How to Think About Museums A Guide with Exercises

How to Think About Museums: A Guide with Exercises is a lively introduction to the key issues in the contemporary multidisciplinary field of museum studies. It covers the museum profession as a whole, including training, education, research, and practice. The book spans both practical and theoretical aspects of the field and examines the social meanings of museums as public institutions, both historically and in their present, multifaceted forms. Topics of interest include how museums create meaning, produce knowledge, and interact with civic power structures. Other important questions include: How do museums shape national, local, and other forms of identity? How do museum collecting practices respond to new thinking in material cultures studies? What kinds of knowledge do museums construct and what types of learning occur in them? How do museums reconfigure their colonial pasts? Can museums speak historical and emotional "truth" to the civic power structures that endow and promote them?

Introduction 1. Understanding Museum Studies 2. Understanding Museums 3. Understanding the History of Museums 4. Understanding Collections 5. Understanding Exhibitions 6. Understanding Visitors 7. Understanding Museums and Identity 8. Understanding Museum Controversies 9. Understanding Museums in the Digital Era 10. Understanding Museums and the Heritage Industry 11. Beyond Understanding: Museums of the Future and the Future of Museums Glossary of Terms Online Sources Guide to Journals and Further Reading

Richard Toon is Associate Resarch Professor at the School for Human Evolution and Social Change at Arizona State University, where he directs the Museum Studies Program.