New Class Takes to Musing on Museums

A new UC course that tours the topic of museums comes at a time when seemingly staid world of museums is in flux.

The growth of niche museums is mushrooming, from Cleveland's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to Cincinnati's National Underground Railroad Freedom Center set to open in early 2004. Indeed, there's even a wallpaper museum in Germany. Meanwhile, art museums are tending to display many other things besides art: New York's Guggenheim Museum is currently showcasing fashions by Giorgio Armani while another New York gallery, this one as New York University, exhibited the company archives of a Japanese cosmetic company this fall.

Into the mix comes a new course, offered winter quarter, by Theresa Leininger-Miller, associate professor of art history. Titled "The Art of Collecting," the seminar course will examine the development of art, science and history museums, how collections have been publicly perceived over time, social responsibility, the politics swirling around institutions and particular exhibits, the ethics and means of acquiring from varyious cultures as well as the subjective nature of displays. Said Leininger-Miller, "Have you ever thought why Native American and African exhibits always include a map while European exhibits rarely, if ever, seem to? What message does that send?"

She added that the course grows out of her own interest in how museums came to be. "People just take them for granted like they've always been there...We'll also look at the psychology behind collecting. Why do people collect? It is the thrill of the hunt...the desire to leave a legacy...? What happens to a collection once it's institutionalized? What's kept in storage and what's displayed?" she asked.

Other topics in the honors seminar, which will meet 2-5:20 p.m. on Tuesday afternoons, include the rapidly changing world of auction houses, like Sotheby's and Christie's, which once eschewed marketing but now embrace it

Throughout the discussions, research, and visits by representatives from local institutions, Leininger-Miller will not only emphasize the history of collecting, she'll also encourage her students to develop their own collections.