Lectures on Tap - "Who Owns History? The Ethics of Artifacts in Museums"

Professors, experts, and storytellers giving thought-provoking lectures in NYC bars.

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🧠 Lecture: "Who Owns History? The Ethics of Artifacts in Museums"

🎤 Speaker: Dr. Caroline Malloy

As museums in the twenty-first century reckon with their colonial pasts, what does that mean for the future of how we collect, display, and experience art and artifacts? How do these collections shape how we understand who we are—and who we want to be?

In this provocative talk, historian Dr. Caroline Malloy explores the ethical questions surrounding repatriation: Who owns history? What makes an object “universal”? And how should museums balance cultural safety, politics, and public access?

Using famous cases like the Parthenon Marbles and the Benin Bronzes, Dr. Malloy will unpack global collecting controversies and invite you to consider how your favorite museum might change if certain objects were returned to their places of origin. She’ll also highlight what some New York institutions are doing to work with international and national partners on these complex issues—and how technology might help “share the wealth.”

Dr. Caroline Malloy is a Chicago-based historian and nonfiction book editor who works at the intersection of heritage, preservation, and national identity. After over a decade in academia, she now brings history to global audiences as a Resident Historian with Viking Ocean cruises.

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