A recent article in University Affairs features a unique collaboration between The Canadian Museum of History and Carleton’s Department of History. Graduate students enrolled in the Museums, National Identity and Public Memory seminar will have the opportunity to help develop Canadian History Hall, the national museum’s “signature new gallery.”
Dr. David Dean, the seminar’s instructor, says that while students in this course frequently engage in practical work for local and national institutions, it’s rare to come across an opportunity “to collaborate on a curatorial project at such a key stage in the evolution of a national museum.”
The new exhibition, opening on July 1, 2017 – Canada’s sesquicentennial – promises to be “the largest, most comprehensive and engaging exhibition on Canadian history ever developed.”
The students are split into five groups, each working with a different curator. A sixth group is working with Emily Gann, a curator at the Canada Science and Technology Museum, and a graduate of Carleton’s History Department. As part of the latter effort, the students are using their skills to tell stories through pre-selected artifacts at three different sites: the science museum, the Canada Agricultural and Food Museum, and the Canada Aviation and Space Museum.