups can tie the project altogether
November 28: Preliminary Group Presentations/Submit drafts of written work
Week of December 5: Group meetings with Dr. Cox
December 12: Final Presentation and Reception at the Charlotte Museum of History; Final written work on your projects due.