Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Museum exhibits – Social aspects'

19th century dime museums were a North American phenomenon that flourished in urban centres from the mid- to late-1800s. Named thusly due to their low admission cost, dime museums provided democratic entertainment that was promoted to all classes as affordable and respectable. The resulting facilities were crammed with art, artifacts, rarities, living human curiosities, theatre performances, menageries, and technological marvels. The exhibition Dr. Soanes’ Odditorium of Wonders strives to recapture the spirit and aesthetic of the dime museum to invoke wonder in the viewer and to combine art, artifacts, and oddities to provoke questions about the boundary between education and amusement. Both the academic and curatorial texts utilize a mix of methodological approaches appropriate to museology, art history and cultural history: theoretical research into historiographical issues concerning theories of display and spectacle; archival research and discourse analysis of historical documents, and material culture analysis (including the semiotics of display).
iv, 60 leaves : ill. ; 29 cm

Gender equity has been a national and global aim for over half a century (Ceci & Williams, 2007; National Center for Education Statistics, 2003; National Science Board, 2008). While gains have been made, one area where inequity remains is spatial reasoning ability, where a large gender gap in favor of males has persisted over the years (Else-Quest, Linn, & Shibley Hyde, 2010; National Science Board, 2008; Ruble, Martin, & Berenbaum, 2006). This gender gap in spatial reasoning has had substantial societal impact on the career interests of females in areas of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM), contributing to the larger societal need to engage non-dominant groups in these fields to reduce outsourcing (Ceci & Williams, 2007; Jaschik, 2007; Wai, Lubinski, & Benbow, 2009; White, 1992). Both spatial reasoning ability and STEM career interest have been related to science museum visits (Hamilton, Nussbaum, Kupermintz, Kerkhoven, & Snow, 1995; Salmi, 2001, 2002). However, researchers have also found a gender gap in favor of males in regard to science museum attendance and experiences once at the museum (Borun, 1999; Crowley, 2000). There are many suggestions for increasing female engagement at science museums and creating equitable experiences, but few have been systematically studied (Kekelis, Heber, & Countryman, 2005; Koke, 2005; Maher, 2005; Taylor, 2005). This research investigated gender equitable exhibit development by enhancing a geometry exhibit with several female-friendly design features and analyzing video data to determine the effects on girls' engagement and social interactions with their caregivers. The findings suggest that incorporating several female-friendly design features leads to significantly higher engagement for girls (evidenced by greater attraction and time spent). This study also looked for any unanticipated negative effects for boys after incorporating the female-friendly design features. It is encouraging that this study was unable to detect any unintended negative effects for boys; however, such non-significant results are inconclusive and should not dissuade future research and design teams from continuing to check for unanticipated ill effects of female-friendly design features for boys. While the positive effects for girls were significant, it is important to note that they were not significantly more positive for girls than for boys; further research is needed to determine whether the female-friendly design features create a more equitable experience for girls, or a more positive experience for everyone. This study did not identify any significant differences in parent-child verbal social interactions between the two versions of the exhibit; however, the pattern of results suggests that gender discrepant parent explanations, as found by Crowley, 2001 in a children's museum, may be less of a concern for girls in science centers, providing an interesting area for future study. This research presents evidence to support incorporating female-friendly design features in future science exhibit development projects, and indicates areas where future studies are still needed to gain a deeper understanding of their effects.

DABUL, Lígia Maria de Souza. O público em público: práticas e interações sociais em exposições de artes plásticas. 2005. 333f. Tese (Doutorado em Sociologia) – Universidade Federal do CEARÁ, Departamento de Ciências Sociais, Programa de Pós- Graduação em Sociologia, Fortaleza-CE, 2005
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The result of the following thesis was based on research upon public attendance to art exhibition in Cultural Centres as well as Art Museums. Utilizing observing ethnographic facts, we describe social practices and interactions which take place amongst social actors during the time of the exhibit. On bringing the reader to the researching universe and discussing concepts based on a sociologic approach of art exhibition, we cover the fundamental social practices of the public during exhibits on how to study, play, talk, observe the artistic work, take a glimpse, familiarize, caress and court it. We also try to show how the exhibit may consist an item of a group of activities significant to the social actors. As to conclude, we presented our contributions and discussed the limits of the pattern individual / art work and that of the conception of art exhibition as a receptive message arena.
Essa tese é o resultado de pesquisa sobre a presença do público em exposições de artes plásticas em centros culturais e museus de arte. Utilizando dados da observação etnográfica, descrevemos práticas sociais e interações efetuadas entre os atores sociais durante o tempo em que estão em exposições. Após aproximarmos o leitor do universo da pesquisa e discutirmos conceitos da abordagem sociológica de exposições de arte, tratamos das práticas sociais fundamentais do público em exposições, como estudar, brincar, conversar, observar a obra, dar uma olhada, conviver, fazer carinho e namorar. Tentamos também mostrar como a exposição pode consistir em item de um conjunto de atividades significativas para os atores sociais. A título de conclusão, apresentamos nossas contribuições e discutimos os limites do modelo um indivíduo / uma obra e da concepção de exposição de arte como arena de recepção de mensagens.

