ABSTRACT
When it comes to broadening art history's object domain, the Fowler Museum anticipated the global turn in art history by at least two decades. In the 1970s, both the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) anthropology museum and its art history program distinguished themselves by their exhibition and hiring practices that moved away from a European-centered focus. Many agree that ethics is a legitimate concern of art history when it comes to the restitution of stolen goods. Ethics is just as much—if not more—a concern when it comes to educating students and the public to unpack the seductive rhetoric so they can act in their own best interests and in the best interests of society, that is, for the public good. Some art history departments have invested great effort in regenerating the overarching survey, while others, such as UCLA, have eliminated it, so that students immediately enter subdisciplinary formations in their coursework.
