Anthropology and Ethnographic Museums

Code:

MMUS031

Acronym:

AME

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
OFICIAL	Cultural Studies

Instance: 2023/2024 - 2S

Active?	Yes
Responsible unit:	Department of Heritage Studies
Course/CS Responsible:	Masters in Museology

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
MMUS	9	Study plan	1	-	3	21,5	81

Teaching language

Portuguese
Obs.: Português

Objectives

1 - Identify the interrelations between concerns of anthropological discipline and the museology reformulations arising since 1980; 
2 - Discriminate two realities within ethnographic museums/collections (exotic ethnography versus European ethnography) and recognize the political and ideological dynamics underlying each one;
3 – Discuss the implications of restitution requests of collections put by countries that were former European colonies;
4 - Discuss the implications of 1980' regional museums boom in Portugal and their persistent pre-industrial narratives;
5 - Discuss the need of "decolonize" museums, namely the ethnographic ones, and make them to be permeate to postcolonial approaches.

Learning outcomes and competences

Students who successfuly complete the module will be able to:
- Mastering issues related to the two strands of ethnographic museums and understanding the urgency of renewing both through post-colonial practices.
- Have developed capacity for critical reflection and analysis;
- Have developed capacity to communicate orally and in writing.

Working method

Presencial

Pre-requirements (prior knowledge) and co-requirements (common knowledge)

Non applicable.

Program

1. Anthropology and museums

1.1 Exotic ethnography museums versus European ethnography museums

1. Museums and identity politics

2.1 Colonial museums and empires

2.1.1 Decolonization and requests of restitution 

2.2.1 The 1980' boom and the anachronism of pre-industrial collections

1. Curatorship on ethnographic museums

3.1 Postcolonial approaches are needed

Mandatory literature

Bennett, Tony (2009). ; Museum, Field, Colony. Colonial Governmentality and the Circulation f Reference, Journal of Cultural Economy, 2 (1-2): 99-116.
Dias, Nélia (2014). ; Rivet’s Mission in Colonial Indochina (1931-1932) or the Failure to Create an Ethnographic Museum., History and Anthropology, vol.25, nº 2: 189-207.
Dias, Nélia (2007).; Des “arts méconnus” aux “arts premiers”: inclusions et exclusions en anthropologie et en histoire de l’art,, Histoire de l’art, nº 60: 1-9.
Fogelman A (2002).; Colonial legacy in African Museology: The case of the Ghana National Museum., Museum Anthropology 31(1):19-27.
Harris, Clare and O’Hanlon, Michael (2013).; The future of the ethnographic museum., Anthropology Today, 29 (1): 8-12.
Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, Barbara (1991). ; Objects of Ethnography. , In Ivan Karp and Steven D. Lavine eds., Exhibiting Cultures. The Poetics and Politics of Museum Display, Washington and London: Smithsonian Institution Press: 386-443.
Konaire, A. (2000). ; Towards a new type of ethnographic museum in Africa. , Museum (138): 146-151.
L’Estoile, Benoît de (2008). ; Introduction: The Past as it lives now – an Anthropology of Colonial Legacies., Social Anthropology, 16(3): 267-279.
Marínez, C. L. (2007). ; Musealizar la vida cotidiana: los museos etnológicos del Alto Aragón., Zaragoza: Prensas de la Universidad de Zaragoza.
M'Bow, Amadou-Mahtar (1979). ; Pour le retour, à ceux qui l’ont créé, d’un patrimoine culturel irremplaçable., Museum, 31(1): 58.
MacDonald, Sharon & Basu, Paul (eds.) (2007). ; Exhibition Experiments., Malden, MA, Oxford, Victoria: Blackwell Publishing.
Nicolescu, Gabriela. (2016). ; The museum’s lexis: Driving objects into ideas., Journal of Material Culture, 21 (4): 465-489.
Pennock, Hanna & Vermaat, Simone (eds.) (2019).; Traces of slavery and colonial history in the art collection. , Amsterdam: Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands.
Porto, Nuno (2007). ; From Exhibiting to Installing Ethnography: Experiments at the Museum of Anthropology of the University of Coimbra, Portugal, 1999-2005., In S. Macdonald and P. Basu (eds), Exhibition Experiments. Malden, MA, Oxford, Victoria: Black
Sarr, Felwine & Savoy, Béatrice (2018).; Rapport sur la restitution du patrimoine culturel africain. Vers une nouvelle éthique relationnelle., Paris: Université Paris Nanterre.
Thomas, Nicholas (2016).; We need ethnographic museums today whatever you think of their past. , Apollo, 29 March 2016. https://www.apollo-magazine.com/we-need-ethnographic-museums-today-whatever-you-think-of-their-past/
Thomas, Nicholas (2021). ; Don’t trash talk museums at this perilous time: we must adapt - not throw away – our cultural heritage., The Arts Newspaper, 2, https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2021/06/02/dont-trash-talk-museums-at-this-perilous-time-we-must-adaptnot-throwawayour-cultural-heritage
Van Dartel, Daan (2009).; Dilemmas of the ethnographic museums., In Paul R. Voogt ed., Can we make a difference: museums, society and development in North and South. Amsterdam: KIT Publishers: 29-38.

Comments from the literature

Complementary bibliography will be indicated throughout the sessions.

Teaching methods and learning activities

The sessions are theoretical-practical with lectures given by the professor and crossed with the participation and discussion with the students. For each session, students must follow a pre-established reading program so that the discussion will be possible and fruitful. The evaluation is distributed without final exam and composed of the fellowing evaluation elements:
1) to know and discuss indicated texts in the classroom;
2) elaboration of a small written Individual Essay, dealing with the discussion of an issue related to ethnographic museums in their exotic or regional version.
These evaluation elements have, respectively, the weights of: 15% + 85%.

Software

Microsoft Office

keywords

Social sciences > Political sciences > Public policy > Cultural policy > Museology
Social sciences > Anthropology
Social sciences > Cultural studies

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation without final exam

Assessment Components

Designation	Weight (%)
Trabalho escrito	85,00
Apresentação/discussão de um trabalho científico	15,00
Total:	100,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

Designation	Time (hours)
Estudo autónomo	21,50
Frequência das aulas	19,50
Apresentação/discussão de um trabalho científico	15,00
Trabalho de investigação	25,00
Total:	81,00

Eligibility for exams

Students must guarantee a 75% attendance. Attendance will be verified by students' signature in attendance sheets, which may be consulted for absence management. Except for the cases provided for in the general law and regulations of the FLUP.

Calculation formula of final grade

Evaluation elements:
1) to know and discuss the indicated texts in the classroom = 15%;
2) elaboration of a small written Individual Essay, dealing with the discussion of an issue related to ethnographic museums in their exotic or regional version = 85%.

Examinations or Special Assignments

Non applicable.

Internship work/project

Non applicable.

Special assessment (TE, DA, ...)

Accordance with Assessment Regulations in force.

Classification improvement

To repeat only the written Individual Essay.

Observations

The professor ensures individual support to the elaboration of Essay.