DRAFT. This version of the catalogue is a draft version and subject to change.
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Last modified: 20 Jun 2025 15:13
This course examines museums as sites for the production and dissemination of anthropological knowledge. Through seminars, museum visits, and access to the University Collections, students will consider the legacies of historic collecting practices and the challenges of ethically engaging with collections in the present. Students will gain experience of conducting research in a museum environment, learn about the limits of material culture as a source for researching anthropological topics, and engage with theoretical and methodological frameworks for working with collections. They will also become familiar with how museums are taking on contemporary challenges, such decolonisation, climate change, funding crises, etc. Assessment is based on an Artefact Study Portfolio and an essay.
| Study Type | Undergraduate | Level | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Term | First Term | Credit Points | 30 credits (15 ECTS credits) |
| Campus | Aberdeen | Sustained Study | No |
| Co-ordinators |
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Museum anthropology brings together professional practices of curation with ethnographic and cultural questions, often by drawing on historic collections to consider contemporary challenges. Museum anthropologists view museums as field sites, as contested spaces where relations of power are played out in public-facing galleries and behind the scenes. Students on this course will receive training in the use of material culture for anthropological research and interpretation. They will be encouraged to relate their research with the University’s collections to current issues informing the contemporary practice of museum anthropology. Themes to be covered may include: how artefacts are defined and valued in different contexts; how meaning is negotiated in exhibitions; relationships between museums and Indigenous peoples; digital technologies and 'knowledge repatriation'; traditional care and curation; repatriation and questions of ownership; museums and decolonisation; museums and sustainability.
Information on contact teaching time is available from the course guide.
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 60 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | Feedback Weeks | |||
| Feedback |
3,000-word Artefact Study Portfolio (worth 60% of grade overall). |
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| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Procedural | Apply | Apply approaches to object-based research to a case study from the University collections. |
| Procedural | Evaluate | Communicate orally and in writing how ideas and practices in museum anthropology shape current museum-based research. |
| Procedural | Understand | Understand approaches to object-based research drawing on relevant scholarship in museum anthropology. |
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 40 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | Feedback Weeks | |||
| Feedback |
2,000-word Essay. |
Word Count | 2000 | |
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Conceptual | Analyse | Produce coherent and reasoned arguments in written work and class discussions about current issues in the museum sector. |
| Factual | Apply | Describe and critically employ theoretical ideas in the area of museum anthropology. |
There are no assessments for this course.
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | Feedback Weeks | |||
| Feedback | ||||
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
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| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Procedural | Understand | Understand approaches to object-based research drawing on relevant scholarship in museum anthropology. |
| Procedural | Apply | Apply approaches to object-based research to a case study from the University collections. |
| Procedural | Evaluate | Communicate orally and in writing how ideas and practices in museum anthropology shape current museum-based research. |
| Conceptual | Analyse | Produce coherent and reasoned arguments in written work and class discussions about current issues in the museum sector. |
| Factual | Apply | Describe and critically employ theoretical ideas in the area of museum anthropology. |
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