Experts speak. Colleagues discuss. Students engage . . . and have fun. The Video and Photo Galleries offer a window into some of the many memorable events and activities organized by the Museum Studies Program. Topical colloquia, lectures, and workshops about issues in museum studies feature prominent scholars and practitioners who examine a wide range of current issues facing the museum world. Our video samples convey the range of ideas and interests explored within the Museum Studies Program. The photos take you inside the world of our students and scholars, visually documenting their work and the life of the program.
What is the role of anthropology in a natural history museum in the 21st century? Thinking through the issues bundled up in this question, within this talk I will discuss a new exhibit Cellphone: Unseen Connections that I curated at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History....
Presentation by Neil Barclay, President and CEO, Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History As museums grapple with the complexity of a social, political and economic change in the communities they serve, visionary leadership of these institutions becomes critically important. While there are...
Join us via Zoom for the Museum Studies Program’s third annual Virtual Panel Discussion considering access and accessibility concerns in museum practice. With museum, library, and cultural heritage panelists from the Canadian Heritage Information Network (CHIN), Delft University of Technology, and the Smithsonian...
Kimberly Ransom, PhD, MSP18, Illinois Distinguished Postdoctoral Research Fellow University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign College of Education Chicago’s Rebuild Foundation’s Stony Island Arts Bank While interning at Rebuild Foundation’s Stony Island Arts Bank (SAB) in Chicago, Kimberly Ransom has reviewed the objects and documents in...
Universality as an intellectual and ethical imperative has substantially shaped museum work, including the management and care of collections. Critiques of the universal—including universal museums—contribute to current and necessary conversations encouraging the decolonization of cultural institutions. At the same time, the ethical impetus of...
The Oxford University Museum of Natural History began a large redisplay project in April of this year, with the goal of developing and installing 20 new permanent exhibits in the main court of the Museum. I traveled to Oxford University for my UM Museum...