When South Africa became a democracy, many of its cultural institutions were tainted by the stigma of having been tools for the production and propagation of apartheid ideology. This thesis examines two key facets of post-apartheid museums and memorials. Firstly, how they have repositioned themselves as institutions of cultural and social standing. Secondly, their role as tools of nation building, social change, and creators of national collective memory within the new democratic South Africa. Through an analysis of cultural memory theory pertaining to museology, this study elaborates on the methods employed by museums to incorporate memory into their narratives and in turn, transfer collective memory to their viewers. This thesis provides a comparative study of the architectural, memorial and museological strategies of two post-apartheid museums; the Red Location Museum and the Apartbeid Museum. It examines the contributions of both museums to the introduction of new museological strategies for the successful creation and transmission of South African collective memory. Through this analysis, both the invaluable contributions and the drawbacks of post-apartheid museums as tools for the promotion of new democratic ideologies and philosophies are considered. This thesis does not resolve the arguments and questions which have surfaced regarding cultural institutions as tools for the promotion of reconciliation and the construction of national collective memory within South Africa. As the current climate of memorialisation is one of change and paradox, it is presently impossible to fully quantify post-apartheid museums' roles within South Africa's move toward reconciliation and social change. However, the examination of both the Red Location Museum and the Apartheid Museum reveals the extraordinary change that South African cultural institutions have undergone in addition to their potential to become institutions which facilitate active reconciliation as well as social and cultural growth.

This thesis reports a qualitative study of the use of multimodal technologies in museums— specifically, it examines the relationship between visitor engagement and learning, focusing on the use of multimodal technologies during school trips. The study was conducted in the Natural History Museum and the Churchill Museum, both in London, with participants from several secondary schools. These sites were chosen due to their concern for the added value of learning and public engagement, including their education-orientated investments in technology, museum activities, and architecture. In the course of data collection, visits were made to six schools and both museum sites; the participants included 117 students, 18 teachers, three museum educators, and eight museum curators and media designers. The study used a combination of video data analysis, stimulated recall interviews, document analysis, and engaging students in talk and reflection about their visit both at the museum and afterwards. The qualitative approach and multimodal analysis identify how the students’ social interactions help them construct learning through decontextualised bodily movements, which trigger contextualised discussion. The study demonstrates how multimodal analysis can be used in research to capture a wide scope of information, while maintaining a micro-level of analysis and understanding—here, capturing the detail of students’ interactions and perceptions. The findings suggest that the learning experience in museums is produced through multiple layers of interaction and through the exchange of physical and psychological behaviour among people, resources, and space. Here, the multimodal technologies with which the students engaged essentially acted as initial platforms for sensory stimuli and social interaction, supporting their peer communication and motivating them to further explore both the given topic and their own understanding of their learning methods. It was the students’ further conversation, observation, and participation, however, that created a more meaningful and entertaining learning experience in the museums.

This thesis investigates Western exhibition practices and the problems that arise when they involve cross-cultural encounters. Two exhibitions of Chinese painting in Paris that were co-planned by French curators and Chinese artists will serve as case studies in this regard. The first exhibition is Exposition de la peinture chinoise held at the Musee du Jeu de Paume in 1933. The second show is Quatre artistes chinoises contemporaines held at the Musee Cernuschi in 1977. Using archival material, I will reconstruct the planning of the exhibitions and reveal diverging French and Chinese agendas. An examination of the press reviews of the two shows will demonstrate that location is key in the public reception of an exhibition. The analysis of the encounter of self and other underlying the two exhibitions will lead to a probing of Western exhibition practices and bring issues of power, authenticity and identity-making to the fore.

The dissertation research is an examination of the social and cultural dynamics of the Atlanta Life Insurance Company (ALIC) in Atlanta, GA. During the Jim Crow era (and post Jim Crow era), the ALIC provided economic mobility through employment, home loans, life insurance, and community solidarity. The company was one of the largest and most successful African-American financial institution in the country during the 20th century. It was founded in 1905 by Alonzo F. Herndon, a prosperous black barber and entrepreneur who rose from enslavement to become by 1927 the wealthiest African American in Atlanta. Renamed as the Atlanta Life Financial Group (ALFG), today the insurance company remains the leading African American stock-owned insurance company in the nation. I examine how Atlanta Life employees conceptualized their relationships within the company (past and present) and the larger African American community of Atlanta, along with the role the institution played as a shared space for producing cultural identities through social interactions. I explore the multiple roles of the company that impacted the community in the past and current roles within the African American community. I also explore what the possible closing of the Herndon Home Museum mean for memories and heritage, and the Herndon family's accomplishments if the home were torn down.

