Date of Award

2013

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Vesperi, Maria

Keywords

Museums, Anthropology, Ethnography, Youth Engagement, Ringling, HistoryMiami

Area of Concentration

Anthropology

Abstract

In this thesis I argue that programs for young adults stimulate innovation within museum institutions and assist them in reaching a wider audience. These programs keep museums relevant in addition to helping them better meet the needs of the communities where they reside. Using ethnographic data from two museums that recently implemented programs to attract younger audiences, Miami's HistoryMiami and the Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, Florida, I examine how the presence of these programs serves a pivotal role in rectifying a problematic historical legacy of classism that continues to influence contemporary conceptions of museums.

Rights

The author has granted New College of Florida the nonexclusive right to archive, make accessible, and distribute for educational purposes this work in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. The copyright of this work remains with the author.

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