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Museums in contemporary society: Track 2

Audio

What are museums for? In this album we look behind the displays to reveal the conflicting roles, power struggles and ethical dilemmas that affect museums today. Once the undisputed sources of authority on the objects in their care, museums now have to justify their decisions to the government, to their audiences, sometimes even to vociferous pagans. The challenge is to reach out to new audiences and devise new ways of communicating with them. The rewards are many: to maintain status and respect, to win hearts and influence people, even to foster a warm sense of nationhood. This album also contains academic perspectives from Tim Benton, Professor of Art History at The Open University; Laurajane Smith, Reader in Heritage Studies at the University of York; and Rodney Harrison, Lecturer in Heritage Studies at The Open University. This material forms part of The Open University Course AD281 Understanding global heritage.

Track 2: Secrets of the V

The director, staff and visitors to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London talk about the museum's role and what they see as the source of its success.



Tracks in this podcast:

Track Title Description
1 Museums in contemporary society An introduction to this album. Play now Museums in contemporary society
2 Secrets of the V The director, staff and visitors to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London talk about the museum's role and what they see as the source of its success. Play now Secrets of the V
3 Redefining the V Dragging the Victoria and Albert Museum's British galleries into the twenty-first century was a masssive undertaking. Here's how they did it. Play now Redefining the V
4 Global heritage: course taster A sample of some of the ideas and case studies covered in the course AD281 Understanding global heritage. Play now Global heritage: course taster
5 AHD and global heritage Dr Rodney Harrison of The Open University explains the importance of AHD within the course AD281 Understanding global heritage. Play now AHD and global heritage
6 Authorised heritage discourse Dr Laurajane Smith of the University of York explains what she means by authorised heritage discourse. Play now Authorised heritage discourse
7 Museums and the AHD Professor Tim Benton of The Open University explores the links between museums and authorised heritage discourse. Play now Museums and the AHD
8 Secrets of the V Professor Tim Benton of The Open University talks about the ideas in the film. Play now Secrets of the V
9 Secrets of the V Dr Laurajane Smith of University of York talks about the ideas in the film. Play now Secrets of the V
10 Redefining the V Professor Tim Benton of The Open University talks about the ideas in the film. Play now Redefining the V
11 Redefining the V Dr Laurajane Smith of University of York talks about the ideas in the film. Play now Redefining the V
12 NMS: Reflecting Scotland How the National Museum of Scotland reflects its fledgeling democracy in two contrasting galleries. Play now NMS: Reflecting Scotland
13 NMS perspective: Tim Benton Professor Tim Benton of The Open University talks about the ideas in the audio. Play now NMS perspective: Tim Benton
14 Pandering to Pagans? How museums in Britain are responding to calls by pagans and other groups to release their control over human remains in their collections. Play now Pandering to Pagans?
15 Studying global heritage Dr Rodney Harrison talks about studying The Open University's course AD281 Understanding global heritage. Play now Studying global heritage
16 Global heritage: case studies Dr Rodney Harrison talks about the audio and video case studies that are integral to the course AD281 Understanding global heritage. Play now Global heritage: case studies
17 Critical heritage studies Dr Rodney Harrison, course chair of the course AD281 Understanding global heritage, explains the concept of critical heritage studies. Play now Critical heritage studies

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