The “Problematics of Culture and Theory” Seminar, held by the School of English at Aristotle University, will be hosting an online talk by Dr Angeliki Tsiotinou (PhD in Museology, School of Architecture, AUTh) on Friday November 24th at 18.30.
The title of the online talk is:
Bringing Official and Vernacular Narratives in Contact: Greek American Museums and the Making of Immigrant Pasts
The talk will take place via the Zoom platform. All those interested in attending via zoom, please submit the relevant registration form. The zoom link details for the event will be sent by email on the eve of the talk to all those who have registered for online participation.
Problematics Seminar Coordinators:
Dr L.E. Roupakia (roupakia@enl.auth.gr) and Dr Ε. Botonaki (botonaki@enl.auth.gr)
EVENT ABSTRACT
In this presentation I analyze the representations of the Greek immigrant experience in two Greek American museum exhibitions produced in the contemporary era of US multiculturalism and transnationalism. I illustrate the diverse epistemological, ideological, and institutional settings in which these exhibitions display tangible and intangible evidence of early 20th century Greek immigrants to the United States to communicate the history, memories, and values of these immigrants to contemporary and future generations of Greek Americans. In doing so, I identify and juxtapose an official, and a vernacular representation of the Greek American experience which inform but are also informed by competing views of Greek American identities in terms of ethnicity, nationality, race, and class. By considering these museum representations in relation to each other, I discuss whose immigration experiences these museums represent, how, and to what end, raising questions of inclusion and exclusion in the museological production of the past. In this manner I discuss Greek American museums as spaces that blend hegemonic and grassroots narratives of the past in various ways, depending on the interests-ethnic, national, or transnational-of the communities producing them.
By unveiling the making of Greek America through the act of exhibiting, my presentation approaches museum narratives and community identities as situated constructions rather than reflections of essentialist and fixed truths. In this manner, I underline the critical role museums play in informing beliefs, attitudes, and sociopolitical positions while producing the past, present, and future of ethnic communities.
GUEST SPEAKER BIO
Angeliki Tsiotinou holds a PhD in Museology from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, School of Architecture. She conducted her doctoral research in the United States as a Fulbright Scholar and completed her dissertation in Greece under a State Scholarships Foundation grant. She has also received numerous grants and awards for her BA and MA studies in Archaeology, Cultural Anthropology and Museology, such as the 2021 & 2020 Emerging Scholar Award by the Inclusive Museum Research Network. Her research interests focus on the politics and poetics of cultural representations, including the relationship between museums, memory, and power. Her PhD thesis brings together the fields of Museum and Greek American Studies to discuss identity-making in museums of American ethnic communities through a case study of Greek America. Angeliki also works as a consultant in various museum planning projects in Greece which entail research, concept-content development, and design. She also has professional experience as a teaching assistant, and she has presented her work in many forums and international conferences.
