History & Philosophy of Museums

460.611.81
Course Syllabus Summer 2017
Dr. Laura-Edythe Coleman
lcolem24@jhu.edu
Course Description
From cabinets of curiosities to historical monuments and sites of memory, this course
surveys museum history from a global perspective to examine how the Museum's
function has changed over time and across boundaries. Through case studies and
course readings in museum history, theory, and methods, students will contextualize the
philosophical trends that have impacted organizational structures, outreach, collection
strategies, and the museums changing role and relationship to its public around the
world.

Course Objectives
Students who complete this course should be able to:
Discuss the historical development and discourse of museums
Describe the changing function of museums over time
Identify the philosophical trends that have impacted organizational structures,
exhibition strategies and the role a museum plays in relating to its public
Clarify the significance of museum history and philosophy to museum
stakeholders
Explain the different ways in which museums are defined as educational
institutions
Apply theory and critical thinking to discuss current issues facing museums
Course Structure

This course is 14 weeks in length and runs from May 10 - August 15 2017.
Each week begins on a Wednesday and ends on the following Tuesday.
Six of the course lessons are divided into 2 sections, each section comprising of one
week. The last section, unit #7, is only one week and is intended to be a time of
reflection.
Please review the course syllabus thoroughly to learn about specific course outcomes
and requirements.
Each week, you are responsible for completing the entire lesson. Including readings
and supplemental materialswhich may include videos, multimedia presentations,
and/or web-based resources. Refer to the separate course bibliography for a
comprehensive bibliography of the course. Please pay special attention to which
readings are due when.

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Course Outline Week by Week:

Lesson Week Readings Available: Topic

1 5/10 What is a Museum?

1 2 5/17 European Museums Part 1

3 5/24 European Museums Part 2

2 4 5/31 The American Museum Part 1

5 6/7 The American Museum Part 2

3 6 6/14 Asian Museums Part 1

7 6/21 Asian Museums Part 2

4 8 6/28 India & the Middle East Part 1

9 7/5 India & the Middle East Part 2

5 10 7/12 Colonial/ Post-Colonial World Part 1

11 7/19 Colonial/Post-Colonial World Part 2

6 12 7/26 Post-modernism & the New Museology Part 1

13 8/2 Post-modernism & the New Museology Part 2

7 14 8/9 Past, Present, and Future of Museums: Reflection

on Museums as Memory
Course Wrap-Up

Required Readings
All readings for the course are listed in the Expanded Course Bibliography. Please pay
special attention each week's modules to see which readings are assigned for each
lesson!!

Accessing the Electronic Reading Reserve

Through Blackboard
Electronic readings are accessible through Blackboard from the link "E-Reserves
(Ares)" on the course menu on the left.

Through myJHU
1. Go to http://my.jhu.edu
2. Sign in using your JHED ID and password
3. Click on the Library tab
4. Look for the eReserves Portlet
5. The portlet contains links to articles for all JHU courses in which you are enrolled, for
which the instructor has requested electronic reserves
Total Points 167 points

Plagiarism Module 2 points

10 points
Weekly discussion (5 pts/week for 2 weeksweek 1&14)
Lesson Discussions (10 pts/lesson for 6 lessons) 60 points
Timeline Projects: 90 points
Europe 15 points
Time Line Entry (10 points)
Peer Review (5 points)
America 15 points
Time Line Entry (10 points)
Peer Review (5 points)
Asia 15 points
Time Line Entry (10 points)
Peer Review (5 points)
India/ Middle East 15 points
Time Line Entry (10 points)
Peer Review (5 points)
Post-Colonia 15 points
Time Line Entry (10 points) Peer
Review (5 points)
Postmodern Museum and the New Museology 15 points
Time Line Entry (10 points)
Peer Review (5 points)
Memory & Memorial Museums
No Time Line Entry

Contacting Your Instructor

Feel free to contact me by email (lcolem24@jhu.edu) with comments, questions, and

concerns. You will receive a response within 24-48 hours. I am also happy to set up a Skype
appointment to chat.

All email messages including time sensitive announcements will be sent to you
via your JHU email account, so you should be in the habit of checking that account every
day or you should ensure that your JHU email account forwards messages to another
account of your choice.
skype: LauraEdythe
office hours: by appointmentcontact me by email to set up a phone, Skype, or adobe
connect appointment

Participation

What are the participation requirements?

Each week, you are responsible for completing the entire lesson. Including readings and
supplemental materialswhich may include videos, multimedia presentations, web-based
resources. It is your responsibility to read all announcements and discussion postings within
your assigned forums. You should revisit the discussion multiple times over the week to
contribute to the dialogue.

