Who goes to museums, and why?  How is North Carolina unique in terms of its museum history?  How do factors such as title, type, site, expectations and history shape visitor experiences?  How do we integrate those experiences into our lives afterward?

This Maymester course offers the the graduate students of NCSU’s Masters of Arts in Liberal Studies program to address these questions in an open classroom setting that combines behind-the-scenes site tours with visits from guest experts in an intensive, hands-on learning environment.

On this wordpress site, students have the opportunity to self-publish the seminar papers that they have developed.  Choosing their own local sites and using their experiences and readings, students address the following research question:

What is the narrative being told by this exhibit space, and how is that narrative sustained (and/or contested)?