Screen Studies travel subject
107-405 Spectacles: Museums to Theme Parks - Available summer 2009
Tour New York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Orlando! Examine the impact of new media technologies, consumerism and 'infotainment' through specific case studies found in the theme park and museum sectors.
Coordinators: Assoc Prof Angela Ndalianis and Dr Alison Inglis
From the palatial palaces of infamous media moguls to thrill-inducing encounters with mummies, ghosts & cyborgs: all were experienced by students on the overseas travel subject 107-405 Spectacles: From Museums to Theme Parks. During November/December of 2005, 13 students from cinema, art history, and curatorship degrees travelled from Los Angeles to Las Vegas to Orlando to New York where they thrilled at the Hollywood sign, walked the streets of Disneyland and the Las Vegas Strip and discovered spectacular sights in theme-park attractions, casinos and museum exhibitions alike - all enjoyed a unique opportunity for interdisciplinary debate and on-site analysis.
Conceived by Assoc Prof Angela Ndalianis, this course was first established in 1999 with a focus on theme parks and city spaces in contemporary American culture and is usually run every two years. In 2005, Assoc Prof Ndalianis and Dr Alison Inglis revamped the course to focus upon the parallels and synergies between museums and contemporary entertainment destinations, particularly in regard to their emphasis on spectacle. This course is thus exemplary of the interdisciplinary synergies between disciplines in terms of research, teaching and learning.
In 2005, the tour leaders on the course were Dr Inglis and Ms Leonie Cooper. On each of the 22 days of the course, excluding those in transit, students were guided through museums, theme parks and other entertainment destinations via a combination of on-site analysis and lectures. Students valued the opportunity to gain hands-on experience of cultural spaces that they had only ever read about in theory books. Film students were keen to see how museums dealt with critical issues of exhibition and address, while curatorship students who had never before entered a theme park attraction marvelled at the intricacies of their design and workmanship. Students not only forged connections with other disciplinary fields of knowledge but established social bonds that have extended well beyond the trip itself.
Sites visited on the course included: Santa Monica Pier; Disneyland; Universal Studios & City Walk; Huntington Library and Gardens; The Getty; Hollywood Picture Palaces & Downtown LA; LACMA; Hearst Castle; Las Vegas casinos and museums such as The Venetian, Bellagio, Caesars Palace, Neon Boneyard, Liberace Museum, Fremont Street; The Magic Kingdom; Epcot; Islands of Adventure; Celebration; HolyLand Experience; Ringling Museum; Coney Island; Times Square; The Met; The Guggenheim and The Frick Museums in New York.
Enrolments
This subject is available at fourth year Honours and postgraduate level as 107-405 Spectacles: Museums to Theme Parks - Handbook entry. Strict enrolment deadlines apply to subjects taught during the summer semester.
Travel bookings
This program is administered by Australians Studying Abroad (ASA). Prospective students must register with ASA prior to approval of enrolment. If you have questions about subject content or assessment contact the course coordinators. If you have questions about travel, reservations, forms, tour fees, or other travel information, contact ASA: