Critical Visual Anthropology Museum Display Film

This course introduces students to the histories, theories and practices of visual anthropology with a specific focus on museums, displays, and most of all ethnographic film. It surveys the field's development - from colonial-era image-making to postcolonial, collaborative and decolonial approaches - while equipping students with the analytic, ethical and curatorial skills to interpret visual/aural materials and exhibitionary forms. Students learn to compare modes of representation (film, photography, display, installation), interrogate voice, authorship, and collaboration, and evaluate institutional contexts (festivals, museums, galleries, community platforms). By working across screenings, close readings, and curatorial exercises, students build a critical foundation for further study and practice in film, art history, museum/heritage work, and the social sciences.