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Mr Neil Curtis

Mr Neil Curtis
Mr Neil Curtis
Mr Neil Curtis

FMA

Head of University Collections

About
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

University Health, Safety & Wellbeing Committee

External Memberships

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

View My Publications

Research

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

  1. The Scottish Exhibition of National History, Art and Industry, Glasgow 1911
  2. Late 18th/early 19th century museums in the University of Aberdeen

Contemporary museum issues

  1. Repatriation
  2. Museums as sacred places
  3. Human remains in museums
  4. Scottish museums and Treasure Trove
  5. Museum education

Scottish archaeology

  1. Roman finds in North-East Scotland
  2. Prehistoric Beakers in North-East Scotland

Funding and Grants

Leverhulme Trust 'Beakers and Bodies' project (PI)

AHRC Connected Communities - bennachie (Co-I)

Teaching

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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  • Education and Marischal Museum: a century of teaching , learning and research

    Curtis, N. G. W.
    Education in the North, vol. 14, pp. 31-38
    Contributions to Journals: Articles

  • Museums in a postmodern world: collections, exhibitions and opinions

    Curtis, N. G. W.
    Public Archaeology, vol. 5, no. 3, pp. 199-202
    Contributions to Journals: Comments and Debates

  • 'A continuous process of reinterpretation': the challenge of the universal and rational museum

    Curtis, N. G. W.
    Public Archaeology, vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 50-56
    Contributions to Journals: Letters

  • The collection of Book of the Dead manuscripts in Marischal Museum, University of Aberdeen, Scotland: a comprehensive overview

    Curtis, N. G. W., Kockelmann, H., Munro, I.
    Bulletin de L'Institut Francais d'Archeologie Orientale, vol. 105, pp. 49-73
    Contributions to Journals: Articles

  • Book review of Steedman, C (2002) Dust: the archive and cultural history

    Curtis, N. G. W.
    Journal of the Society of Archivists, vol. 25, no. 2, pp. 221-222
    Contributions to Journals: Reviews of Books, Films and Articles
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