Submit a draft of your final paper containing at least 5 pages of writing (the final thing is 15-20 pages, but just write at least the first 5). We highly recommend outlining the sections you have not written yet so we can get an idea of the full picture that is forming and provide feedback accordingly.
below I have attached my paper proposal which is also contains some suggestions by teacher and some leading questions. it also includes the 4 works I shall be assessing and the museum
Prompt (for the final paper) but again, just the first 5 pages. not the full 15-20
For the final project for Architecture & Urbanism of Africa: Topics in Heritage & Preservation, students will write a research paper of 15 pages, 12-point font, double-spaced, plus images (numbered and captioned), Chicago Style footnotes, and a bibliography. In this project, students will study African architecture in museum collections in New England.
Each student will select one museum from the attached list of museums in the Northeast. Students will then conduct secondary research on the museum’s history and how it acquired its African art collection (African architecture is often categorized as art in these collections). This will include information about who the major donors to the collection were, what types of objects constitute the collection, what parts of the African continent are represented, and who the curators and scholars of the collection have been. This information can be found in secondary sources including published books on the history of the museum, scholarly articles about the museum’s African collection, and pages on the museum’s website. This research will form the first section of your research paper.
For the second section of your paper, students are asked to identify, describe, and analyze four African (from any part of the continent) architectural elements in their museum. African architectural elements include any object that was once part of a building, such as (sculpted or plain) beams, lintels, doors, door frames, door locks, windows, window frames, columns, capitals, friezes, ladders, wall panels, wall paintings, roof elements such as finials or roof vents, floor tiles (e.g. mosaics), and even entire buildings (such as small-scale granaries, tents and tent components, or massive temples). These elements may be whole or may only constitute a small part of a larger whole. As part of their research, students are expected to find out as much as possible about each object’s provenance including where the object was originally found or removed from, who removed it, how it was removed, and how it came to be housed in a museum in the northeastern United States. Your sources here include your museum’s online collections databases or other published inventories and scholarly articles and books. You may also need to email curators at your museums in order to find more information.
In the third part of your paper, you are asked to research and discuss your museum’s approach to African architecture: based on the four African architectural works you have studied, what can you say about the museum’s approach? Has the museum consistently collected African architecture? Has it presented these works as architecture or art? Has it developed any exhibitions focusing on or including architecture or buildings?
Throughout the final paper, you should use secondary sources specific to your museums as well as course readings, lectures, and discussions from this course and beyond to critically examine African architectural objects in museum collections. Your discussion can include but is not limited to questions of repatriation, restitution, repair, display, research, and access. The final paper must present well-researched facts, ask original questions, and have a clear argument.
The following deadlines are meant to help you develop your research and writing throughout the semester. There will be an opportunity to workshop your paper during a discussion section later in the semester.