From "Thoughts" to "Defrost": The Evolution of My Thesis Project Thus Far

A lot can change in thirteen weeks, and that has certainly been the case for my thesis project.  When I initially conceived my project, I intended to devise ways to redesign or alter not one, but two, of the Rochester Museum and Science Center’s (RMSC) Native American history exhibits (Native Peoples of the Americas and At the Western Door) to bring them in line not only with the other exhibits at the RMSC, but also with the RMSC’s mission to “[stimulate] broad community interest and understanding of science and technology, and their impact — past, present, and future — on our lives.”  The changes I envisioned were largely thematic and one possible solution I wanted to put forth was the potential deaccessioning of the RMSC’s Native American materials to an institution (or institutions) with a more appropriate mission(s).

However, as I began to discuss my ideas with others and read sources for my literature review, it became apparent that there is a much larger issue to be addressed with regards to Native Peoples of the Americas and exhibits like it, specifically the representation they provide of Native Americans and their diverse cultures.  Most Native American exhibits in smaller, traditional museums like the RMSC are outdated, not just in appearance and modes of presentation, but in the ideas they present about Native American cultures.  Many institutions have exhibits that have not been thoroughly reviewed and updated since the 1950s or even the 1900s, when the belief was that Native Americans-- and their cultures-- were going extinct and needed to be preserved, thus resulting in the “freezing” of Native American cultures.  While this is not necessarily the view espoused by the RMSC’s exhibits, the exhibits still depict solely “frozen” cultures, rather than historical and modern representations together.

Because of these revelations, I have elected to shift my topic to focus on ways that the RMSC can “defrost” Native Peoples of the Americas (the older of the two exhibits, with many more “frozen” depictions of cultures and outdated methods of representation).  My goals moving forwards are to conduct a detailed survey of the current exhibit in order to understand specific areas and design elements that need to be addressed, speak with museum administrators and staff to gain a better understanding of how they might envision the exhibits be redesigned or altered, and take a deeper look into methods of redesign that have been put forth by other museum professionals, historians, and Native American activists.  The end results of this work will most likely take the form of a proposal for the redesign of the Native Peoples of the Americas, to be submitted to collections and exhibitions staff at the RMSC for their consideration as they move forward with redesigning some of the museum’s exhibits over the next 5 years.