This thesis compares two contemporary artists who practice institutional criticism, Marcel Broodthaers and Fred Wilson. Looking specifically at Broodthaers's fictional museum project the Musee d Art Moderne, Departement des Aigles from 1968-1972 and Wilson's 1992 installation Mining the Museum at the Maryland Historical Society, this thesis will critically analyze each artist's similar application of deconstruction as a method. Both artists employ allegory and history as aesthetic strategies of deconstruction; using allegorical structure, the artists mobilize objects that have been arrested in history, disrupting a historical continuum that would otherwise remain foreclosed. The focus of this study will be to explore the critical approaches of Broodthaers and Wilson individually as well as the similar theoretical tendencies of the artists jointly; this investigation will assess the effect of institutional criticism on the museum's present condition, unfolding both what has changed and what is still at play within this practice.

The Museum of Modern Art's television project sponsored by the Rockefeller Brother's Fund between 1952 and 1955 was designed to educate a democratic and cultured citizenry through the principles and practices of modern art and liberal humanism. Through a close reading of four television programs, related policy documents and exhibitions, as well as critical, educational and promotional literature, this study will show how within the context of the MoMA's mandate and history, the television project was a decisive, yet highly troubled attempt to forge cultural citizenship through the burgeoning media of modern art and television. This exploration will establish how the television project was an integral aspect of the MoMA's efforts since World War II to situate modern art as essential to the formation of an international polity shaped around the promise of universality, yet dependent on upholding the primacy of free and creative individuals. In addressing such a challenge, this dissertation will contend that television was not necessarily antithetical to modernism, rather it was just one among an array of struggling forces falling within the rubric of the modern. Moreover, this analysis will consider the importance of culture in logics of liberal governance. In order to elucidate the dimensions of cultural democracy as they emerged through the MoMA's television project, this study will be shaped around a discussion of three components crucial to the formation and maintenance of citizenly conduct---civic education, democratic cultural communications, and cross-cultural governance. To these ends, a range of sources from the disciplines of Communications, Cultural Studies and Critical Artistic Studies will be drawn on in order to investigate the provisional links forged between modern art, media pedagogy, and cultural citizenship in the Cold War period.

In this paper I argue that, in an effort to create novel cross media exhibition concepts, museums should use service design. By realigning their organizations and embrace the fact that what they are offering is indeed a service, they can gain a new outlook and generate new ideas about how to create novel cross media exhibition concepts. I also suggest that treating the exhibition in a similar way that film studios treat franchises could help shift the mindset and make it cross media-centric. In order to arrive at these conclusions I performed an observational study and conducted qualitative interviews with museum professionals working in various museums in Sweden. The observational study was designed to get a grasp of the current state of digital artefacts in Swedish museums whereas the interviews were aimed towards identifying attitudes as well as knowledge of current opportunities and obstacles. The observational study taught me that instances of rich, meaningful interactions with ties to an overall concept was not common, and that there is definitely opportunities to think differently about delivering these types of distributed user experiences. The interviews gave me a greater understanding of the intricacies of the field of cultural preservation and museums, as well as insight into some of the reasons why things are the way they currently are. Using service design to align these organizations could perhaps aid with some of these reasons.

