Museums

[close] This global discussion group has been designed to encourage debates about important and underreported issues of our era. All you need is an enquiring mind and a desire to gain or share “underground knowledge”. This is also a place to discuss the controversial topics explored in The Underground Knowledge Series (non-fiction books) by James Morcan & Lance Morcan as well as the Underground Knowledge podcast show.

[close] Inspired by the Royal British Columbia Museum's feature exhibition, Gold Rush! El Dorado in British Columbia, this book club will read fiction and non-fiction books related to gold rushes.

[close] The purpose of this group is to read and discuss books pertaining to Art History, the Visual Arts (Architecture, Painting, Sculpture, etc.), the Decorative Arts, Museums, and Landscape Gardening. Fiction and Nonfiction books will be discussed. Relevant films and documentaries also are of interest. Suggestions are welcome.

[close] Let's explore museums, one narrative at a time. This group is for all of my fellow museum registrars, historic preservation enthusiasts, art lovers, archivists, amateur archaeologists, post-colonianal scholars, museum educators, and anyone who has ever found themselves falling down a World's Fair rabbit hole. If you are fascinated with the history of museums, you've found the right place. I want to explore the institutional history of museums and am pleasantly surprised by the amount of reads out there, even if you have to search a little to find them. I hope you will join me in gaining a better understanding of the past of museums so that we can comprehend with context their important and complicated role today. Biographies, fiction, theory, text books, primary sources, historical fiction, and memoirs are all welcome, as long as they relate to the wide world of museums. My hope is that by reading a plurality of works, we can better understand this big, broad thing that is museums. So, let's dive into the cabinets of curiosities, insidious philosophies, humble beginnings, questionable practices, honorable efforts, scientific discoveries, dazzling displays, dangerous digs, stunning artwork, tedious tasks, and daring efforts that make up this nuanced field.