Date of Award
4-21-2009
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Anthropology
First Advisor
Despina Margomenou, PhD - Chair
Second Advisor
Emanuela Guano, PhD
Third Advisor
Jeffrey B. Glover, PhD
Abstract
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.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.57709/1059181
Recommended Citation
Andrews, Erin Leigh, "Old Stories, New Narratives: Public Archaeology and the Politics of Display at Georgia's Official Southeastern Indian Interpretive Center." Thesis, Georgia State University, 2009.
doi: https://doi.org/10.57709/1059181