ANT/NAS/HIS 330: Museums and Social Science

Summer Field School 2008

United States section of the Great Exhibition of 1851, London

Instructor: Fr. Bucko, S.J.
Course Number: NAS/ANT/HIS 330
Location: Buechel Memorial Lakota Museum
Course Schedule
Museums Home Page

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course examines anthropological concepts of culture as instantiated in the history of museums and museum display. Students will gain an understanding of the history of anthropology, the evolution of museums in the wake of expanding European exploration and colonization, and contemporary ethical critiques of anthropological theories and European expansionism.

The course will be run seminar style. The professor will act as facilitator rather than lecturer. Students will be expected to prepare readings ahead of class and individual students will present the material in each class, and stimulate discussion.

A significant part of this class will take place working with the collection of the Buechel Memorial Lakota Museum. Students will learn the basics of collection management, preservation, documenting, and recording. Students are encouraged to work cooperatively in order to experience the collaborative dimension of intellectual pursuits.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

Through using a core text books, student led seminars, a midterm exam, and the construction of a virtual museum which will count as the final exam, this course seeks to fulfill these goals:

• Students will learn about the growth and development of museums in the United States and Europe and the interrelationship of museums with the social theories of their times
• Students will grapple with the difficult ethical issues of cultural property, preservation and education, copyright and representation of peoples and cultures.
• Students will gain a knowledge of virtual museums on the web as well as physical museums in the South Dakota and Iowa areas through visits and critical analysis.
• Students will hone their presentation and research skills through leading seminars on specific topics concerning museums.
• Students will learn to collaborate with each other and be of service to the Lakota community through working with the ethnographic collections in the archive, making data available through the on-line museum database, and preparing displays and labels for some of the exhibits. Thus students will learn every aspect of maintaining a small community based museum.
  

COURSE TEXTS

Anderson, Gail, Ed. Reinventing the Museum: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives on the Paradigm Shift. Lanham: Alta Mira Press. 2004

Genoways, Hugh H, Ed. Museum Philosophy for the Twenty-First Century. Lanham: Alta Mira Press. 2006.

 

COURSE RESOURCES

Our course will take place in the Buechel Memorial Lakota Museum.

GRADING

Grades will be determined in the following manner:

Active Participation 20%
Museum Service Work 20%
Student Presentations 25%
Research Paper 35%

Letter Grades are Awarded as Follows:

A	100 - 90
B+	89 - 85
B	84 - 80
C+	79 - 75
C	74 - 70
D	69 - 65
F	Below 65

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

Class Attendance:. Because this is a seminar class attendance and participation are vital to the success of each presentation. You are expected to attend all classes. If you cannot attend a specific class you are expected, when possible, to inform the professor before the class begins.

ACTIVE Class participation: You are expected to read all texts, BEFORE each class. Readings and assignments are due on the date they are listed in the course page. Because the success of the class as an experience in collegial collaboration depends on discussion among seminar members, a special focus will be placed on participation. Attendance, deep thought, reading the material, attentiveness, and interest are all vital to your success in class but represent passive participation. Active participation enhances the educational experience for everyone in all of the classes. You are expected to give significant and consistent input concerning each issue put before the class. You will be graded accordingly.

Museum Service Work: Students will each work in the museum archives for two hours a day. This work will help students learn the realities of museum work from inside out. As a service learning course we provide a service to the museum and the surrounding community in our care fore the collection.

Seminar Presentations: Each student will present the readings for the day's seminar along with relevant discussion questions. Students are graded on the quality of the presentation as well as their ability to stimulate significant discussion. Other course presentations such as virtual museums and the final research presentation will be counted as seminar presentations also.

Display Case Labeling Project: Each student will adopt a display case in the museum and provide descriptive labels for the objects therein as well as a longer description of the theme of the case.

Research Paper: Each student will produce a 10-20 page research paper using a minimum of 10 unique sources. The paper must relate to museums but each student is encouraged to write from the perspective of his or her own academic major such as political science, history, or anthropology. One class day will be devoted to presenting the results of your research to the entire group.

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY

It is required that students exercise academic integrity as outlined in the Creighton University Student Handbook. Students are expected to interact with each other in a way which will enhance the learning experience of all and which is never destructive of other persons. Because of the importance of acknowledged collaboration, students are required to cite all assistance, including that gained from peers. Students must never plagiarize. The professor maintains an audit policy for this course to both reward extraordinary performance and to guard against misuse of sources. Infringements of academic will be dealt with according to Creighton University norms.

SPECIAL NEEDS

If you have any special learning needs or are in circumstances which necessitate special consideration, please contact me at the beginning of the semester. If you have a documented disability and wish to discuss academic accommodations, please contact me at the time you make your initial deposit for the summer school so that I have time to work out accommodations. Students who believe that they have a disability that may influence their academic performance, but who have not yet had the disability documented, should immediately contact and meet with Denise Le Clair, Coordinator of Services for Students with Disabilities. If a student suspects a disability, he or she can meet with Linda Pappas who is the Academic Success Counselor at Creighton's Counseling and Psychological Services.
 

GENERAL INFORMATION

Address of our Field Site:
Buechel Memoir al Lakota Museum
St. Francis Mission
P O Box 499
St. Francis, SD 57572-0499

E-mail Address: bucko@creighton.edu
Mail for Fr. Bucko

PERSONAL CONDUCT

Students are all bound to Creighton University's code of student conduct. Students are also guests of the Sicangu Lakota Nation and are bound by all of their laws while on the reservation. Possession or use of alcohol and drugs is illegal. There is a zero tolerance for both during the field school. Students who do not comply with the code of conduct, who miss classes or who violate tribal law will be sent home immediately.

CLASS LECTURES AND REQUIRED READINGS

Please refer to the course schedule for all reading and web production assignments. Note that nothing will be added to this schedule once the semester has begun. My assumption is that the students will actively shape how the course proceeds so I will rely on student input in the first week to refine our way of proceeding.

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This page is managed by Rev. Raymond A. Bucko, S.J. of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Creighton University. E-Mail: bucko@creighton.edu Page Last Updated: February 11, 2008

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