Museum Objects provides a set of readings that together create a distinctive emphasis and perspective on the objects which lie at the heart of interpretive practice in museums, material culture studies and everyday life. This reader brings together classic and up to date texts on the nature and definition of the object itself, the senses and embodied experience of objects. No other volume brings together such perspectives in this way, and no other volume includes such a focus on the museum context.
Museum Objects incorporates both theorised and more practical readings from a range of international academic and contextual perspectives. The overall result is a definitive set of readings that offers a comprehensive understanding of objects and their place within the museum context.
"Although aimed at students of museum studies, this excellent collection can serve equally well as an introduction to contemporary topics in material culture or any field concerned with objects and the way they affect us." - Fabio R. Gygi, SOAS, University of London
“The articles are well-balanced , the text is easy to follow, and the topics are insightful and well-researched. This publication would be received well by museums professionals and academics, as well as students of museum and heritage studies.” –Marsia Sfakianou Bealby, University of Birmingham, UK
Introduction Materialising objects, experience and the museum 1. Objects and their properties 2. Experiencing objects 3. Contexts of experiencing objects 4. Object/person distinctions
Leicester Readers in Museum Studies was launched in 1994 under the editorship of Professor Susan Pearce, the then Head of the Department of Museum Studies. Having continuously developed subject bibliographies since its founding in 1966, in the late 1980s the Department converted these into study packs of published materials for students. These became the basis of the first series of Readers. It was determined that each volume should have a strong editorial vision which would be expressed in a significant introductory essay and in section introductions. Professor Eilean Hooper-Greenhill followed Sue Pearce as series editor. In 2007, Simon Knell became editor of a newly designed and more thematically diverse second series. He invited editors from outside the Leicester department.
Launched in 2019, the third series is focused on the publication of new - rather than previously published - material and with a renewed energy to reflect thought and practice globally. The series welcomes proposals from prospective editors, wherever they may be, who seek to meet the series’ objectives:
If you have an idea for a book that you think would be appropriate for the series, then please contact the Series Editor, Simon Knell ([email protected]), to discuss further.
