Why are so many of the objects we studied in this unit in European or American museums?
Readings:
- Neil MacGregor, “Standard of Ur” in The History of the World in 100 Objects (podcast, 15 minutes). Jump right into the podcast and listen. Jot down some reactions. THEN: poke around the website. What is this project as a whole? What institution has organized it? Where are the objects? Who is Neil MacGregor? Does knowing this complicate your initial reaction to the podcast?
- 100 Histories of 100 Worlds is a powerful recent response MacGregor’s project. Read the whole page I’ve linked to here (“Project Summary”) and explore the rest of the website as well.
- Elliott Colla, “On the Iconoclasm of Isis” (personal blog), March 15, 2015.
