Museums and their Communities

Description

Using case studies drawn from all areas of museum studies, Museums and their Communities explores the museums as a site of representation, identity and memory, and considers how it can influence its community.

Focusing on the museum as an institution, and its social and cultural setting, Sheila Watson examines how museums use their roles as informers and educators to empower, or to ignore, communities.

Looking at the current debates about the role of the museum, she considers contested values in museum functions and examines provision, power, ownership, responsibility, and institutional issues.

This book is of great relevance for all disciplines as it explores and questions the role of the museum in modern society.

Contents

1. Changing Roles of Museums Over Time and Current Challenges 2. Who Controls the Museum? 3. Museums and Identities 4. Communities Remembering and Forgetting 5. Challenges: Museums and Communities in the Twenty-First Century

Author Bio

Sheila Watson is a lecturer in the Department of Museum Studies, University of Leicester.

Related Subjects

1. Museum & Heritage Studies
2. Heritage Management & Conservation
3. Museum Studies