Teaching Collections Management Anthropologically

Abstract

AbstractThis article documents the creation of a teaching collection intended to teach and equally interrogate collections management practices and values to graduate‐level museum studies students. The collection is being used to convey to students the ways collections management is an embodied practice and an active area for research. The creation of the collection is discussed as an iterative process through the lens of material culture and museum anthropological analysis, taking into account the objects in the collection, the practices of collections management, and the interactions between students and the growing collection. The iterative process is likewise presented in waves of challenges and partial solutions. [collections management, material culture, museum anthropology]