Cette thèse s'intéresse à la médiation de l'architecture au musée et aux divers moyens employés pour communiquer le projet architectural en exposition. L'objectif est de mieux connaître la réception que font les visiteurs architectes et non-architectes des outils utilisés pour exposer les aspects variés du projet architectural. On s'entend pour dire que la communication du projet architectural par l'exposition n'est pas tâche facile. Des représentations diverses (dessins, maquettes, photographies, vidéos, etc.) sont utilisées pour exposer le bâti absent. Plusieurs des objets présentés sont complexes à interpréter, surtout pour un néophyte, notamment en raison des codes qu'ils contiennent. Une méthode souvent employée par les commissaires est la " mise en série " de divers types de représentations, chaque outil permettant d'accéder à des informations spécifiques sur le projet. Comme les objets présentés sont souvent difficiles d'accès et que leur présentation sous forme de série peut ajouter à la complexité, il apparaît important d'investiguer la manière dont les visiteurs font sens de ce type de dispositif. Cette recherche vise principalement à jeter les bases d'une connaissance empirique de la réception d'expositions d'architecture par les visiteurs. Six questions ont été retenues pour analyse : (1) Quels objets sont mobilisés par le visiteur? (2) Quels types d'opérations mentales sont faites en lien avec ces objets? (3) Quels sont les obstacles rencontrés, et que fait le visiteur suite à la rencontre d'un obstacle? (4) Quels aspects du projet architectural (matérialité, concept, contexte, etc.) retiennent l'attention du visiteur? (5) Comment le visiteur fait-il des liens entre les différents objets exposés sous forme de série? (6) Le profil professionnel des visiteurs (architectes vs non-architectes) a-t-il une influence sur la construction de sens? Le recueil de données auprès d'une trentaine de visiteurs s'est déroulé au Centre canadien d'architecture (CCA) de Montréal dans l'exposition " Perspectives de vie à Londres et à Tokyo imaginées par Stephen Taylor et Ryue Nishizawa ". Chaque participant visite l'exposition en compagnie de la chercheure avec qui il partage, au fur et à mesure de sa visite, ses pensées et émotions, selon la méthode des protocoles verbaux concomitants (aussi connue sous le nom de thinking aloud ou protocol analysis). L'ensemble des propos est enregistré pour permettre une retranscription exacte avant analyse. Plusieurs des résultats obtenus confirment des idées déjà avancées par les chercheurs telles la popularité des photographies, le peu d'intérêt de la part des non-architectes pour les plans, les aspects variés du projet mentionnés face aux objets exposés, ou encore l'établissement de liens entre les objets comme moyen d'identifier la série. D'autres résultats mettent plutôt en doute des affirmations retrouvées dans les écrits, mais encore jamais appuyées par des données empiriques. Par exemple, plusieurs commissaires considèrent que la maquette est un excellent outil pour communiquer l'architecture et qu'elle est appréciée de tous. Or, dans le cadre de la présente étude, la maquette est peu utilisée par les visiteurs. Le type de maquette et la manière dont elle est disposée dans l'espace peuvent ainsi rendre cet outil peu utile dans la construction de sens du visiteur. Plusieurs auteurs appréhendent des difficultés et des obstacles pour les visiteurs non-architectes. Les présents résultats confirment certaines difficultés des visiteurs néophytes, mais ils démontrent également que les architectes rencontrent eux aussi des obstacles variés

Att besöka museum är ett populärt nöje, och ett sätt att erhålla ny kunskap. Tidigare studier har visat på positiva resultat av att öka meningsfullheten av besöken genom användning av teknologi. Denna forskning introducerade en design som framtagits genom deltagande design. Forskningen visar på möjligheten att förstärka upplevelsen av museibesöket genom digitalt gåvo-givande beteende. Deltagarna besöker ett museum som ett par, där den ena parten agerar gåvogivare och den andra mottagare. Under besöket ritar deltagarna sketcher, hittar objekt, svarar på frågor angående utställningsföremålen och samlar därigenom ledtrådar för att avkryptera gåvan. Denna forskning förklarar hur gåvo-givande beteende bidrar till den sociala upplevelsen mellan romantiska par och hur denna bidrar till upplevelsen av museibesöket. Resultatet erbjuder möjligheter för vidare forskning om hur nära förhållanden påverkar meningsfulla upplevelser.
Museums are popular among people to relax and obtain knowledge. Prior studies showed great efforts on increasing meaningfulness of the museum tour with the support of technology. This research introduces a design created through participatory design practice. The interaction presents its potential of enhancing the museum visiting experience for visitors in intimate relationships through digital gift- giving behavior. Participants visit the museum as couples, with one party acting as the gift giver and the other as the gift receiver. During the visit, participants draw sketches, find objects, answer questions related to the objects and collect the clues to decrypt the given gift. This research explains how gift- giving behavior enhances the social experience between the intimate couple and how social interaction between intimate couple enhances the museum visiting experience. This research suggests the opportunity for research on the effect of the close relationship on meaningful experiences.

The history of collection at the National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Ontario and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, illustrates concepts of race in the development of museums in Canada from before Confederation to today. Located at intersections of Art History, Museology, Postcolonial Studies and Native Studies, this thesis uses discourse theory to trouble definitions of nation and problematize them as inherently racial constructs wherein 'Canadianness' is institutionalized as a dominant white, Euro-Canadian discourse that mediates belonging. The recent reinstallations of the permanent Canadian historical art galleries at the National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Ontario and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts are significant in their illustration of contemporary colonial collection practices. The effectiveness of each installation is discussed in relation to the demands and resistances raised by Indigenous and non-Native artists and cultural professionals over the last 40 years, against racist treatment of Indigenous arts.

