Interpretation: A Search for the Raisin at the End of the Museum's Hot Dog
Students in museum theory at the University of Iceland will be visiting the East Iceland Maritime Museum this semester to make recommendations about interpreting some new permanent exhibits. I have been invited to give a video lecture and PowerPoint presentation in conjunction with their project. So, today I have been thinking about what my experience directing an 18th century French colonial site in Missouri allows me to bring to the maritime museum table in Iceland. The invitation is to discuss how a museum's philosophical approach to interpretation impacts its role, goals, priorities and authority as an educational institution. Based on what I did at the Bolduc House Museum and the research I did for my PhD dissertation at the University of Leicester, I reached the conviction that museums must adopt a philosophical approach to museum interpretation. It is my opinion that a museum's interpretive commitments, values and priorities serve as the primary driver for its operati...