Design Thesis | Week 3.1 - Preliminary Research and Summation #2
Week 3
Preliminary Research and Summation #2.
During my weeks of research, I have narrowed my area of interest to American Art Museums and their narrative presentation of history. I am primarily researching these topics through the lens of Critical Race Theory with an interest in designing counter-narrative media that might be employed to create a more equitable presentation of Art History in museums. I have tried to narrow my research to better understand how the current narratives presented by U.S. Art Museums contribute to systemic issues of White domination (I use “White” here to refer to a power system, not necessarily a race).
Through this research, I was able to shift my focus away from K-12 education which (though noble) is not an area that aligns with my personal interests or my goals of using this Thesis to produce Concept Designs for motion narrative. Nevertheless, I do not believe these new research topics nullify the value of my previous research, as my new focus on Art Museums still relates to my original interests in narrative and cultural education.
Reviewing the collected literature:
Naming a general topic area - Anti-racist and racist narratives presented in American Art museums.
Refine the general topic area into one or two concise, descriptive words - Museum Racism
Write a specific description of the topic area - Art Museums, as colonial institutions, have been used in the United States to uphold systemic structures of White power. Museums accomplish this, though perhaps not intentionally, by spatially distributing non-white objects to fringe areas of the physical space and by presenting objects in an “objective” way that de-highlights the racial trauma that may be associated with said objects. I want to investigate how motion graphic imagery can be used to either present racial counter-narratives in these museum settings or, perhaps more appropriately, how motion graphic imagery can be used to educate art museum curators on how to effectively construct these counter-narratives themselves.
Write out the specific problem in the topic you are interested in solving - The “neutral” presentation of objects in art museums creates a white sanctuary space that propels white systems of dominance. By highlighting white/euro-centric artists and not whole-heartedly addressing counter-narratives of colonial history, Art Museums exclude people of color (particularly indigenous peoples based on the literature below).
Combine the topic and the problem into a concise sentence or two - The verbal, textual, and spatial presentation of art objects in museums, as well as the exclusivity of those museums through financial admission, serve to uphold narratives of historical white dominance and post-racial colorblindness.
Fine-tune your topic’s focus by introducing how you believe design can be used to solve the problem - I want to investigate how concept design for motion and experience design can be used as a visual education tool to educate art museum curators on how to create counter-narrative and inclusive narratives in art exhibition.
What is Critical Race Theory and Why is it Under Attack?
Notes
Critical Race Theory is often implemented by Educators in some small regard, even if it is not intentional or structured (e.g. an Educator considers if their curriculum is accommodating to black students).
"For one thing, scholars say, much scholarship on CRT is written in academic language or published in journals not easily accessible to K-12 teachers." This quote highlights a common issue that I found in my research: the term Critical Race Theory, as well as its applications, are not well-understood by non-academics. This may direct my thesis to become something that is targeted at educating Educators rather than underserved populations.
Keywords
State Policy, Race, Legislature, Critical Race Theory, anti-racism
Summary
This EdWeek article provides a strong introduction to Critical Race Theory in the K-12 education space. The theory offers that there are patterns of Racism, rooted in centuries-old Ideology, that persist today through the social structures that we see in everyday life. The Theory is a way of examining U.S. (or even global) sociopolitical systems that reveals possible sources of systemic Racism, or rather, structures that subtly reinforce White supremacy (again, using Whiteness here as a term of power, not of necessarily of race). The Theory has undergone some criticism in recent years, primarily by Conservative systems and parents, who claim that the act of actively teaching anti-racism is, in itself, Racist against white people (referring here to the race).
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Sawchuk, S. (2021, May 18). What Is Critical Race Theory, and Why Is It Under Attack? Education Week. https://www.edweek.org/leadership/what-is-critical-race-theory-and-why-is-it-under-attack/2021/05
Deconstructing Systems of Bias in the Museum Field using Critial Race Theory
Notes
Importantly this author believes that the educational explanation of CRT does not quite fit the needs of the museum field.
How do we encourage diverse narratives that benefit people of color without having to keep in mind the interest of whites?
The literature outlines useful questions that may be beneficial to continually consider during upcoming research: “How do museums create experiences that dismantle racism instead of merely putting it on display? Four tenets are offered that Adams believes can guide the work of museums to: (1) Create experiences that dismantle racism rather than merely displaying it; (2) Encourage diverse narratives that benefit people of color; (3) Move away from narratives as told through the eyes of the oppressor; and (4) Allow artists of color to question the dominant narrative and remain in the conversation.”
