FMA
Head of Museums & Special Collections
- About
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- Email Address
- neil.curtis@abdn.ac.uk
- Telephone Number
- +44 (0)1224 274304
- Office Address
Sir Duncan Rice Library University of Aberdeen Aberdeen AB24 3AA Scotland
- School/Department
- Digital & Information Services
Biography
Neil Curtis is Head of Museums and Special Collections and Honorary Senor Lecturer in Social Science at the University of Aberdeen.
He has studied Archaeology (Glasgow), Museum Studies (Leicester) and Education (Aberdeen), and has worked with the Aberdeen collections since 1988. He teaches across a range of subjects, including Archaeology, Anthropology, Art History, History, Law, Museum Studies and Scottish Ethnology. His published research includes current museum issues, including repatriation, decolonisation and ethics, the history of museums and exhibitions in Scotland, and the prehistory of North-East Scotland.
He is a Fellow of the Museums Association and is a member of the working group reviewing its Code of Ethics. He has been a member of the Museums Associations' Ethics Committee, the Scottish Museums Recognition Committee, Convenor of University Museums in Scotland, Vice President of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, Vice-Chair of the Scottish Archaeological Finds Allocation Panel and Vice-President of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.
Memberships and Affiliations
- Internal Memberships
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University Health, Safety & Wellbeing Committee
- External Memberships
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Fellow of the Museums Association (FMA)
Member, Museums Associations' Ethics Committee
Member, Scottish Museums Recognition Committee
Member; Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art at Arts Council England
Formerly:
Convenor, University Museums in Scotland, Vice President of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland
Vice-Chair, Scottish Archaeological Finds Allocation Panel
Vice-President, Society of Antiquaries of Scotland
Latest Publications
Exploring Co-production in Community Heritage Research: Reflections from the Bennachie Landscapes Project
Journal of Community Archaeology & Heritage, vol. 9, no. 3, pp. 196-215Contributions to Journals: ArticlesPyramidology and Radiocarbon: the Dating and Interpretation of a Fragment of Wood from the Great Pyramid
CIPEG Journal, vol. 4, pp. 75-82Contributions to Journals: Articles3D photogrammetry models of human specimens: a useful resource for teaching and public engagement (Keynote Talk)
Anatomical Society Virtual Winter Meeting, O20Contributions to Journals: Abstracts- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/joa.13460
Material culture, museums and the creations of multiple meanings
Oxford Handbook of History and Material Culture. Oxford Handbooks, pp. 474-490Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: ChaptersMegalithic tombs in western and northern Neolithic Europe were linked to a kindred society
PNAS, vol. 116, no. 19, pp. 9469-9474Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] http://www.pnas.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10.1073/pnas.1818037116/-/DCSupplemental
- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1818037116
- [OPEN ACCESS] http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/2164/12264/1/Megalithic_tombs_in_western_and_northern_Neolithic_Europe_were_linked_to_a_kindred_society.pdf
- [ONLINE] View publication in Mendeley
- [ONLINE] https://abdn.pure.elsevier.com/en/en/researchoutput/megalithic-tombs-in-western-and-northern-neolithic-europe-were-linked-to-a-kindred-society(e2a2bcfc-2da7-41ee-abe9-61e7f2957164).html
- Research
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Research Overview
Within a broad interest in the ways that people understand and manipulate their world through ideas of identity, material and time, his research focuses on a critical study of museums and archaeology. This has included young children's learning in museums, considerations of the social and cultural roles of museums today, including repatriation and the treatment of human remains, and studies of Scottish museum history.
Research Specialisms
- Archaeology
- Curatorial Studies
- Museum Studies
- Scottish History
Our research specialisms are based on the Higher Education Classification of Subjects (HECoS) which is HESA open data, published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
Current Research
History of Museums
- The Scottish Exhibition of National History, Art and Industry, Glasgow 1911
- Late 18th/early 19th century museums in the University of Aberdeen
Contemporary museum issues
- Repatriation
- Museums as sacred places
- Human remains in museums
- Scottish museums and Treasure Trove
- Museum education
Scottish archaeology
- Roman finds in North-East Scotland
- Prehistoric Beakers in North-East Scotland
Funding and Grants
Leverhulme Trust 'Beakers and Bodies' project (PI)
AHRC Connected Communities - bennachie (Co-I)
- Teaching
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Teaching Responsibilities
Undergraduate
AY1003 Archaeology in Action ME33HA Medical Humanities AH3501 Curation: Theory and Practice AY4510 Issues in Archaeology AY2505/AY2507 Archaeology of the North Postgraduate
AT5912 Curating an Exhibition (course co-ordinator) AT5044 Museum Practice (course co-ordinator) AT5043 The Museum Idea AT5053 Museums and Colonialism LS55UU Cultural Property Issues: Law, Art and Museums EF5001 History and core genres of ethnology and folklore AT5505 Philosophy and Methods of Research in Social Anthropology, Ethnology and Cultural History II EF5502 Scottish contexts and practical fieldwork AY5504 Advanced Archaeological Approaches - Publications
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Page 3 of 3 Results 21 to 30 of 30
The absurdity of museums; local and universal: comment on Sandis, C ‘Two tales of one city: cultural understanding and the Parthenon sculptures
Museum Management and Curatorship, vol. 23, no. 1, pp. 10-13Contributions to Journals: Comments and Debates- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09647770701865311
North America in Aberdeen: the collections of Marischal Museum, University of Aberdeen
Material Histories: Proceedings of a Workshop Held at Marischal Museum, University of Aberdeen, 26-27 April 2007. Brown, A. K. (ed.). University of Aberdeen, pp. 69-75, 6 pagesChapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters'Like stray words or letters': The development and workings of the Treasure Trove system
West over Sea: Studies in Scandinavian Sea-Borne Expansion and Settlement Before 1300. Ballin Smith, B., Taylor, S., Williams, G. (eds.). Brill Academic Publishers, pp. 341-362, 22 pagesChapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/ej.9789004158931.i-614.105
"The original may yet be discovered”: Seven Bronze Age swords supposedly from Netherley, Kincardineshire
Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, vol. 137, pp. 487-500Contributions to Journals: ArticlesUniversal museums, museum objects and repatriation: the tangled stories of things
Museum Management and Curatorship, vol. 21, no. 2, pp. 117-127Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.musmancur.2006.03.004
Education and Marischal Museum: a century of teaching , learning and research
Education in the North, vol. 14, pp. 31-38Contributions to Journals: ArticlesMuseums in a postmodern world: collections, exhibitions and opinions
Public Archaeology, vol. 5, no. 3, pp. 199-202Contributions to Journals: Comments and Debates'A continuous process of reinterpretation': the challenge of the universal and rational museum
Public Archaeology, vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 50-56Contributions to Journals: Letters- [ONLINE] http://hdl.handle.net/2164/88
The collection of Book of the Dead manuscripts in Marischal Museum, University of Aberdeen, Scotland: a comprehensive overview
Bulletin de L'Institut Francais d'Archeologie Orientale, vol. 105, pp. 49-73Contributions to Journals: ArticlesBook review of Steedman, C (2002) Dust: the archive and cultural history
Journal of the Society of Archivists, vol. 25, no. 2, pp. 221-222Contributions to Journals: Reviews of Books, Films and Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/0037981042000271538