Museums of World Religions: Displaying the Divine, Shaping Cultures

Title Page
Copyright Page
Contents
Figures
Preface
Acknowledgments
Part 1: Displaying the Divine: Religious Objects and Comparison
	Chapter 1: Comparative Religion and World Religions Museums
		The Idea of Religion(s)
		World Religions
		World Religions and Ideal Types
		Imperial Science: World Religions and European Universalism
		Comparative Religions in Imperial Discourse and Display: From Civilized versus Savage to God versus Fetish
		Forebears: The London Missionary Society Museum, the Pitt Rivers Museum, and the Horniman Museum
	Chapter 2: The Body of God and the Matter of Religion
		Śiva and the Virgin at St. Mungo
		Living with Gods at the British Museum
		What Do Religion Museums Do?
		Objects, Things, and People: Dismantling Transcendence
		Secret Life of Things: The Debate about Animism
		New Approaches to Religious Objects
		Objects and Agency: Latour’s Actor-Network Theory and Ingold’s Meshwork
		Spirits in a Museum or Things Passing through?
Part 2: Five Museums of World Religions
	Introduction
	Chapter 3: The Numinous in Marburg: Rudolf Otto’s Religionskundliche Sammlung
		Introduction and Brief History
		Martin Kraatz and the Current Museum
		Museum, Comparison, Classification
		Religious Objects in the Religionskundliche Sammlung
		Connections: Tracing the Lives of Religious Things in Special Exhibits
		The Religionskundliche Sammlung on the Web
	Chapter 4: Atheism, Science, and the History of Religions: St. Petersburg’s State Museum of the History of Religions
		Introduction and Brief History
		The Present: Permanent Exhibits
		Research, Special Exhibits, and Education
		Objects on Screens: The Virtual Museum48
	Chapter 5: Religion and Local Knowledge: Québec’s Le Musée Des Religions du Monde
		Nicolet: A Seminary Town
		The Founding of the Museum
		Collection and Funding
		Description and Floor Plan
		The Permanent Exhibit: Êtes-vous près? (Are You Close?)
		Special Exhibits and Outreach
		Visitors and the Dialectic of Special Exhibits and Permanent Exhibits
		On the Web: Virtual Reserve and Guides (Website)
		Narratives and Objects
	Chapter 6: A Dialogical Museum: The Sacred Gaze and the St. Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art
		A Small Museum at the Heart of Glasgow
		The Museum Design
		Planning a Museum of Religious Life
		Visitor Reactions
		Special Exhibits and Outreach
		St. Mungo on the Web
		Objects and Semiotics: “Sacred Gaze” and Dialogics
	Chapter 7: A Religious Museum: The Museum of World Religions in Taipei
		A Journey through the Collection
		Special Exhibits
		Outreach and Educational Mission
		The Museum of World Religions and Related Institutions
		Museum of World Religions on the Web and on Social Media
		The World Religions Narrative, Objects, and Observations
	Conclusion: Rethinking Museums of Religions
		Some Recommendations
Notes
	Preface
	Chapter 1
	Chapter 2
	Chapter 3
	Chapter 4
	Chapter 5
	Chapter 6
	Chapter 7
	Conclusion
Bibliography
Index