This course examines how visual and material culture has been coveted, collected, and curated by museums and public history sites. The art and artifacts in question are largely from non-Western peoples, but for the purposes of this class “cultures” will be broadly defined to include groups living within Western society. At the heart of our inquiry is a discussion of the museum as a particular set of practices and institutions which produce, organize, and structure knowledge. We will explore how museums help shape the ways in which we understand history, geography, social hierarchy, race/class/gender, and cultural difference.