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CS92PROD
Museum Chronotopes: Temporality and Exhibition from the Late 18th Century to the Present
CHUM 320
Fall 2013 not offered
Crosslisting: ARHA 325, FGSS 325

Museums are commonly described as "timeless," "universal," and "permanent"--terms that suggest differences from what we might call normal time and space. Around the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries, many museums organized according to spatialized schemas of historical progress and social hierarchy. Late 19th-century scientists relied heavily upon exhibitions to expose publics to the new framework of evolutionary time, and in the 20th century, the "white cube" gallery was born, with its unique expressions of progress in terms of gender and synchrony. Today, many museological conventions are being challenged by artists and critics who emphasize ephemeral and fleeting temporalities, resulting in the multiple and sometimes conflicting times in which 21st-century curators now find themselves enmeshed.

In bringing temporal critique into conversation with museum studies, the seminar reframes the museum's claims to neutrality, universality, and permanence as historical phenomena in and of themselves.
Credit: 1 Gen Ed Area Dept: HA CHUM
Course Format: SeminarGrading Mode: Graded
Level: UGRD Prerequisites: None
Fulfills a Major Requirement for: None

Last Updated on MAR-28-2024
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