Posterity Is Now

Practicing Museum Anthropology, Collections Care, and Collaborative Research with Indigenous Peoples

Jennifer A. Shannon

• Publisher: University of Wyoming Press
• Year: 2025
• Print ISBN: 9781646427390, 9781646427383
• eBook ISBN: 9781646427406
• Topic: Sciences sociales
• Subtopic: Administration des musées

Posterity Is Now is about doing—about how to do—museum anthropology, collections stewardship, and collaborative research based on working in collaboration with Indigenous communities. Guided by values-centered practice, this book shows how following Indigenous communities' lead, being flexible, and creating a welcoming environment to build essential relationships can reorient museums to support cultural continuity instead of merely preserving objects.
 
In this handbook based on over twenty years of teaching and practice at the intersection of museums, anthropology, and Indigenous peoples, Jennifer A. Shannon covers both the theoretical (i.e., exploring the idea of objects as kin) and the pragmatic (i.e., guidelines for how to design and budget collaborative projects). She advocates for fundamental change in how anthropological research design and practice are done within and beyond the museum and how leadership and staff view the very purpose of the museum. She also demonstrates how collaborative museum anthropology can be a model for the fields of anthropology, public scholarship, and social science research more broadly.
 
Posterity Is Now is a starting point, a "companion to practice," written in accessible language and equally relevant for use in university classrooms, by qualitative researchers, and by practitioners in museums and cultural centers.
 

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• List of Figures
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Part 1: Collaboration Is Theory in Motion
• Part 2: Museum Anthropology
• Part 3: Collections Access and Care
• Part 4: Collaborative Research
• Conclusion: Reimagining Anthropology and the Museum
• Appendixes
• Appendix A: Sample Project Newsletter
• Appendix B: Example Policies and Guidelines for Inspiration
• Appendix C: Workshop Your Project
• Appendix D: Sample Infographic and Grant Proposal
• Appendix E: Job Searching and Professional Development
• Appendix F: Guide to Thinking about Collaboration for Exhibit Planning
• Appendix G: Guide to Creating Community-Engaged Comics
• References
• Index
• About the Author