Past event
Institute of Museums, Heritage and Society Annual Lecture Museum Collections and Research
Please join us in School 2 at 5pm on the 12th of February for the Institute of Museums, Heritage and Society Annual Lecture given by Dr Sam Alberti, Director of Collections at National Museums Scotland.
Abstract:
Museums attract millions of people worldwide: but as well as communicating knowledge, their collections are important resources for original investigation. Focussing on the latter, this talk will reflect on the past, present and future of the role of museums in research and vice versa. From Renaissance cabinets of curiosity, through collections' role in Empire, to the high-tech efforts of museums today, curators and others have studied the objects in their care. Investigating the material, practices and people involved in museums involves distinct methods, outcomes and outputs. Examples from across the disciplinary spectrum will illuminate the changing role of collections in generating new understandings of nature and culture.
Biography:
Samuel JMM Alberti FRSE is Director of Collections at National Museums Scotland, and an Honorary Professor in Heritage Studies at the University of Stirling. Trained in history of science, he taught at the University of Manchester before working at the intersection of museums and universities for twenty years, first at the Manchester Museum, then as Director of Museums and Archives at the Royal College of Surgeons of England. He has also held visiting research appointments in London, Philadelphia, and Edinburgh. Sam's recent practice has focussed on the role of museums in the climate emergency and on Cold War museology.
For further information please contact Dr Gönül Bozoğlu ([email protected]).