Keywords
Intersectionality, identity, counter-narrative
Summary
This text relates Critical Race Theory (CRT) to the structural equity of museums. This author gives a succinct definition of CRT as “a way of uncovering the hidden consequences of race in a society that believes it has solved its race problems.” He lists four key tenets of CRT, the most relevant of which is the fourth. This tenet states that CRT teaches through the sharing of personal experiences or the stories of people of color. The literature posits a key question in relation to the narrative function of museums: how do we create experiences that dismantle racism instead of putting it on display (e.g. to give an example of the latter, he mentions a white artist in 2015 who exploited the imagery of Michael Brown to explore her own White privilege in her art). The text notes the importance of unapologetic and authentic storytelling when it comes to Racial counter-narratives. Relating this literature to my topic: would it be more beneficial and appropriate for me to design a solution that educates museum curators/educators about how to apply CRT rather than directly designing a counter-narrative for an underserved group, considering that I am white?
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Adams, M. A. (2017). Deconstructing Systems of Bias in the Museum Field Using Critical Race Theory. Journal of Museum Education, 42(3), 290–295. https://doi.org/10.1080/10598650.2017.1339172
Telling Hard Truths and the Process of Decolonising Indigenous Representations in Canadian Museums
Notes
Engagement process for “inclusive” exhibitions can be tokinistic, inappropriate. Similar to Adams’ assessment.
Notes that many “current attempts to decolonize museums” are critiqued by Indigenous scholars as not being strong enough in their presentation of colonization in history.
“Hard truths” cited as being sometimes difficult/traumatic for Indigenous communities to share
Elders had final say over the exhibitions’ content and storyline, but “final say” was framed within the limits of what was possible at each site.
“The history is framed by survival”, an important note that topics of colonial genocide are typically book-ended by a narrative of resolution, as if to say, “the issue was problematic but has been resolved.”
Keywords
Decolonisation, ethnocide, ethnic cleansing, cultural specialists, displayed withholding (meaning “There is more, but we choose not to show you”).
Summary
This text demonstrates the issues associated with current approaches of museum “decolonization” in Canada. The author(s) cite 48 original interviews with Blackfoot Elders at Blackfoot Crossing Historical park in Alberta, Canada to analyse “how, why, and to what extent difficult colonial history is addressed in two different museum exhibitions. The first museum depicts (though not exclusively) the events of the residential school experience (a point of genocide for Canadian indigenous peoples) explicitly. However, the narrative of the exhibit does not go into detail, creating a narrative that “balances the negative history with a positive message of community revival.” The second museum exhibition keeps an equally light narrative, avoiding explanation of specific traumatizing events. The text ends its summary by noting that the Elders who were consulted on both projects felt that these exhibits were not the right forums for the explicit and specific discussions of colonization. While “hard-truth” decolonization in a museum context is important, it is appropriate to remain sensitive to surviving victims of Indigenous tragedies.
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Kidd, J., Cairns, S., Drago, A., & Ryall, A. (2014). Challenging History in the Museum: International Perspectives (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi-org.aurarialibrary.idm.oclc.org/10.4324/9781315571171
Comforting the Disturbed and Disturbing the Comfortable: Museum Educators’ Views on Discussing Race in Art Museum Settings ☜
Notes
Many institutions are taking up important conversations about equitable hiring/staff.
Look into “resistance pedagogy”
Theory that learning “today” (post-Holocaust, -colonialism, -Hiroshima world) can only take place through crisis. How does this need to be manifested in museum education?
Distinctions between simply assimilating knowledge into preconceived network vs. truly accommodating new knowledge to shift societal frameworks.
Museum educators need to take a thoughtful role in activating ideological “rethinking” for students. Encouraging successful race talk in relation to the objects of art museums, as opposed to avoiding the topic.
Critical thinking structures currently employed by museum curators follows a traditional critical thinking framework and does not account for uncovering systems of of oppression behind the artworks, or for ideas on “how to act on said discoveries.”
Keywords
Re-orientation, continuance, colonialism, state, narrative, disruption, displacement, resistance pedagogy
Summary
This text examines how “front-line” museum educators approach the sometimes uncomfortable topics of race and racism in a museum context. The study looks at data derived from the observation of four museum educators of different races from two different museums teaching similar content by the same artist. Heller echoes previous literature in identifying the function of museums as platforms of anti-racism, and indicates that critical thinking of race should be encouraged among museum educators as a means to overcome issues of racist framework. This possibly alludes to my previous thoughts: should my project be aimed at educating museum curators and front-line museum educators, as opposed to directly designing a counter-narrative to one specific minority group? (e.g. using motion graphics to help art museum educators engage with “uncomfortable” racist topics for learners?). The text notes that the traditional “critical thinking” presentation of artwork/objects in museums tries to present factual evidence, leaving the viewer to construct their own narrative. To challenge this, academics Felton and Kuhn encourage educators to have visitors “struggle with the personal connections and narratives they develop.” How can museum educators push students/learners to expand their learning through uncomfortable questions, rather than opting for a more comfortable museum experience wherein students are allowed to construct their own narratives about the art?
