Last week we explored the art of the New Deal era, from Holger Cahill’s exhibition writings to more recent works exploring the political dimensions of 1930s art. Today, we’ll be considering a topic that has played a seminal role in my professional and personal life: museums. Most broadly, the texts I’ve been working through are… Continue reading Thinking (and Reading) About Museums
Category: Academics
Thinking (and Reading) About the Art of the 1930s
We have reached the final list for my comprehensive exams: American art history. For the next few weeks, we’ll take a look at what I’ve been reading about art history, beginning with today’s post on the 1930s. Many of the works I have been reading have delved into the political nature of 1930s American art.… Continue reading Thinking (and Reading) About the Art of the 1930s
Thinking (and Reading) About Urban Segregation
I’ve been thinking recently about one of the first jobs I had after I finished my Master’s degree. From the fall of 2010 to the spring of 2011, I was a curatorial intern at the Dallas Museum of Art. During those nine months, I gave tours, curated my first exhibition, helped write a couple of… Continue reading Thinking (and Reading) About Urban Segregation
Thinking About Public Histories
One of my first museum jobs was a summer fellowship at the Old York Historical Society in York, Maine. I held this position during the summer of 2009, between the first and second years of my Master’s program at Williams College. I remember it as a pleasant summer overall. I made some great friends, and… Continue reading Thinking About Public Histories
The Multifaceted World of Cultural History
Some of the most engaging readings that I’ve explored on my history list so far belong to the genre of cultural history. This is partly because cultural histories tend to encompass unusual subject matter (see my recent post on toilet paper advertising), and over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been able to read about… Continue reading The Multifaceted World of Cultural History
Rethinking the New Deal
Last week’s post explored some recent texts that examine the growth of the federal state. Today, I’d like to take a look at some works that address the period frequently credited with the development of the modern State: the New Deal. The driving questions underpinning these texts is assessing the historical impact of the New… Continue reading Rethinking the New Deal
Thinking About the State
Today I wanted to get started with talking about my third reading list, but don’t think that we’re finished with talking about antiracism here. I’ll be sharing a new book here on the first of every month, so we can keep learning together. More importantly, we need to keep taking action through donating money, protesting,… Continue reading Thinking About the State
Thinking (and Reading) About Digital Humanities III
Last week I talked about some of the critiques that have been made of digital humanities, including its replication of previous academic biases, the overrepresentation of white, particularly male perspectives, and its complicity in the corporatization of the university as an institution. There are few things more annoying than pointing out flaws without offering solutions,… Continue reading Thinking (and Reading) About Digital Humanities III
Thinking (and Reading) About Digital Humanities II
Last week I talked about some of the texts I’ve been reading that emphasize the general excitement and scholarly potential surrounding digital humanities. Today we’ll take a look at some critiques of DH. One of the main critiques of digital humanities is that, rather than revolutionize humanities scholarship, it has perpetuated the biases of academia.… Continue reading Thinking (and Reading) About Digital Humanities II
Thinking (and Reading) about Digital Humanities I
While the first two sections of my second reading list focus on archival theory, the last group of readings have focused on digital humanities. I added these readings because DH is a field I’ve gotten really interested in since taking a seminar on it during my first semester at William and Mary. Like the archival… Continue reading Thinking (and Reading) about Digital Humanities I