Events

Public programs facilitate dialogue between academics and professionals, informing scholarship and strengthening practice.

Multiple day conferences, year-long colloquia, individual lectures, “conversations” between individuals, hands-on workshops, and Museums at Noon talks featuring our graduate students all contribute to the remarkable richness of MSP offerings.

Video recordings of some MSP lectures are archived for viewing in our Media Gallery.

University Natural History Museums: Portals of Discovery in the Anthropocene

Rackham Graduate School 915 E. Washington Street, Ann Arbor, MI, United States

A conversation between: James Hanken - Director, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University Diarmaid O Foighil - Chair, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, U-M   Many of the world's great universities have natural history museums founded in the late 19th and early 20th centuries....

Curatorial Dilemmas: Representing Africa at UMMA with Pamela McClusky

U-M Museum of Art, Helmut Stern Auditorium 525 S. State St., Ann Arbor, MI, United States

A series of talks by leading curators and thinkers in African art will launch a reimagining process for the forthcoming reinstallation of the University of Michigan Museum of Art’s Robert and Lillian Montalto Bohlen Gallery of African Art. Pamela McClusky, Curator of African and Oceanic Art, Seattle Art Museum, will...

What Happens When a Museum Is Something Other than a Museum?

Presentation by Zachary Kopin, PhD, History Friday, November 3 from 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm, UM Museum of Art auditorium   What Happens When a Museum Is Something Other than a Museum? Constitution Hill was once a notorious prison in colonial and apartheid South...

Narrative and Nationalism: Islamic Science in American Museum Practice

Presentation by Amanda Respess, PhD candidate, Anthropology and History Friday,  November 17 from 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm, UM Museum of Art auditorium   Narrative and Nationalism: Islamic Science in American Museum Practice Artifacts important to the history of science in Islamicate societies occupy...

Learning by Leading: A New Model for Expanding Museum Impact

U-M Museum of Art, Helmut Stern Auditorium 525 S. State St., Ann Arbor, MI, United States

A conversation between: Kathleen Socolofsky - Director, Arboretum and Public Garden, University of California, Davis Bob Grese - Director, Matthaei Botanical Gardens and Nichols Arboretum, U-M   During this time of immense and sometimes disorienting change, museums are perfectly positioned to step into new...

Curatorial Dilemmas: Representing Africa at UMMA with Christa Clarke

A series of talks by leading curators and thinkers in African art will launch a reimagining process for the forthcoming reinstallation of the University of Michigan Museum of Art’s Robert and Lillian Montalto Bohlen Gallery of African Art. Christa Clarke, Senior Curator Arts of Global Africa, Newark Museum, will...

Time to Evolve:  The Histories and Futures of Two University Natural History Museums 

U-M Museum of Art, Helmut Stern Auditorium 525 S. State St., Ann Arbor, MI, United States

A conversation between: Julie Stein - Executive Director, Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, University of Washington Amy Harris - Director, Museum of Natural History, U-M   University natural history collections were central to the scientific enterprise in the 19th century. Today, these collections...

Museums of the Past into the Future: The Oriental Institute and the Kelsey Museum

U-M Museum of Art, Helmut Stern Auditorium 525 S. State St., Ann Arbor, MI, United States

A conversation between: Chris Woods, Director, Oriental Institute, University of Chicago Terry G. Wilfong, Director, Kelsey Museum of Archaeology, U-M   The Oriental Institute Museum at the University of Chicago and the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology at the University of Michigan share similar backgrounds...

Museums at Noon – Postponed!

University of Michigan Museum of Art, First Floor, Multi-Purpose Room 525 South State Street, Ann Arbor, MI, United States

Presented by Mark Auslander, Director of Michigan State University Museum co-sponsored by the UM Department of Afroamerican and African Studies   Previously schedued for Friday, February 9 at 12:00 pm in the UM Museum of Art Multi-Purpose Room (125) - new date to be...