The essays should each include: a meaningful title not just the name of the assignment, for instance a good introduction as your first paragraph, introducing your topic clearly and appropriately and indicating to the reader what they may expect in the rest of your essay, and an appropriate and meaningful conclusion, in a final paragraph that brings together what you have said in the paper and clearly states your overall conclusions on the subject. The goal of this assignment is to evaluate the way in which the museum is representing the cultures. After you read and view these items, we will go over the issues that can be involved and ways that you can evaluate the museum’s work in this respect. You should consider whether the exhibit demonstrates ethnocentrism or stereotyping, or, on the contrary, whether it works against such ideas. Be sure to present evidence for your ideas. For your analysis and your essay, a central issue should be the idea of voice – not literally the voice you may hear from videos, for instance. Rather, this refers to the question of who you feel is communicating to you through this exhibit. Consider whose voice is dominant in the exhibit labels, videos, and other forms of presentation: the voice of a researcher, the voice of the curator(s) who put the exhibit together, the voice(s) of one or a few individuals from the culture, or multiple voices? Who do you feel has shaped this exhibit? (And, perhaps, Why?) What message(s) is/are being conveyed? Who seems to be communicating with you? Do you hear the same basic “voice” throughout the exhibit, or does it vary in different sections, or perhaps in the different forms of presentation? Why do you have these impressions – what is there in the exhibit that gives you these ideas? Present the evidence behind your conclusions. While exploring the exhibit: Be sure to take good, detailed field notes while you are in the exhibit, so that you can use your notes to provide evidence for your argument in the paper. Optional: You may also find it useful to conduct ethnographic observations of other visitors to the exhibit. Observe who is in the exhibit with you, and what they are doing and saying. What meanings do you think people take away from the exhibit, and how is this related to the voice(s) in which the exhibit material is presented? Use this website as the main source
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