Who would have thought that culture, as a sign of group identity, would play a prominent and sometimes deadly role in world politics? Who would have thought that culture, as commodified knowledge, art, and image, would be the world's largest industry? In one form or another, culture has become central to politics and economics. Culture is on the agenda for the 1990s. What role is to be played by institutions concerned with understanding culture and educating large and broad publics?