Depuis la fin des années 1980, les collaborations avec les communautés autochtones semblent s’accroître dans les musées canadiens. Un déplacement apparaît de la prise de parole en contexte de revendication au don de parole en contexte muséal. Après la remise en cause des musées ethnologiques, la prise en charge de la parole autochtone annonce le temps de la reconnaissance. Seulement, le mot reconnaissance est employé dans des contextes variés en muséologie. Ses occurrences indiquent plusieurs sens, dérivés de la volonté de redonner dignité et respect aux peuples autochtones et de produire des expositions qui présentent leur patrimoine d’origine à la lumière de leurs points de vue. Selon une approche communicationnelle, notre travail a porté sur les pratiques des musées qui consistent à donner la parole aux peuples autochtones et à l’exposer. Le travail a été centré sur la combinaison des points de vue autochtones avec ceux des concepteurs-muséographes. L’entreprise de la recherche a visé à cerner les opérations induites et générées par cette situation d’entrecroisements de points de vue, plus ou moins discordants, qui doivent, d’une manière ou d’une autre, s’unir dans un même espace communicationnel. Le système polyphonique de l’exposition est conceptualisé en trois moments de médiation : la prise en compte, la monstration et l’interprétation des points de vue autochtones. Ils correspondent aux intentions des concepteurs-muséographes et des expositions, puis à la manière dont elles sont interprétées par les visiteurs. Nous avons réalisé quatre enquêtes de terrain dans onze musées à travers le Canada : observation participante ; entretiens individuels auprès de professionnels des musées ; analyse de discours ; entretiens de groupes auprès de visiteurs autochtones et allochtones. Nous avons examiné les pratiques collaboratives et croisé ces quatre formes de discours des musées afin de mettre à l’épreuve le potentiel de reconnaissance des expositions qui tiennent compte des points de vue des représentants autochtones. Il résulte que la patrimonialisation est conçue en tant que processus de reconnaissance. De plus, l’intensification de la patrimonialisation des objets autochtones est synchronique de l’expansion coloniale. Néanmoins, l’analyse de la prise de distance du concepteur-muséographe vis-à-vis de son point de vue et de celui des autochtones rend compte des relations complexes entre le don de parole, l’autorité de discours et l’auctorialité. Malgré les divergences entre les intentions explicitées par les professionnels et leurs intentions implicites dans les expositions, les discours des visiteurs autochtones et allochtones traduisent un contrat de reconnaissance entre le musée et les visiteurs. Ainsi, le principe polyphonique et ses formes de reconnaissance sont mis en évidence dans les espaces de production et de réception des expositions produites en collaboration. Notre recherche révèle plusieurs modalités de reconnaissance manifestes dans la combinaison et l’entrecroisement des voix autochtones avec celles des praticiens. Cet essai d’interprétation met au jour des conflits d’ordre patrimonial et socio-historique qui engendrent des mécanismes de régulation par assimilation/accommodation. Il décrit deux logiques fondamentales relatives à l’identité et à la mémoire. De ces adaptations mises en œuvre par les musées ressort un phénomène permanent de reconnaissance amorcé depuis la colonisation des territoires autochtones. La recherche suggère finalement d’envisager le musée comme lieu de reconnaissance non seulement du patrimoine, mais aussi des publics et des peuples donateurs et donataires du patrimoine
Collaborations with aboriginal communities appear to be increasing in Canadian museums, with the communities shifting from speaking in a context of claiming theirrights to being given a voice in the museum context. In keeping with the questioning about ethnological museums, taking into account the voice of the aboriginal peoplesprefigures since the eighties the time for recognition. But the word recognition is used indiverse museum contexts.Based on a communicational approach, our research considers the links between thepolyphonic and recognition modalities of the exhibition media. We have attempted toidentify and understand the processes induced and generated by exhibitions’ interactionaland intertextual systems. The polyphonic system is conceptualized in three mediation moments in the production and reception spaces of the exhibition: acknowledgment, monstration, and interpretation of aboriginal points of view. They correspond to there cognition intentions of the exhibitions and designers-museographers, then visitors’recognition. We have conducted four field studies in eleven different Canadian museums : participant observation; one-on-one interviews with museum professionals; discourse analysis ; group interviews with native and non-native visitors. We have studied the collaborative practicesand these four types of museum discourses to demonstrate the recognition potential ofexhibitions dedicated to the aboriginals’ perspectives.Our research reveals several recognition modes manifest in the combination andinterlinking of aboriginals’ and practitioners’ voices; it identifies logic in the polysemy ofthe word recognition. This interpretation essay reveals patrimonial and socio-historical conflicts that generate regulation mechanisms through assimilation/accommodation. A permanent recognition phenomenon emerges from the adaptations implemented by themuseums since the beginning of aboriginal patrimonialization during the colonizationperiod. Our research proposes to apprehend the museum as a recognition place of heritage, but also of the general public and the peoples, whether donors or donees of that heritage

