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Gender equity has been a national and global aim for over half a century (Ceci & Williams, 2007; National Center for Education Statistics, 2003; National Science Board, 2008). While gains have been made, one area where inequity remains is spatial reasoning ability, where a large gender gap in favor of males has persisted over the years (Else-Quest, Linn, & Shibley Hyde, 2010; National Science Board, 2008; Ruble, Martin, & Berenbaum, 2006). This gender gap in spatial reasoning has had substantial societal impact on the career interests of females in areas of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM), contributing to the larger societal need to engage non-dominant groups in these fields to reduce outsourcing (Ceci & Williams, 2007; Jaschik, 2007; Wai, Lubinski, & Benbow, 2009; White, 1992). Both spatial reasoning ability and STEM career interest have been related to science museum visits (Hamilton, Nussbaum, Kupermintz, Kerkhoven, & Snow, 1995; Salmi, 2001, 2002). However, researchers have also found a gender gap in favor of males in regard to science museum attendance and experiences once at the museum (Borun, 1999; Crowley, 2000). There are many suggestions for increasing female engagement at science museums and creating equitable experiences, but few have been systematically studied (Kekelis, Heber, & Countryman, 2005; Koke, 2005; Maher, 2005; Taylor, 2005). This research investigated gender equitable exhibit development by enhancing a geometry exhibit with several female-friendly design features and analyzing video data to determine the effects on girls' engagement and social interactions with their caregivers. The findings suggest that incorporating several female-friendly design features leads to significantly higher engagement for girls (evidenced by greater attraction and time spent). This study also looked for any unanticipated negative effects for boys after incorporating the female-friendly design features. It is encouraging that this study was unable to detect any unintended negative effects for boys; however, such non-significant results are inconclusive and should not dissuade future research and design teams from continuing to check for unanticipated ill effects of female-friendly design features for boys. While the positive effects for girls were significant, it is important to note that they were not significantly more positive for girls than for boys; further research is needed to determine whether the female-friendly design features create a more equitable experience for girls, or a more positive experience for everyone. This study did not identify any significant differences in parent-child verbal social interactions between the two versions of the exhibit; however, the pattern of results suggests that gender discrepant parent explanations, as found by Crowley, 2001 in a children's museum, may be less of a concern for girls in science centers, providing an interesting area for future study. This research presents evidence to support incorporating female-friendly design features in future science exhibit development projects, and indicates areas where future studies are still needed to gain a deeper understanding of their effects.

