Skip to Main Content
 

Global Search Box

 
 
 

ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

Exploring Visitors’ Lived Experiences in Memorial Museums

Iannaggi, Corina M
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1448829436

Abstract Details

2015, MLIS, Kent State University, College of Communication and Information / School of Information.
There has been a surge of interest in what attracts visitors to memorial museums and other sites commemorative of historically significant tragic and violent events. Millions of people are drawn to these places each year, in turn creating a new area of research known as “dark tourism”. While much of the research has focused on the commodification and rise in popularity of dark tourism sites, there is little research from the visitor’s perspective inquiring about the meanings people take away from these sites, what they are experiencing, and what motivates them to visit. In light of this gap, an interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) study was conducted at the May 4th Visitors Center in Kent, Ohio. The May 4th Visitors Center commemorates the events leading up to and following the tragic shooting and deaths of several students by the National Guard in 1970. The intent of the study was to learn about visitors’ lived experiences at memorial museums and describe meanings made from these experiences; discover (if any) experiential themes are present across visitors; and determine if current descriptions of dark tourists match with visitors’ lived experiences in memorial museums from this study. After interviewing and analyzing four first-time visitors to the May 4th Visitors Center, four overarching themes were found amongst their experiences: 1. Connecting the past to the present: The person connects events memorialized in the museum to current events; 2. Putting oneself in the situation: The person makes a strong connection with those involved in the events memorialized, and realizes, “that could have been me”, or asks themselves, “what would I have done?”; 3. Justifying emotional reactions: Participants felt a need to explain why they reacted to the information on exhibit in a particular way; and 4. The power of multimodality: There is recognition of an enhanced experience due to the various ways information is presented in the exhibit (i.e. text, graphics, photographs, audio, video). The data suggests that these themes are the center of a multi-faceted experience uniquely felt by each participant and although everyone is different, ultimately it is suggested that the four themes derived from the participants’ experiences in this study can be seen as the foundation of the lived experience to memorial museums. While one cannot make the assumption that these same themes will apply to all visitors in all memorial museums, the results do shed light on how visitors relate to and make meaning of their visit, demonstrating that lived experience research has the potential to enhance our understanding of visitors to memorial museums and other commemorative sites.
Kiersten F. Latham (Committee Chair)
83 p.
Communication; Information Science; Museum Studies; Museums
Memorial museums; dark tourism; IPA; lived experience

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Iannaggi, C. M. (2015). Exploring Visitors’ Lived Experiences in Memorial Museums [Master's thesis, Kent State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1448829436

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Iannaggi, Corina. Exploring Visitors’ Lived Experiences in Memorial Museums. 2015. Kent State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1448829436.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Iannaggi, Corina. "Exploring Visitors’ Lived Experiences in Memorial Museums." Master's thesis, Kent State University, 2015. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1448829436

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

kent1448829436
3,810
© 2015, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Kent State University and OhioLINK.