A survey of the educational, curatorial, exhibition, public relations, and research missions of museums. Stress is placed on the role of museums in various communities, their organizational and administrative structures, their ethical, moral, and legal obligations, and sources of support. Lecture, discussion, and field trips. Offered each fall semester.

An examination of the many ways in which ceramics inform our understanding of human behavior, such as changing foodways, group affiliations, craft specialization, and trade. Students learn the basic methods used to document, analyze, and transform ceramic data into meaningful statements about the present and past. Offered occasionally. Prerequisite: Anthropology 110 and 201, or consent of instructor. (Also taught as Anthropology 217)

Museums are valuable research resources in all subfields of anthropology. In this course, students learn how anthropologists conduct research in (and on) museums. Readings, written and oral assignments, field trips, and guest presentations supply a broad overview of museum anthropology. Students conduct individual and group research projects using Logan Museum resources as well as material at other museums. (Also listed as Anthropology 247.) Offered even years, fall semester. Prerequisite: Anthropology 201.

An introduction to the methods of collections management, registration, and preservation in museums. Stress is placed on the nature of organic and inorganic materials and their deterioration, methods of preventive preservation, modes of acquisition and registration, collections policy, and legal and ethical issues affecting the management of museum collections. The course consists of lectures, field trips, and laboratory experience in the Beloit College museums. Offered each spring. Prerequisite: Museum Studies 145.

A survey of museum exhibit theory and practice. The course examines best practices in creating exhibits as effective informal learning environments. Students gain a critical perspective on a wide range of current exhibit approaches, techniques, and issues, as well as knowledge of and experience in the skills of exhibit planning, design, and installation. (2A) Prerequisite: Museum Studies 275 or consent of instructor.

Students work with Wright Museum staff to install an exhibition in the Wright Museum of Art. Through group work, lecture, exhibit tours, and hands-on experience, students are introduced to exhibition design, development, and installation. They also learn how to mat and frame artwork, light a gallery, develop an exhibition layout, handle and install artwork/objects, and write museum label copy. Offered occasionally. This course cannot be repeated.

Special aspects or areas of museum studies. May be repeated for credit if topic is different. Prerequisite: sophomore standing.

This course offers a hands-on exploration of the ways that new technologies are transforming historical research and teaching, as well as creating new online spaces for educating the general public. Students consider questions about the nature and value of existing digital history projects, the rise of open-source projects, and the relationship between digital history and public history. Students have the opportunity to contribute to a class blog, to participate in a crowdsourced transcription project, and to create their own websites and GIS-based maps. Students becomefamiliar with many of the principles and challenges that inform scholars and programmers as they collaborate to enrich the field of historical research. (Also listed as History 296.) Prerequisites: One previous history course or permission of the instructor.

Material culture studies focus on the forms, uses, and meaning of object, images, and environments in everyday life. Once primarily the domain of archaeology, material culture is now central in many fields of study. This course examines how the intersections of different interests and approaches influence the ways anthropologists understand the tangible products of human behavior, including how objects went from being passive residues of economic behavior to dynamic social actors. Through readings, discussions, hands-on engagements, and individual research, students will appreciate the major theoretical and methodological shifts surrounding such topics as object production, consumption, identity, social agency, and technological choice. (Also listed as Anthropology 310.) Offered occasionally. Prerequisites: junior or senior standing, and either Anthropology 201 or Museum Studies 275.

This seminar provides an opportunity for museum studies minors to reflect on and synthesize their own museum experiences. This course will grapple with contemporary questions and problems facing the museum world. Ethical questions and controversies will be addressed from both theoretical and practical perspectives. Students will use discussions, group projects, and assignments to bring their own perspectives to the problems and issues shaping the discipline of museum studies. Offered each fall first module. Prerequisite: Museum Studies 275 and PRAX 200.

A directed independent study course relating museum theory to practical experience. Appropriate topics selected in consultation with the program advisor.

Work with faculty in classroom instruction. Graded credit/no credit.