| The display of the dead, for the sake of `education' or even for `entertainment', is a phenomenon profoundly rooted in Western culture. This practice raises many questions around whose bodies can be shown, what forms they can take, and for what reasons they can be `legitimately' displayed. Museum professionals have increasingly agreed that museums have the potential and the responsibility to contribute to an agenda of social inclusion within their communities. Yet, as museums have accepted the need to make social inclusion a priority, they have been confronted with the questioning of their collections by some of the groups they are trying to include. This dissertation asks how various stakeholders in museums interpret the display of dead bodies, and explores how remains can be seen differently --- in ways that advance social inclusion, rather than hinder it. The articles included here are grounded in research across Britain that involved visiting museums, speaking with museum professionals, and interviewing visitors. These papers critique and reimagine how bodies can be displayed in museums, and how research can be done with the visitors who view these remains. The first article, `When Women Birthed Mooncalves and Moles', focuses on fetal displays at the Hunterian Museum in England and argues that narrating the embryological origin story through scientific display techniques has the potential to reinforce the systemic marginalisation and devaluation of females of all species. The second article, `Speciesism and Social Inclusion', makes the case for expanding the definition of social inclusion to counter `speciesism'. This piece challenges the widely accepted display of animal bodies in museums, and advocates for the adoption of a trans-species approach to exhibition. The final article, `Investigating the Display of Human Remains as a Sensitive Topic', examines the survey carried out by English Heritage in 2009 to explore public opinion on human remains in museums. Drawing on research methods employed in other studies, this paper argues that participant-based qualitative methods are best suited to the study of such a sensitive topic. This dissertation concludes that by making inclusion a priority, museums can represent the plurality of belief and diversity in contemporary Britain. |