Hui Pui Lam Joe.
Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2007.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 121-128).
Abstracts in English and Chinese.
Chapter Chapter 1 --- Buried in the footnotes-Introduction
Chapter 1.1 --- The importance of museums --- p.1
Chapter 1.2 --- What are museums? --- p.6
Chapter 1.2.1 --- Museums in Hong Kong --- p.6
Chapter 1.2.2 --- Definitions of Museums --- p.7
Chapter 1.3 --- Research Questions --- p.10
Chapter 1.4 --- Research Texts: --- p.10
Chapter 1.4.1 --- Background information of the ´بHong Kong Museum of History' --- p.10
Chapter 1.4.2 --- Background information of the ´بThe Hong Kong Story´ة --- p.11
Chapter 1.4.3 --- Background information of the ´بTai O Cultural --- p.12
Chapter 1.5 --- Methods of study --- p.13
Chapter 1.6 --- Chapter outline --- p.15
Chapter Chapter 2 --- The theoretical and critical framework
Chapter 2.1 --- ´بModernist museums´ة as gendered institutions --- p.18
Chapter 2.1.1 --- The dominant form of museum in the MH --- p.21
Chapter 2.2 --- Literature on gender representation in art galleries and history museums --- p.22
Chapter 2.2.1 --- In the context of art galleries --- p.22
Chapter 2.2.2 --- The pragmatic approach --- p.23
Chapter 2.2.3 --- The quantitative approach --- p.24
Chapter 2.3 --- "Gaby Porter and other museologists, works" --- p.25
Chapter 2.3.1 --- Gender dualism --- p.27
Chapter 2.3.2 --- Object-centered approach --- p.31
Chapter 2.3.2.1 --- The concept of ´بemotion material´ة --- p.35
Chapter 2.3.2.2 --- Methods to regenerate the representation of women in history museum --- p.37
Chapter 2.3.3 --- Classification system --- p.39
Chapter 2.4 --- New museology movement --- p.40
Chapter 2.4.1 --- Post-museum --- p.40
Chapter 2.4.1.1 --- The characteristics of post-museum --- p.42
Chapter 2.4.1.2 --- How does post-museum relate to gender? --- p.44
Chapter 2.4.2 --- Ecomuseum --- p.45
Chapter Chapter 3 --- Case study of the Hong Kong Story- Gender dualism and object-centered approach in exhibition
Chapter 3.1 --- General description of the Hong Kong Story (HKS) --- p.47
Chapter 3.2 --- Displays in lower and upper floors --- p.48
Chapter 3.2.1 --- Lower floor: Folk Culture in Hong Kong --- p.49
Chapter 3.2.2 --- Upper floor: Birth and Early Growth of the City and Modern Metropolis and the Return to China --- p.51
Chapter 3.3 --- Gender dualism in Exhibition --- p.53
Chapter 3.3.1 --- Male-defined experiences of work and daily life --- p.59
Chapter 3.3.2 --- Marginalization of work in domestic area --- p.63
Chapter 3.4 --- Object-centered approach taken by curators --- p.65
Chapter 3.4.1 --- Lower floor- The representation of wedding ceremony --- p.68
Chapter 3.4.1.1 --- Reasons behind the under-representation of women experiences in traditional wedding ceremonies --- p.69
Chapter 3.4.2 --- Upper floor- The under-representation of women experiences --- p.72
Chapter 3.5 --- Methods to exhibit the non-material formed history and emotion material --- p.75
Chapter Chapter 4 --- Out of the box: Case Study of the Tai O Cultural Workshop
Chapter 4.1 --- Orientation of the Workshop and the role of Ms. Wong in the Workshop --- p.81
Chapter 4.1.1 --- The Position of Ms. Wong in the Workshop --- p.82
Chapter 4.2 --- Description of displays --- p.83
Chapter 4.2.1 --- The interpretation of objects --- p.86
Chapter 4.2.2 --- The importance of Ms. Wong as a guide --- p.88
Chapter 4.3 --- A critical analysis of exhibition --- p.89
Chapter 4.3.1 --- The role of guide in the Workshop --- p.90
Chapter 4.3.2 --- The naming issue --- p.92
Chapter 4.3.3 --- The ways of object interpretation --- p.95
Chapter 4.3.4 --- Objects as emotion material --- p.96
Chapter 4.3.5 --- The position of Ms. Wong as a curator --- p.101
Chapter 4.3.6 --- The orientation of the Workshop- Tai O as a unique and lively community --- p.104
Chapter 4.4 --- Reasons for the success of the Workshop --- p.108
Chapter Chapter 5 --- Conclusion
Chapter 5.1 --- Comparison between the MH and the Workshop --- p.110
Chapter 5.2 --- Limitation of the Workshop --- p.114
Chapter 5.3 --- The positive role of laymen to change curatorial practices --- p.115
Chapter 5.4 --- In what ways can HKS learn from the Workshop? --- p.117
Bibliography --- p.121
Appendix
Appendix: Pictures of the Hong Kong Story (Chapter 3) and the Tai O Cultural Workshop (Chapter4) --- p.130

