Museums in Universities: Predicaments and Potentialities

Abstract

This paper summarises an analysis of university museums, pinpointing the debates that have framed these institutions both as objects that can be studied and as a field of research that continues to evolve. Twenty years after the first conference held by UMAC in 2001, it is time to reflect upon what has been a fruitful period of research and attempt to map out future directions. The results of this study are founded on a comprehensive analysis of published works, primarily in English and Spanish, and take a thematic approach. Analysis of the academic debates reveals a core theme concerning the historical links of university museums with disciplinary knowledge and the crises these institutions have experienced because of changes that have occurred, especially within scientific disciplines. In addition to discussing how to best manage them, much attention has been given to the dichotomy between university museums and their parent institutions, epitomised by the challenge of reconciling differing roles in outreach, research, and teaching. It is argued here that there is a need for more intensive study of university museums, both in terms of their history and their current circumstances. Such an approach offers the possibility of gaining insights into their practices by combining transdisciplinary perspectives. It could also underpin the proposal that university museums have the potential to take a lead role in combatting denialism and the abandonment of humanistic thinking by articulating the importance of interdisciplinary knowledge to a wide range of audiences inside and outside the university.