HIST 691:001: Museum Studies
This course is designed to introduce graduate students to the theory and practice of museums with an emphasis on history institutions. We will examine the origins of museums and the leaders who helped shape the field. History and memory, surviving controversy, the changing role of museums, museum learning, creating exhibitions, the future of museums, and museums and innovation are among the issues which will be covered. In the process the class will gain an understanding of the numerous challenges facing museums as well as the process of proposing, researching, and executing an exhibition.
(T 7:20-10:00 pm)
HIST 499:003: Senior Seminar in History: Slavery, Abolition and the Underground Railroad
This course focuses on researching slavery, abolition, and the Underground Railroad. Your research projects will grow out of your increased understanding of these activities and their operation. Slavery and its abolition were one of the major issues in the United States leading up to the Civil War. The participants of the Underground Railroad took direct action to undermine slavery by seeking freedom as well as aiding enslaved people seeking freedom. Reading the ideas and stories about these topics, investigating how they functioned, and examining how historians have assessed this movement will provide the foundation for the research conducted by class participants.
The Underground Railroad was a complex operation which over the years has had many myths connected to it. Sorting the myths from reality will enable students to better understand how historians assess research material and craft a thesis for their work. They will then apply these insights to the writing of their own well-researched and thoughtfully presented major research paper.
(W 1:30-4:10 pm)