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Heller, H. (2018). Comforting the Disturbed and Disturbing the Comfortable: Museum Educators’ Views on Discussing Race in Art Museum Settings. International Journal of the Inclusive Museum, 11(4), 53–62. https://doi.org/10.18848/1835-2014/CGP/v11i04/53-62
White Sanctuaries: race and place in art museums
Notes
“What are the specific racial mechanisms within these institutions that reproduce colorblind and other racial ideologies? How do these institutions serve as both physical and mental white sanctuaries? How are these spaces complicated by class, or other positionalities in society?”
Three mechanisms of exclusion in art museums: spatiality, policing of space, and management of access.
The authors caveat that their observations of the AIC may not be applicable to museums across the U.S., as individual museums vary in context, history, and even mission.
Keywords
Art, Racism, White sanctuaries (distinct from White spaces in that they are maintained through exclusivity), White spaces, White supremacy, otherized, racialized social systems (RSS), museums as the mental park of cities, post-racialism.
Summary
This paper examines the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) as a white sanctuary as a case study of a white institutional space within a racialized social system that serves to reassure whites of their dominant position in society. The paper further contends that White art museums serve as a call to “nostalgia for a specific type of normativity”. The text puts a name to Sawchuck’s description of
anti-anti-racist academics as “post-racial” (a theory that Embrick disagrees with). The text asserts that institutions like the AIC operate to subtly reaffirm whites’ position in society in three ways: interdiscursively through spatiality, the policing of space and the management of access. Using qualitative data produced from white and black visitors, the text notes the centrality of white art in the AIC, while non-white exhibitions are located in fringe spaces of the museum. The text also notes issues of policing by museum security when presented with black visitors and white visitors. Finally, the text mentions issues of access to the AIC through admission costs and ID requirements. This text raises new topic areas, not just in the presentation of objects in museums but in the accessibility of these objects to outsiders.
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Embrick, D. G., Weffer, S., & Dómínguez, S. (2019). White sanctuaries: Race and place in art museums. International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSSP-11-2018-0186
Critical Counter-Narrative as Transformative Methodology for Educational Equity
Notes
Note the difference between teacher-student counter-narrative production and teacher-teacher counter-narrative production. While teachers encourage students to develop their own counter-narratives, teachers typically supply pre-constructed counter-narratives to one another
Keywords
color-blindness, meritocracy, counter-narrative, counter-narrative as a pedagogical tool, autoethnography
Summary
The text uses the term counter-narrative to cover three related approaches of narratives/storytelling in educational equity: 1) critical storytelling, 2) counterstory(ies) and 3) counter-narrative(s). Primarily, the text highlights the importance of using critical counter-narrative methodology to “go beyond telling stories”. This may be achieved when educators put forth or provoke counter-narratives to majoritarian narratives in learners. Relating this to my thesis, it may be pertinent to take these critical counter-narrative frameworks of education and applying them to art museum educators, as such methods are more effective in generating transformative action than traditional methods.
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Miller, R., Liu, K., & Ball, A. F. (2020). Critical Counter-Narrative as Transformative Methodology for Educational Equity. Review of Research in Education, 44(1), 269–300. https://doi.org/10.3102/0091732X20908501
The Storyteller in Context: Storyteller Identity and Storytelling Experience
Notes
“Participants of genuine storytelling - tellers and listeners - must be of equal status” p. 65
Professional storytellers seen as distinct from society, genuine storytellers are a part of it
Development of storyteller “persona”
See the presentation of historical stories in contemporary cultures as “intellectually useful” rather than culturally important.
How to disrupt “professional” storytelling practices in order to create a more culturally relevant storytelling experience?
Keywords
Museum Education, Anti-Racist Education, Critical Thinking, Pedagogy, Museum Educators
Summary
Ryan discusses the disparities between functional storytellers (individuals who simply pass on knowledge) and genuine storytellers (individuals who pass on cultural memory). Ryan goes on to explain that contemporary mediums of storytelling (e.g. technology, commercial practices, etc.) can have a detrimental effect on genuine storytelling, as these mediums limit the forum in which stories can be told. This narrow function has stunted areas such as revival storytelling or cultural storytelling because these areas are seen to “lack purpose or function” from the lens of “professional storytellers”. I am interested in applying these theories of contemporary storytelling to the issue of historical representation in education.
