Keeping It 101: A Killjoy's Introduction to Religion Podcast · Profs. Ilyse Morgenstein Fuerst and Megan Goodwin

FLASHBACK: Night at the Museum

November 1, 2023·56 min·5 clips

The British Museum's Rosetta Stone and the Queen's crown jewel were stolen through colonial violence, not acquired.

This episode explores how museums categorize and display religious objects, revealing the influence of the "world religions" paradigm and colonial history. Hosts Megan Goodwin and Ilyse Morgenstein-Furst, scholars of religion, are joined by Dr. Andrew Ali AghaPour, a consulting scholar at the National Museum of American History. They use a role-playing "field trip" format to critically examine museum practices. The hosts analyze a map of New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, noting how galleries for South Asian art are labeled by religions like Hinduism and Buddhism, while European Christian art is categorized by periods like the Renaissance or Baroque. They argue this presents non-Western cultures as primarily religious, while Western art is framed as universal culture. The discussion connects museum collections to imperial violence, citing the British Museum's Rosetta Stone and the Koh-i-Noor diamond in the Crown Jewels as examples of plundered artifacts. Dr. AghaPour details his work on the "Discovery and Revelation" exhibit, which aims to showcase diverse interactions between religion and science in America. His exhibit includes objects like Benjamin Franklin's lightning rod, a digital prayer mat, an EEG headset used to study Buddhist meditators, and a peyote tray from the National Museum of the American Indian. A key insight is that museums are not neutral spaces but physical arguments shaped by ideology, where the classification of an object as "religious" or "art" depends on its cultural origin. The hosts note the irony that many items in "Islamic art" wings are not inherently religious, yet the label persists. Dr. AghaPour reveals the extensive collaborative process behind exhibits, using an IPOP framework (Ideas, People, Objects, Physical Experiences) to engage diverse visitors. He shares that initial visitor surveys showed reluctance toward a "religion and science" exhibit, perceived as solely about conflict, requiring careful work to challenge assumptions. A memorable tension highlighted is the practical challenge of writing museum captions that avoid essentializing complex traditions like "Buddhism" within strict word limits. The episode employs a conversational and playful tone, with hosts adopting humorous roles and using audio theater elements like fake whispering to simulate a museum visit. Its style is educational and critical, blending historical analysis with contemporary case studies from major institutions. Listeners interested in museum studies, postcolonial critique, or the practical application of religious studies theory would find this episode compelling. Those seeking a straightforward, celebratory tour of museum highlights might find its critical perspective less appealing.

As heard by us

Museums become a sharp lesson in how religion gets labeled, displayed, and sorted by power.

This re-release uses a museum as a clear pressure point for the world's religions paradigm, and it is strongest when it shows how art, culture, and religion are sorted by power as much as by scholarship.

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Why you'd press play

You want a museum critique that pulls religion labels apart.

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