The Douglas Summerland Collection is a fictional "monographically based history"1. In essence this research is concerned with the current debates about history recording, authenticity of the photograph, methods of history construction and how the audience digests new 'knowledge'. The narrative for this body of work is drawn from a small album of maritime photographs discovered in 2004 within the archives of the Port Chalmers Regional Maritime Museum in New Zealand. The album contains vernacular images of life onboard several sailing ships from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, including the DH Sterling and the William Mitchell. Through investigating the'truth' systems promoted by the photograph within the presentations of histories this research draws a link between the development of colonialism and the perception of photography. It also deliberates on how 'truth' perception is still a major part of an audience's knowledge base. 1. Anne-Marie Willis Picturing Australia: A History of Photography, Angus & Robertson Publishers, London. 1988:253

Cross cultural education in art museums is an interesting and complex issue. While cultural exhibitions have received attention in research, studies have usually focused on the nature of the exhibitions and have not explored the audience's understanding about culture in relationship to the exhibition. This qualitative study explores how and what First Nations cultures have been mediated by a civic art museum and negotiated by the museum audience, and the relationship between the two. Observations of the exhibition and audience and interviews with 99 adults in the museum were collected and analyzed to identify patterns and relationships. Analysis of the exhibition found the mediation of culture was distinguished by a partnership of the museum and First Nations cultures which reflected both their languages and voices. Audience responses illustrated a range of affective, factual and conceptual responses. Positive affective responses reflected the stimulation and satisfaction with learning which occurred. Visitors indicated enlightenment, exposure and revision of previously held ideas and assumptions, similarities and differences among cultures, and insight into perspectives of others. Partnership between the museum and the exhibition of masks from Northwest First Nations cultures is seen as a complex undertaking requiring reflection and examination of these two cultures. Visitor responses to the exhibition indicates learning, thinking and innumerable ways individuals construct meanings and understanding from art museum experiences.

Using as a case example an ownership dispute over a Gitksan origin story depicted on the carved doors of University of British Columbia's Museum of Anthropology (MOA), this thesis contributes to an understanding of the ways in which hereditary prerogatives are being exercised in new contexts on the Northwest Coast and the political ramifications this entails for both museums and traditional systems of ownership. Drawing on interviews, archival materials, and published sources, this thesis details the ongoing history of the 'Ksan doors, from their commissioning in the early-1970s, as both an architectural feature of MOA and an example of contemporary Northwest Coast art, to their emergence as the focal point of an ownership dispute twenty years later that was escalated, if not precipitated, by a 1991 interpretive-dance performance of the origin story that they depict that involved Hereditary Chief Kenneth B. Harris. The claims and actions of Chief Harris and a Gitksan woman named Dolly Watts (whom many identify as the source of the dispute) are considered both ethnographically and historically, with a final emphasis on how MOA has in this case become a forum around and through which cultural meanings and identities are being asserted.

Outreach is a small, but significant component to modern research. Developing an exhibit for public display can be an effective way to communicate science to broad audiences, although it may be a less familiar method to scientists than writing papers or giving presentations. I outline the process of developing an interactive exhibit for outreach, and evaluate and discuss the effectiveness of a computer exhibit designed to communicate estuary currents and scientific modeling using Olympia Oyster restoration in the Yaquina Bay estuary as a theme. I summarize the results of this project in three primary recommendations: 1) exhibit developers should be deliberate in the decision to use a computer and only select this media if it is determined to be the best for communicating exhibit learning outcomes, 2) the design of visualizations to convey research results should be carefully modified from their scientific forms to best meet the exhibit learning outcomes and expectations of the exhibit audience, and 3) scientists should play an integral role in the development of scientific content-based exhibits, but their expertise, and the range of expertise from other members of the exhibit development team, should be strategically utilized.
Graduation date: 2012