I will regularly monitor each Lessons Discussion, although I will not give feedback on each post.
I will facilitate the discussion and add comments and often summarize points made by the
class, but I want you to talk to each other and exchange ideas related to the readings and the
questions posed.

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Network Etiquette (i.e. Netiquette)

In this course, online discussion will be primarily take place in our online discussion board and
through VocieThread. In all textual online communication, it is important to follow proper rules
of netiquette.

What is netiquette? Simply stated, it's network etiquette -- that is, the etiquette of cyberspace.
And "etiquette" means the social and culture norms of communicating with others in a proper
and respectful way. In other words, netiquette is a set of rules for behaving and interacting
properly online.

The Netiquette Core Rules linked below are a set of general guidelines for cyberspace
behavior. They probably won't cover all situations, but they should give you some basic
principles to use in communicating online.

For Netiquette Core Rules visit this web page:

www.albion.com/netiquette/corerules.html

Communication within the Course

You should communicate often with your classmates and with your instructor. The majority of
communication will take place within the Discussion forums. When you have a question about
an assignment or a question about the course, please contact your instructor, or post your
question in the courses Syllabus & Assignment Question forum. Use the Student Lounge
section of Discussions for conversation and museum news and topics not covered in the
course content.

Sending e-mail messages

When you send an e-mail message to the instructor or to another participant in

the course, please observe the following guidelines:
Include the title of the course in the subject field (e.g., JHU 460.611).
Keep messages concise, and check spelling and grammar.
Send longer messages as attachments.
Sign your full name (the senders email is not always obvious).

Grading Policy
All course work will be returned no later than 10 days from the deadline

This course adheres to the following grading scale. Please be advised that I do not
implement any grade rounding (an 89.9 earns a course grade of "B+").

A+ 98-100
A 94-97.9
A- 90-93.9
B+ 88-89
B 84-87
B- 80-83
C 70-79

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Late Course Work Policy
Late course work will not be accepted unless arrangements have been made with the
professor prior to the due date. Arrangements for late course work are made on a case-by-
case basis at the discretion of the professor.

University and Museum Studies Program Policies

General: This course adheres to all University policies described in the academic catalog. A
few to pay close attention to are noted below.

JHU Ethics Statement:

JHU Ethics Statement: The strength of the university depends on academic and personal
integrity. In this course, you must be honest and truthful. Ethical violations include cheating
on exams, plagiarism, reuse of assignments, improper use of the Internet and electronic
devices, unauthorized collaboration, alteration of graded assignments, forgery and
falsification, lying, facilitating academic dishonesty, and unfair competition. Report any
violations you witness to the instructor.
Read and adhere to JHUs Notice on Plagiarism (http://advanced.jhu.edu/current-students/
policies/notice-on-plagiarism-2/)
Disability Accommodations:
Johns Hopkins University is committed to providing reasonable and appropriate
accommodations to students with disabilities. Students with documented disabilities should
contact the coordinator listed on the Disability Accommodations page. Further information
and a link to the Student Request for Accommodation form can also be found on the Disability
Accommodations page (http://advanced.jhu.edu/current-students/current-students-
resources/disability-accommodations/).
Dropping the Course:
You are responsible for understanding the universitys policies and procedures regarding
withdrawing from courses found in the current catalog. You should be aware of the current
deadlines according to the Academic Calendar.
Getting Help:
You have a variety of methods to get help on Blackboard. Please consult the help listed in the
"Blackboard Help" link for important information. If you encounter technical difficulty in
completing or submitting any online assessment, please immediately contact the designated
help desk listed on the AAP online support page. Also, contact your instructor at the email
address listed atop this syllabus.

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 Connect to Others in the Museum Studies Program

VISIT the Museum Caf in Blackboard to meet faculty and other students in the Museum
Studies program, as well as view conference, internship, and job announcements. The
"Lessons" section of the Caf serves as a Student Handbook. Please send a note to
museumstudies@jhu.edu if you do not have access to the Cafe.

JOIN the Museum Studies student Facebook page at

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=24924017753 and request to join this
private group.

LIKE the Museum Studies programs public Facebook page at http://bit.ly/33f8BJ

CONTRIBUTE PHOTOS related to the Museum Studies program to our Flickr page at http://
www.flickr.com/groups/jhu_museum-studies/pool. Click on "slideshow" in the upper right of
the page to view a slideshow of posted images.

MAP YOURSELF place your pin on our interactive

map http://www.zeemaps.com/292947

In the additions tool bar at the top of the map click on Add Marker
Simple
A pop will display the key (password) is JHUmuseumstudies
You can add your name in Entry Name and then just put your zip in
location
Student pins are blue6
Then click submit and that should do it.