Sharon Macdonald is Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Manchester. Her books include Theorizing Museums (edited with Gordon Fyfe, Blackwell 1996), Reimagining Culture (1997), The Politics of Display (ed., 1998), Behind the Scenes at the Science Museum (2002), and Exhibition Experiments (edited with Paul Basu, Blackwell 2007).

"This account captures a fresh, multi-disciplinary approach to the study of the development, roles, and significance of museums in our society. It expands museum studies and presents a wide range of theoretical perspectives. The essays examine the complexity of the museum from cultural, political governance, curatorial, historical, and representational perspectives, Sharon Macdonald is the author and Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Manchester." (Neopoprealism Journal, 24 November 2011) “The collection is not primarily a compendium of the work of ethnographers. The group of scholars Macdonald brought together reflects the current makeup of museum studies as an interdisciplinary endeavor.” (Museum Anthropology, April 2009)A Choice Outstanding Academic Title for 2007"Required reading for museum professionals and scholars in museum studies, art and cultural history, sociology of art, and anthropology ... The text is rich in information and diverse in perspectives; it both introduces and complicates in an intriguing and necessary way what we 'know' about museums ... Essential." (Choice)“This is a wonderfully comprehensive collection of essays, offering diverse perspectives, covering all aspects of the museum profession, and addressing contemporary and historical discourse … It really is the best compendium I’ve read in years.” (Museums Australia)

• List of Illustrations ix Notes on Contributors xiiAcknowledgments xixBibliographical Note xx1 Expanding Museum Studies: An Introduction 1Sharon MacdonaldPart I Perspectives, Disciplines, Concepts 13Introduction 142 Cultural Theory and Museum Studies 17Rhiannon Mason3 Sociology and the Social Aspects of Museums 33Gordon Fyfe4 Art History and Museology: Rendering the Visible Legible 50Donald Preziosi5 Museums and Anthropologies: Practices and Narratives 64Anthony Alan Shelton6 Collecting Practices 81Sharon Macdonald7 The Conundrum of Ephemerality: Time, Memory, and Museums 98Susan A. CranePart II Histories, Heritage, Identities 111Introduction 1128 The Origins of the Public Museum 115Jeffrey Abt9 World Fairs and Museums 135Robert W. Rydell10 Making and Remaking National Identities 152Flora Edouwaye S. Kaplan11 Museums and Community 170Elizabeth Crooke12 Re-staging Histories and Identities 186Rosmarie Beier-de Haan13 Heritage 198Steven HoelscherPart III Architecture, Space, Media 219Introduction 22014 Museum Architecture: A Brief History 223Michaela Giebelhausen15 Insight versus Entertainment: Untimely Meditations on the Architecture of Twentieth-century Art Museums 245Vittorio Magnago Lampugnani16 Civic Seeing: Museums and the Organization of Vision 263Tony Bennett17 Space Syntax: The Language of Museum Space 282Bill Hillier and Kali Tzortzi18 New Media 302Michelle HenningPart IV Visitors, Learning, Interacting 319Introduction 32019 Living in a Learning Society: Museums and Free-choice Learning 323John H. Falk, Lynn D. Dierking, and Marianna Adams20 Museum Education 340George E. Hein21 Interactivity: Thinking Beyond 353Andrea Witcomb22 Studying Visitors 362Eilean Hooper-GreenhillPart V Globalization, Profession, Practice 377Introduction 37823 Globalization: Incorporating the Museum 381Mark W. Rectanus24 Cultural Economics 398Bruno S. Frey and Stephan Meier25 The Museum Profession 415Patrick J. Boylan26 Museum Ethics 431Tristram Besterman27 Museum Practice: Legal Issues 442Patty Gerstenblith28 Non-Western Models of Museums and Curation in Cross-cultural Perspective 457Christina KrepsPart VI Culture Wars, Transformations, Futures 473Introduction 47429 Incivilities in Civil(-ized) Places: "Culture Wars" in Comparative Perspective 477Steven C. Dubin30 Science Museums and the Culture Wars 494Steven Conn31 Postmodern Restructurings 509Nick Prior32 Exposing the Public 525Mieke Bal33 The Future of the Museum 543Charles Saumarez SmithIndex 555