Blog Four

What issues regarding the voyages of Captain Cook and the Polynesian reactions to them have struck you in the last two weeks?  DIscuss how these issues relate or don't relate to the theme of history and knowledge.

Blog Three: Thinking about museum displays

Hi everyone,

For this week, please take some time to write some of your own thoughts about the two museums we have visited this semester.  Think about which displays were particularly informative or interesting or just striking and say why.  Please try to address issues such as the overall purpose of the museum, the degree to which a museum works or doesn't work with "source communities" (i.e. the communities who are connected to those who produced the objects that the museum displays.

You might also want to look at the websites for these two museums and talk a little about the strengths and weaknesses of each website, both from a design point of view and also from a content point of view.

Things to think about:  How does the museum present itself?  What kind of language does it use to describe objects and/or it's own activities?  Who gets highlighted in the museum's self-representations:  Staff? Donors? Source Communities? Visitors?  How much time and space does the museum devote to talking about where objects come from or what they were used for or their cultural significance?  Are there differences in terms of the way different kinds of materials are treated?

You don't have to answer all these questions, just use the blog post to address a few of them.  Responses to posts should try to extend the conversation.  

cheers

Chrs