Visitors encounter the dust : how people think with objects in a history museum exhibition
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- The role objects play in a museum visitor's experience is much debated (Conn, 2010). This study offers an empirical look at how visitors think with objects in a history museum exhibition. To study the phenomenon a new method, called the "head camera protocol, " was introduced. Participants in the study wore a hat outfitted with a video camera and microphone, and were instructed to think aloud as they explored an exhibition. The resulting video constituted the head camera protocols that were analyzed. The exhibition studied was called Elegy in the Dust: September 11th and the Chelsea Jeans Memorial. On display at the New-York Historical Society in 2006-2007, it was built around a primary object called the Chelsea Jeans Memorial—a portion of a jeans store covered in dust and ash from the events of September 11th. The exhibition also contained photographs of September 11th and its aftermath, as well as video of the store owner who donated the Chelsea Jeans Memorial to the Historical Society. This study profiles seven participants who walked through the exhibition. Among them were two material culture historians, two tourists, and three Ground Zero volunteers. The findings show how visitors think with their bodies and their multiple selves. The study also offers an empirical look at how visitors interact with Walter Benjamin's notion of an object's "aura" (1935/1968). "Historical thinking with objects" is defined and a visitor--object interaction model is proposed. Finally, implications for the design of learning environments generally, and history museums specifically, are addressed.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic; electronic resource; remote |
| Extent | 1 online resource. |
| Publication date | 2011 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Associated with | Wise, Susan Brent, Ms |
|---|---|
| Associated with | Stanford University, School of Education. |
| Primary advisor | Wineburg, Samuel S |
| Thesis advisor | Wineburg, Samuel S |
| Thesis advisor | Barron, Brigid |
| Thesis advisor | Goldman, Shelley V |
| Thesis advisor | Pea, Roy D |
| Advisor | Barron, Brigid |
| Advisor | Goldman, Shelley V |
| Advisor | Pea, Roy D |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Susan Wise. |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the School of Education. |
| Thesis | Thesis (Ph.D.)--Stanford University, 2011. |
| Location | electronic resource |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2011 by Susan Brent Wise
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license (CC BY).
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