A former Canadian Studies postdoctoral fellow recently published an article on how Canadian museums shape conversations about the country's Indian residential schools, based on research that he conducted thanks to funding from the Canadian Studies Program.
Titled "Canada's Indian Residential Schools: Museums, Heritage, and Affect", the article was published last month in the journal Museum Management and Curatorship. Its author, Corey Schultz, is an associate professor in Media & Communications at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China. His research focuses on visual culture, memory studies, and heritage and museum studies. He holds a PhD from Goldsmiths, University of London, and an MA from UC Berkeley.
The research for Professor Schultz's new article was conducted with the support of a John A. Sproul Fellowship that he received from Canadian Studies in 2022. During his residency at Berkeley, he gave a talk on his in-progress research titled "Canada’s Residential Schools and the Futures of Commemoration".
Professor Schultz's article expands upon the themes of that talk, revealing the key role that museums play as memory-making spaces that inform public consciousness of the abuses of the Indian residential school system. Per the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the museums present a "corrective" historiography that combats historical amnesia and denialism about the schools. Uniquely, Professor Schultz does not only discuss how institutions frame and tell the narrative of the schools; he also explores how the design of the physical exhibit spaces creates an emotionally affective space for the visitor.
The full article may be accessed for free through the UC Berkeley Library.