Introducing Museum Studies

Introducing Museum Studies is the first introductory textbook for museum studies. Providing a wide-ranging and original overview of museums from a historical and contemporary perspective, it covers key topics such as the history of the museum, the museum as a public space, visitors, and communities.

The book shows how museums, far from being neutral collections, exhibit objects which convey powerful symbolic meanings. This “cultural turn” away from the object as a thing in itself has placed...