Premium
Museums, Anthropology, and Minorities: In Search of a New Relevance for Old Artifacts
Author(s) -
Hodges David Julian
Publication year - 1978
Publication title -
anthropology and education quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.531
H-Index - 46
eISSN - 1548-1492
pISSN - 0161-7761
DOI - 10.1525/aeq.1978.9.2.04x0738j
Subject(s) - relevance (law) , applied anthropology , sociology , face (sociological concept) , anthropology , criticism , cultural heritage , cultural anthropology , social science , political science , law
Despite the pressing need for substantive reform, museums, on the whole, have gone relatively unchallenged and unchanged for decades. This lethargy in the face of an expanding public interest in the work of museums has given rise to criticism of the traditional purposes and functions of these institutions from within the museum profession itself and from without. A result has been the fashioning of new museum facilities and programs throughout the nation. One example is the Heritage Museum in The Bronx, New York, a children's museum described herein as a case study. These new museums represent a challenge and an opportunity for anthropology and for minorities. For anthropology, the challenge resides in the opportunity to establish new research priorities. For minorities, the opportunity resides in discovering a new relevance in institutions formerly perceived as elitist.