Module Information

Module Identifier
AH20120
Module Title
Enlightenment and Empire: Museums, Knowledge, and Meaning
Academic Year
2024/2025
Co-ordinator
Semester
Semester 2

Course Delivery

 

Assessment

Assessment Type Assessment length / details Proportion
Semester Assessment Essay  A reflective museum catalogue essay 2000 Words  60%
Semester Assessment Catalogue labels  6 catalogue labels for chosen artefacts 1500 Words  40%
Supplementary Assessment Essay  A reflective museum catalogue essay 2000 Words  60%
Supplementary Assessment Catalogue labels  6 catalogue labels for chosen artefacts 1500 Words  40%

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this module students should be able to:

To gain an understanding of the history of museums in a Western context from the early modern period

To consider scholarship which deconstructs the museum from a post-colonial perspective

To write a considered essay on an aspect of a museum’s collection in relation to post-colonialism

To review aspects of a museum collection and select artefacts as examples of the your academic discourse

To create a limited number of catalogue entries for selected aretacts, which positions them in relation to the context of the collection they are held in and their wider context

To use appropriate academic research skills and referencing conventions

Brief description

Museum and galleries are currently re-examining their collections inline with contemporary decolonial critiques of the legacies of Empire and Enlightenment. The creation and dissemination of new bodies of knowledge and formation of museum collections from the early modern period to the beginning of the twentieth century led to the development of cataloguing, taxonomies and classification of the world. These systems, which shape how we manage and understand culture today, have cast long shadows into present, often neglecting, overlooking and disregarding non-Western forms of knowledge, artistic practices and objects. This module examines how these systems have governed historic practices of collecting and museum cultures, and interrogates these enterprises and sites through decolonial approaches.

Aims

To establish an understanding of the history of museums in a Western context from the early modern period
To consider scholarship which deconstructs the museum from a post-colonial perspective
To write a critical analysis of an aspect of a museum collection in relation to post-colonialism
To review aspects of a museum collection and select artefacts to develop an analytical reflection
To create a number of catalogue entries for selected artefacts, which clearly positions them in relation to the context of the collection they are held in and their wider context
To use appropriate research skills and referencing conventions

Content

The early modern history of the Museum in a Western context and practices of collection and display
The Enlightenment, new thinking around the production and dissemination on of knowledge and its legacy
Non-Western production of knowledge
Non-Western Art from the early modern period into the 19th and 20th century
De-colonising museums, galleries and collections in the contemporary period

Module Skills

Skills Type Skills details
Creative Problem Solving Applying knowledge gained to a range of materials and contexts
Critical and analytical thinking Developing a knowledge and understanding from lectures and independent research and applying it to a chosen project
Digital capability Using, for example, museum data bases for research
Professional communication Writing for an audience
Real world sense Using knowledge to disseminate research to a hypothetical real audience
Subject Specific Skills Developing skills which relate to applied Art Historical knowledge, relevant to working in a museum or gallery

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 5