Abstract in English, Tswana and Xitsonga
Education officers based at science centres and museums play a significant role in teaching the visiting learners science. However, little is known about their teaching practices at these centres. The purpose of this study was to investigate the teaching practices of education officers when teaching science in a science centre environment. The focus of this study was on the education officers’ knowledge and instructional strategies used in teaching science at a science centre in Pretoria, Gauteng province. A qualitative case study approach was used. Data was collected from the three participating education officers using semi-structured interviews and observations. Data was analysed separately from each case using education officers’ knowledge framework guidance. The findings from this study indicate that although education officers have shown an adequate content knowledge in teaching science at the science centre their teaching method was teacher-centred and non-interactive and show-and-tell strategies were more common amongst the education officers. The study also revealed that education officers did not use their resources/exhibits effectively in teaching science. It is recommended in this study that intensive training of education officers is required before they can interact with the visiting learners.
Baokamedi ba thuto ba kwa mafelong a maranyane le dimusiamo ba tshameka karolo e e botlhokwa mo go ruteng barutwana ba ba etileng dithuto tsa maranyane. Mme goitsiwe go le gonnye ka mekgwa e ba e dirisang kwa mafelong a. Morero wa thuto e ne e le go tlhatlhoba mekgwa ya baokamedi ba thuto fa ba ruta dithuto tsa maranyane mo tikologong ya lefelo la maranyane. Ntlhakgolo ya thuto e e ne e lebile kitso le mekgwa e e dirisiwang mo go ruteng maranyane mo lefelong la maranyane kwa Pretoria, porofensing ya Gauteng. Mokgwa wa boleng ba kgetsi thuta o dirisitswe. Tshedimosetso e tserwe mo baokameding ba thuto ba bararo ba ba neng ba tsere karolo ka mokgwa wa dipotsolotso tsa seka-kago le tebelelo. Tshedimosetso e tlhatlhobilwe kgetsi le kgetsi go dirisiwa kgakololo ya lenaneo la kitso ya baokamedi ba thuto. Dipitlhelelo tsa thuto e di supa gore le ga baokamedi ba thuto ba bontsha kitso e e lekaneng mo go ruteng maranyane kwa lefelong la dithuto tsa maranyane mekgwa ya bone ya go ruta e ne e lebagane bone gape e sena kamano mo go dimo ga moo mekgwa ya go buwa le go bontsha e ne e le tlwaelo gareng ga baokamedi ba thuto. Thuto e bontshitse gape gore baokamedi ba thuto ba ne ba sa dirisi didiriswa ka natlafalo mo go ruteng maranyane. Kgakololo go tswa mo thutong eno ke gore baokamedi ba thuto ba tlhoka katiso e e utlwalang pele ba ka kopana le baithuti ba ba etang.
Vadyondzisi lava kumekaka eka ndhawu ya science na museum va tlanga xiphemu xa nkoka swinene eku dyondziseni ka vadyondzi lava va endzelaka ndhawu leyi. Hambi swiri tano, i swi ntsongo leswi tivekaka hi madyondziselo ya science eka ndhawu leyi. Xikongomelo nkulu xa dyondzo leyi akuri ku lavisisa tindlela ta madyondziselo ya vadyondzisi loko va dyondzisa tidyondzo ta science endhawini leyi ya tidyondzo science. Dyondzo leyi ayi kongomisiwile eka vutivi na tindlela leti vadyondzisi va letelaka ha kona vadyondzi edhawini leyi ya science ePitori, eka Xifundzha nkulu xa Gauteng. Maendlelo ya qualitative case study ya tirhisiwile eka vulavisisi lebyi. Vuxokoxoko byi hlengeletiwile ku sukela eka vadyodzisi vanharhu va science hi ndlela ya mbulavurisano na vulangutisisi bya vukheta swinene. Vuxokoxoko lebyi byi hleriwile hi ku hambana hambana hi kuya hi vutivi bya vadyondzisi lava vanharhu. Hambi leswi vadyondzisi lava va nga kombisa vutivi byo ringanela no twisisa tidyondzo ta science eka ndhawu leyi, swi kumekile leswaku madyodziselo ya vona aya pfumeleli vadyondzi ku va teka xiphemu eku tirhiseni ka swikombiso na switirhisiwa swo pfuneta ku twisisa tidyondyo ta science. Vadyondzisi a va tirhisa ndlela yo vulavula no komba switithisiwa na swikombiso swo pfuneta tidyondzo leti ehandle ko pfumelela vana ku tirhisa swilo leswi swa science. Ku yisa emahlweni, swi kumekile leswaku vadyondzisi a va tirhisi switirhisiwa kumbe swikombiso swo va pfuneta eka dyondzo ya science hi ku hetiseka. Hi ku landzelela dyondzo leyi, ku tsundzuxiwa leswaku vadyondzisi va kuma dyondzo yo enta no enela ku suka eka va vutivi byo antswa va nga si nyikiwa mpfumelelo wo dyondzisa vana tidyondzo ta science.
Science and Technology Education
M. Ed. (Specialisation in Natural Science Education)

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI)
This thesis is a study of how people in the nine counties of central Indiana learned, appreciated, and performed music from 1800 to 1840. A concluding proposal for a public history application of this research is included.