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Heller, H. (2018). Comforting the Disturbed and Disturbing the Comfortable: Museum Educators’ Views on Discussing Race in Art Museum Settings. International Journal of the Inclusive Museum, 11(4), 53–62. https://doi.org/10.18848/1835-2014/CGP/v11i04/53-62
Bridging the Gap: Technology Trends and Use of Technology in Schools
Notes
Integration of technology in schools provides a wide net for learning but also creates disinterest in the conventional learning structure
Citing Harrison and sources for examples of effective integration of technology into K-12 education in the UK
No universal approach for implementing technology systemically into school systems, individual schools/districts must develop their own strategy using metrics that alleviate their specific pain-points
Keywords
Educational uses of technology, Usage Gap, Outcome Gap, Effective teaching, technology planning
Summary
This literature discusses the obstacles that arise in the integration of technology into primary and secondary education models. The text discusses the dynamics of social, academic, and workforce preparation in the school system and explains how these variables can no longer function linearly due to the introduction of technology such as the internet in classrooms. The text generally highlights a disparity in K-12 technology integrations and a lack of expectations about said technology between teachers, students, administrators, and parents. I believe this is a topic area that may prove pertinent in my future research regarding narrative and education practices.
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Cher Ping Lim, Yong Zhao, Jo Tondeur, Ching Sing Chai, & Chin-Chung Tsai. (2013). Bridging the Gap: Technology Trends and Use of Technology in Schools. Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 16(2), 59–68. http://www.jstor.org/stable/jeductechsoci.16.2.59
A Project-based Digital Storytelling Approach for Improving Students' Learning Motivation, Problem-Solving Competence and Learning Achievement
Notes
Problem-based Learning models (PBL) are seen to be effective in student engagement, rising from the school of constructivism
“Digital storytelling is an integrated application of multiple media and software that utilizes the art and techniques of digital storytelling with new methods, contributing to helping learners become involved in the learning situation.”
Work notes already the implementation of storytelling into education curriculums
See p. 370-71, noting the use of digital storytelling to bridge the digital divide between “rural and urban elementary school students”
Keywords
Project-based learning, elementary education, digital storytelling, learning motivation, problem-solving competence
Summary
This literature examines the data of an empirical study that was conducted to test the effectiveness of digital storytelling in conjunction with problem-based learning in elementary classrooms (in Taiwan). The study aims to understand how digital storytelling can be used to develop learning tasks as a project-based learning activity in an elementary science classroom. The text highlights that student interaction in narrative development, particularly regarding their own school projects, increases learning engagement and appropriate use of technology in schools.
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Chun-Ming Hung, Gwo-Jen Hwang, & Iwen Huang. (2012). A Project-based Digital Storytelling Approach for Improving Students’ Learning Motivation, Problem-Solving Competence and Learning Achievement. Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 15(4), 368–379. http://www.jstor.org/stable/jeductechsoci.15.4.368
The Problem of Identity: South Africa, Storytelling, and Literary History
Notes
Referencing Huntington and Brzezinskin in the explorations of global neighborhood that will be primarily “neither ideological nor economic, but cultural” (p. 86)
“Story” is site where sensibility and cultural identity is prominently shaped
Discusses the dangers of “amnesia” of a society trying to emerge from tyranny of the past
Two (or more) cultural narratives of colonialism
Keywords
National identity, cultural identity, national narrative, transgressing boundaries, postcolonial identities, retreat from social exchange, coexistence, poststructuralism
Summary
This literature discusses the function of media storytelling in the presentation of historical-cultural identity, namely in the case of South Africa. Chapman discusses residual effects of Enlightenment and colonial thinking in non-Eurocentric nations, noting that Japanese, South African, and other culturally distinct entities all interact with Euro-centric capitalism in a different way. He presents issues with contemporary storytelling which place traditional African cultural identity within the context of post-colonial, English-speaking South Africa. The topic raises significant questions of how to create a national storytelling narrative that is both respectful of cultural identity yet accessible to other cultures for intellectual assessment. The text also expands on Schneider’s literature, discussing how to formulate a national narrative that is historically accurate (in regards to colonial invasion) while still maintaining a sense of cultural independence.
Chapman, M. (1998). The Problem of Identity: South Africa, Storytelling, and Literary History. New Literary History, 29(1), 85–99. http://www.jstor.org/stable/20057469