Return to search

Old Stories, New Narratives: Public Archaeology and the Politics of Display at Georgia's Official Southeastern Indian Interpretive Center

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.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:GEORGIA/oai:digitalarchive.gsu.edu:anthro_theses-1029
Date21 April 2009
CreatorsAndrews, Erin Leigh
PublisherDigital Archive @ GSU
Source SetsGeorgia State University
Detected LanguageEnglish
Typetext
Formatapplication/pdf
SourceAnthropology Theses

Page generated in 0.0018 seconds