Hui Pui Lam Joe. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 121-128). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Chapter Chapter 1 --- Buried in the footnotes-Introduction / Chapter 1.1 --- The importance of museums --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2 --- What are museums? --- p.6 / Chapter 1.2.1 --- Museums in Hong Kong --- p.6 / Chapter 1.2.2 --- Definitions of Museums --- p.7 / Chapter 1.3 --- Research Questions --- p.10 / Chapter 1.4 --- Research Texts: --- p.10 / Chapter 1.4.1 --- Background information of the ´بHong Kong Museum of History' --- p.10 / Chapter 1.4.2 --- Background information of the ´بThe Hong Kong Story´ة --- p.11 / Chapter 1.4.3 --- Background information of the ´بTai O Cultural --- p.12 / Chapter 1.5 --- Methods of study --- p.13 / Chapter 1.6 --- Chapter outline --- p.15 / Chapter Chapter 2 --- The theoretical and critical framework / Chapter 2.1 --- ´بModernist museums´ة as gendered institutions --- p.18 / Chapter 2.1.1 --- The dominant form of museum in the MH --- p.21 / Chapter 2.2 --- Literature on gender representation in art galleries and history museums --- p.22 / Chapter 2.2.1 --- In the context of art galleries --- p.22 / Chapter 2.2.2 --- The pragmatic approach --- p.23 / Chapter 2.2.3 --- The quantitative approach --- p.24 / Chapter 2.3 --- "Gaby Porter and other museologists, works" --- p.25 / Chapter 2.3.1 --- Gender dualism --- p.27 / Chapter 2.3.2 --- Object-centered approach --- p.31 / Chapter 2.3.2.1 --- The concept of ´بemotion material´ة --- p.35 / Chapter 2.3.2.2 --- Methods to regenerate the representation of women in history museum --- p.37 / Chapter 2.3.3 --- Classification system --- p.39 / Chapter 2.4 --- New museology movement --- p.40 / Chapter 2.4.1 --- Post-museum --- p.40 / Chapter 2.4.1.1 --- The characteristics of post-museum --- p.42 / Chapter 2.4.1.2 --- How does post-museum relate to gender? --- p.44 / Chapter 2.4.2 --- Ecomuseum --- p.45 / Chapter Chapter 3 --- Case study of the Hong Kong Story- Gender dualism and object-centered approach in exhibition / Chapter 3.1 --- General description of the Hong Kong Story (HKS) --- p.47 / Chapter 3.2 --- Displays in lower and upper floors --- p.48 / Chapter 3.2.1 --- Lower floor: Folk Culture in Hong Kong --- p.49 / Chapter 3.2.2 --- Upper floor: Birth and Early Growth of the City and Modern Metropolis and the Return to China --- p.51 / Chapter 3.3 --- Gender dualism in Exhibition --- p.53 / Chapter 3.3.1 --- Male-defined experiences of work and daily life --- p.59 / Chapter 3.3.2 --- Marginalization of work in domestic area --- p.63 / Chapter 3.4 --- Object-centered approach taken by curators --- p.65 / Chapter 3.4.1 --- Lower floor- The representation of wedding ceremony --- p.68 / Chapter 3.4.1.1 --- Reasons behind the under-representation of women experiences in traditional wedding ceremonies --- p.69 / Chapter 3.4.2 --- Upper floor- The under-representation of women experiences --- p.72 / Chapter 3.5 --- Methods to exhibit the non-material formed history and emotion material --- p.75 / Chapter Chapter 4 --- Out of the box: Case Study of the Tai O Cultural Workshop / Chapter 4.1 --- Orientation of the Workshop and the role of Ms. Wong in the Workshop --- p.81 / Chapter 4.1.1 --- The Position of Ms. Wong in the Workshop --- p.82 / Chapter 4.2 --- Description of displays --- p.83 / Chapter 4.2.1 --- The interpretation of objects --- p.86 / Chapter 4.2.2 --- The importance of Ms. Wong as a guide --- p.88 / Chapter 4.3 --- A critical analysis of exhibition --- p.89 / Chapter 4.3.1 --- The role of guide in the Workshop --- p.90 / Chapter 4.3.2 --- The naming issue --- p.92 / Chapter 4.3.3 --- The ways of object interpretation --- p.95 / Chapter 4.3.4 --- Objects as emotion material --- p.96 / Chapter 4.3.5 --- The position of Ms. Wong as a curator --- p.101 / Chapter 4.3.6 --- The orientation of the Workshop- Tai O as a unique and lively community --- p.104 / Chapter 4.4 --- Reasons for the success of the Workshop --- p.108 / Chapter Chapter 5 --- Conclusion / Chapter 5.1 --- Comparison between the MH and the Workshop --- p.110 / Chapter 5.2 --- Limitation of the Workshop --- p.114 / Chapter 5.3 --- The positive role of laymen to change curatorial practices --- p.115 / Chapter 5.4 --- In what ways can HKS learn from the Workshop? --- p.117 / Bibliography --- p.121 / Appendix / Appendix: Pictures of the Hong Kong Story (Chapter 3) and the Tai O Cultural Workshop (Chapter4) --- p.130

Presenting a case study of an American Indian exhibit at the Funk Heritage Center, I critically examine how this museum’s ideologies and preferred pedagogies shape public discourse about Southeastern Indians in the past and present. Using the methodology of Visitor Studies, this public archaeology project illustrates the benefits of incorporating applied anthropology into museological practice through collaboration with museum staff, volunteers, visitors, and American Indians. Operating within the theoretical frameworks of Charles R. Garoian (2001) and Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett (1991), my results imply that inserting archaeological narratives into institutional pedagogy alters a museum’s traditional “performance” of the past by challenging its own authority; ultimately, I show how this process can increase viewer awareness about the politics of display.

