Virtual Lecture Series
The Association for Cultural Studies is delighted to announce its Virtual Lecture Series: an ongoing programme of online presentations by cutting-edge cultural studies theorists and practitioners.
The next talk in this series, by Johanna Turunen (University of Jyväskylä), titled ‘Museums as sites of Epistemic Agency and Transformative Learning’ (followed by a Q&A), will take place on December 16th, 2 PM EET/ Eastern European Time (GMT +2) (more information underneath).
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Johanna Turunen (University of Jyväskylä) – Museums as sites of Epistemic Agency and Transformative Learning
December 16th, 2024
2 PM EET/ Eastern European Time (GMT +2)
Abstract: Museums are central societal actors and arenas of public learning. Since the turn of the millennium museums have been faced with increasing pressure to change the way they carry out these central duties. Many museums have adopted a more active – or even an activist – role. They have chosen to act as safe spaces for difficult societal discussions, community empowerment and cultural dissent. In this talk I want to think what such societal agency means in terms of learning. The talk is composed of three parts. First, I will define what I mean by the societal role and epistemic agency of museums and art. Second, I will talk about the basic principles of transformative learning. Finally, I will draw on some examples especially from art museums and art and go deeper into the transformative cognitive and affective potential that museums hold.
Bio: Johanna Turunen (PhD) works as a postdoctoral researchers of contemporary culture studies at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland. Her research is focused on the intersection of cultural studies, museology and critical heritage studies. She is currently leading the Uncomfortable museum project (funded by The Kone foundation 2023-2027) which examines the ways museums engage with difficult societal topics, such as racism, colonialism or climate crisis. The project seeks to open a new frontier for the study of the societal impact of museums and art by analysing ways to transform uncomfortable feelings into reparative action.
Upcoming VLS events (more details TBA):
January 20th, 2025, 4 PM GMT – Ali Meghji (University of Cambridge)
February – Pieter Verdegem (Westminster University)
March – Ahtziri Molina Roldán (Universidad Veracruzana)
Abstracts and links to the recordings of the past talks can be found here
Abstracts of the upcoming talks