Colonialism on Display: Museums, Archives, and Memory in Palestine

How is memory shaped through museums and archives? What can anthropology teach us about the centrality of art, artifacts, museums, and knowledge-making in the violence of colonialism? In this course, we will read about the making of Palestine as an object of knowledge, a source of cultural production, and a field of contested memory practices. We will see what is specific about the relation of knowledge and culture to power, and what this teaches us about the workings of colonialism and resistance to it. We will also look at the various ways, means and methods that Palestine confronts colonial violence, domination, and other forms of power.