This thesis compares two contemporary artists who practice institutional criticism, Marcel Broodthaers and Fred Wilson. Looking specifically at Broodthaers's fictional museum project the Musee d Art Moderne, Departement des Aigles from 1968-1972 and Wilson's 1992 installation Mining the Museum at the Maryland Historical Society, this thesis will critically analyze each artist's similar application of deconstruction as a method. Both artists employ allegory and history as aesthetic strategies of deconstruction; using allegorical structure, the artists mobilize objects that have been arrested in history, disrupting a historical continuum that would otherwise remain foreclosed. The focus of this study will be to explore the critical approaches of Broodthaers and Wilson individually as well as the similar theoretical tendencies of the artists jointly; this investigation will assess the effect of institutional criticism on the museum's present condition, unfolding both what has changed and what is still at play within this practice.

This thesis investigates Western exhibition practices and the problems that arise when they involve cross-cultural encounters. Two exhibitions of Chinese painting in Paris that were co-planned by French curators and Chinese artists will serve as case studies in this regard. The first exhibition is Exposition de la peinture chinoise held at the Musee du Jeu de Paume in 1933. The second show is Quatre artistes chinoises contemporaines held at the Musee Cernuschi in 1977. Using archival material, I will reconstruct the planning of the exhibitions and reveal diverging French and Chinese agendas. An examination of the press reviews of the two shows will demonstrate that location is key in the public reception of an exhibition. The analysis of the encounter of self and other underlying the two exhibitions will lead to a probing of Western exhibition practices and bring issues of power, authenticity and identity-making to the fore.

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements of Master of Arts, Durban 2018 / This dissertation examines the social, cultural and economic significance of locally forged field-hoes, known as amageja in Zulu. A key question I have engaged in this study is whether gender-based divisions of labour in nineteenth-century African communities of this region, which largely consigned agricultural work to women, also affect attitudes towards the tools they used. I argue that examples of field-hoes held in eight museum collections form an important but neglected archive of “hoeculture”, the form of subsistence crop cultivation based on the use of manual implements, within the Phongolo-Mzimkhulu geographic region that roughly approximates to the modern territory of KwaZulu-Natal. In response to observations made by Maggs (1991), namely that a disparity exists in the numbers of fieldhoes collected by museums in comparison with weapons, I conducted research to establish the present numbers of amageja in these museums, relative to spears in the respective collections. The dissertation assesses the historical context that these metallurgical artefacts were produced in prior to the twentieth-century and documents views on iron production, spears and hoes or agriculture recorded in oral testimony from African sources, as well as Zulu-language idioms that make reference to hoes. I furthermore examine the collecting habits and policies of private individuals and museums in this region from the nineteenthcentury onwards, and the manner in which hoes are used in displays, in order to provide recommendations on how this under-utilised category of material culture should be incorporated into future exhibitions. / XL2019

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The re-curated Canadian History Hall (CHH) opened at the Canadian Museum of History (CMH) in Gatineau, Québec, on July 1st, 2017, becoming the first Canadian national narrative to exhibit the history, experiences, and aftermath of Canada’s genocidal Indian Residential School (IRS) system. Through interviews and participant observation, this case study considers experiences of CHH curatorial engagements between Alberni IRS Survivors and museum professionals. Their experiences illustrate practical challenges, structural limitations, and complementary interests of Western museums and Indigenous source communities attempting to collaboratively curate difficult history. Despite having limited capacities for indigenization or decolonization, this thesis demonstrates that museums like the CMH can be complicated but beneficial partners for some Indigenous source communities and their anti-colonial engagements with Canadian society. / Graduate