I’m Steven Lubar, professor emeritus in the departments of history and American studies at Brown University and the George L. Littlefield Professor of American History emeritus.
I teach and write about museums and the history of museums, public humanities and digital humanities, the history and philosophy of technology, and local history.
My most recent book was Inside the Lost Museum: Curating, Past and Present (Harvard University Press, 2017). My next book, Hands-on: A Cultural History of Tools will be published by MIT Press in 2026. I’m presently at work on a local history of the road I live on in Little Compton, Rhode Island. More about me here.
In addition to scholarly publishing, I write short essays here on a range of topics, and provide links to things posted elsewhere.
- Museums and the history of museums
- Digital humanities
- Public humanities
- Technology and tools: making, skills, repair
- Local history
- Teaching and learning.
You can see an archive of all of my posts here. Some of my favorite writings, here and elsewhere:
- About my Fall 2020 course: exhibition project plans curated by Brown students and designed by RISD students
- A collection of short videos about exhibition development
- “Exhibiting Absence” on Medium
- “Cabinets of Curiosity,” on Medium
- “Memorializing Disability: Lessons for Museums,” on Medium
- “Museums Need Collections and Connections,” on Medium
- Encyclopedia entries on public humanities, museums, and cultural heritage, in the Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology
- “The Rosa Parks House,” on Medium
- “Teaching Skill,” on Medium
- “Leave the Durham Memorial on the Ground,” on Medium
- “Looking through the Skiascope: Benjamin Gilman and the Invention of the Modern Museum Gallery, in Panorama
- “Museums are Places to Forget,” on Medium
- A four-part series on the history of museum catalogs, focusing on the New York Crystal Palace, on Medium
- I asked students to write the syllabus. You won’t believe what happened next.
- “Seven Rules for Public Humanists”
Some interviews about Inside the Lost Museum:
- New Books Network, with Ricarda Brosch
- Inquiry, with Mark Lynch (and part 2)
- Alum Book Podcast, with Joe McGonegal
And a podcast discussion of my skills course:
[The views expressed on this blog do not necessarily reflect the views of Brown University.]
