Fall 2008
Professor Tammy S. Gordon
Office Hours: Mondays and Wednesdays 9:00-2:00 in 264 Morton
Office Phone: 962-4244
E-Mail Address: gordont@uncw.edu
Class Web Site: http://people.uncw.edu/stonegordont (Click the course link)
“No theory will suffice until it is grounded in practice, and no practice will sustain itself unless it can be understood and explained. The future health of museums requires the continued sharing of knowledge and bridging of these boundaries.”
--Silverman and O’Neill, “Change and Complexity in the 21st Century Museum.” Museum News. November/December 2004
This is a course about the history, theory and practice of informal learning at museums and historic sites. As we examine the major issues in the field—the social role of the museum, learning styles, community collaboration, and the role of the visitor in historical institutions—we will develop projects to test and refine our theories with practice. We will combine historical research methods with other more interdisciplinary approaches to create a public program, a front-end evaluation study, and grant proposal.
By the end of this course, students will:
§ Be conversant in the history and theory of informal education in the United States
§ Have a working knowledge of museum programming for diverse user groups
§ Demonstrate an understanding of interpretive techniques
§ Be able to creatively combine the methods of social history and museum education to create and evaluate public programming
§ Have gained practical skills in archival and material culture research, visitor evaluation, and needs assessment
§ Have gained practical skills in web and DVD authoring for public programming
Required Readings
Cohen and Rosenzweig, Digital History: A Guide to Gathering, Preserving, and Presenting the Past on the Web
Diamond, Practical Evaluation Guide: Tools for Museums and Other Informal Educational Settings
Donnelly, Interpreting Historic House Museums
Falk and Dierking, Learning From Museums
Roberts, From Knowledge to Narrative
Tilden, Interpreting Our Heritage
Troy, Morning in America: How Ronald Reagan Invented the 1980s
In addition to these texts, there will be significant reading and background research for the projects. Please pay attention to the course schedule to make sure you’ve completed the required readings on time.
Assignments and Grades
See below for full descriptions of assignments
Your final grade (100 points) will be based on the following:
Class Preparation (15): The success of the class will depend on students having read and thought about the class texts. This is a seminar class, which means everyone must be prepared to discuss the readings. Sometimes this means preparing abstracts and making short presentations for the readings or your own research.
Front-End Survey and Analysis (25): Students will design and conduct a survey of current knowledge of and interest in the 1980s in the United States for an exhibition in development at the Randall Library. Students will analyze and report the results of the survey.
Grant Proposal (45): Students will write a grant proposal for a North Carolina Humanities Council grant.
Project Implementation (15): The class will create a common project plan to implement with 40 11th graders at Duplin High School.
The following scale is used to determine final grades:
|
Percentage |
Grade |
|
96-100 |
A |
|
90-95 |
A- |
|
87-89 |
B+ |
|
83-86 |
B |
|
80-82 |
B- |
|
77-79 |
C+ |
|
73-76 |
C |
|
70-72 |
C- |
|
67-69 |
D+ |
|
63-66 |
D |
|
60-62 |
D- |
Course Schedule
August 25: Roberts, From Knowledge to Narrative
September 1: No class. Labor Day Holiday.
September 8: Falk and Dierking, Learning From Museums; prepare three questions you’d like to ask of an experienced museum educator.
September 15: Diamond, Practical Evaluation Guide
September 22: Read Donnelly, Interpreting Historic House Museums. Bring 25 completed survey forms
September 29: Tilden, Interpreting Our Heritage; three front-end studies from NPS Harpers Ferry Media Evaluation and Visitor Research: http://www.nps.gov/hfc/products/evaluate.htm or the Smithsonian Office of Policy and Analysis: http://www.si.edu/opanda/Reports.htm
October 6: No class: mid-semester break
October 13: Front-end survey report due. Read Williamson, “A Grant Writing Primer,” Local History Notebook: http://www.ohiohistory.org/resource/oahsm/notebook/novdec1986.html. Prepare three questions you’d like to ask of an experienced grant writer.
October 20: Troy, Morning in America, 1-203
October 27: Troy, Morning in America, 204-356
November 3: Grant Proposal due in class.
November 10: Cohen and Rosenzweig, Digital History
Week of November 17: Project implementation
Week of November 24: Project implementation
Week of December 3: Project implementation