Museums in contemporary society - for iPod/iPhone: Recent Episodes
The Open University
What are museums for? In this album we look behind the displays to reveal the conflicting roles, power struggles and ethical dilemmas that affect museums today. Once the undisputed sources of authority on the objects in their care, museums now have to justify their decisions to the government, to their audiences, sometimes even to vociferous pagans. The challenge is to reach out to new audiences and devise new ways of communicating with them. The rewards are many: to maintain status and respect, to win hearts and influence people, even to foster a warm sense of nationhood. This album also contains academic perspectives from Tim Benton, Professor of Art History at The Open University; Laurajane Smith, Reader in Heritage Studies at the University of York; and Rodney Harrison, Lecturer in Heritage Studies at The Open University.
This material forms part of The Open University Course AD281 Understanding global heritage.
You can discover something of what it's like to study the course by using the downloadable 'activities' files to explore different views on what counts as heritage, the way in which museums are involved in the production of a sense of collective identity and nationhood, and how the study of museums connects with the study of other forms of heritage in contemporary society.
The director, staff and visitors to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London talk about the museum's role and what they see as the source of its success.
Transcript -- The director, staff and visitors to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London talk about the museum's role and what they see as the source of its success.
Dragging the Victoria and Albert Museum's British galleries into the twenty-first century was a masssive undertaking. Here's how they did it.
Transcript -- Dragging the Victoria and Albert Museum's British galleries into the twenty-first century was a masssive undertaking. Here's how they did it.
A sample of some of the ideas and case studies covered in the course AD281 Understanding global heritage.
Transcript -- A sample of some of the ideas and case studies covered in the course AD281 Understanding global heritage.
Dr Rodney Harrison of The Open University explains the importance of AHD within the course AD281 Understanding global heritage.
Transcript -- Dr Rodney Harrison of The Open University explains the importance of AHD within the course AD281 Understanding global heritage.
Dr Laurajane Smith of the University of York explains what she means by authorised heritage discourse.
Transcript -- Dr Laurajane Smith of the University of York explains what she means by authorised heritage discourse.
Professor Tim Benton of The Open University explores the links between museums and authorised heritage discourse.
Transcript -- Professor Tim Benton of The Open University explores the links between museums and authorised heritage discourse.
Transcript -- Professor Tim Benton of The Open University talks about the ideas in the film.
Transcript -- Dr Laurajane Smith of University of York talks about the ideas in the film.
Transcript -- Professor Tim Benton of The Open University talks about the ideas in the film.
Transcript -- Dr Laurajane Smith of University of York talks about the ideas in the film.
How the National Museum of Scotland reflects its fledgeling democracy in two contrasting galleries.
Transcript -- How the National Museum of Scotland reflects its fledgeling democracy in two contrasting galleries.
Transcript -- Professor Tim Benton of The Open University talks about the ideas in the audio.
How museums in Britain are responding to calls by pagans and other groups to release their control over human remains in their collections.
Transcript -- How museums in Britain are responding to calls by pagans and other groups to release their control over human remains in their collections.
Dr Rodney Harrison talks about studying The Open University's course AD281 Understanding global heritage.
Transcript -- Dr Rodney Harrison talks about studying The Open University's course AD281 Understanding global heritage.
Dr Rodney Harrison talks about the audio and video case studies that are integral to the course AD281 Understanding global heritage.
Transcript -- Dr Rodney Harrison talks about the audio and video case studies that are integral to the course AD281 Understanding global heritage.
Dr Rodney Harrison, course chair of the course AD281 Understanding global heritage, explains the concept of critical heritage studies.
Transcript -- Dr Rodney Harrison, course chair of the course AD281 Understanding global heritage, explains the concept of critical heritage studies.
Activities relating to the relationship between museum display and Scottish Nationalism