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.

From the Ballroom to the Museum: Celebrating Black Resistance in the Graystone Collection

The Jam Handy 2900 E. Grand Blvd, Detroit, MI, United States

Location: The Jam Handy (2900 E Grand Blvd, Detroit, MI 48202) Date/time: November 9th from 5pm to 9pm For nearly fifty years, the Graystone Ballroom was the beating heart of Detroit’s vibrant music scene. In 1974, the Graystone International Jazz Museum opened its doors...

Competing Interests: Examining Identity Politics in the Display of Ancient Egypt

Haven Hall, Eldersveld Room 505 S. State Street, Ann Arbor

Competing Interests: Examining Identity Politics in the Display of Ancient Egypt Heidi Hilliker, PhD student in Middle Eastern Studies November 30 from 12:00 - 1:00 pm Eldersveld Room, 5670 Haven Hall In recent years, there has been a movement to decolonize Western museums, calling...

Virtual Open House for prospective students

February 2, 2024 @ 11:00 am – 12:00 pm The Museum Studies Program invites students enrolled in any graduate program at the University of Michigan to apply for the Fall 2024 cohort.  This multidisciplinary graduate certificate program draws on ideas from the arts, humanities,...

Hopi R2-D2 and the Return of the Force: Star Wars and indigenous art

Haven Hall, Eldersveld Room 505 S. State Street, Ann Arbor

Hopi R2-D2 and the Return of the Force: Star Wars & indigenous art Speakers: Duane Koyawena (Artist, Curator) & Samantha Honanie (Visitor Experience Manager, Museum of Northern Arizona) Friday, February 16 at 12:00 pm Eldersveld Room, 5670 Haven Hall Join the Museum Studies Program...

Know Thyself: The Importance of Vision in Museum Leadership

University of Michigan Museum of Art

Presentation by Neil Barclay, President and CEO, Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History February 20, at 5:30 pm, UM Museum of Art As museums grapple with the complexity of a social, political and economic change in the communities they serve, visionary leadership...

Application deadline

Applications for the Fall 2024 cohort are due by February 23, 2024.  Application information can be found here.

Unseen Connections: A Natural History of the Cellphone

Space 2435, School of Information 105 S. State Street, Ann Arbor, MI

Space 2435, UM North Quad (105 S. State Street) Presentation by Josh Bell, Curator of Globalization at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian and Museum Studies Program 2024 Visiting Scholar What is the role of anthropology in a natural history museum in the...

“Too Jewish or not Jewish Enough” book launch with author Jeffrey Abt

Frankel Center for Judaic Studies 202 S. Thayer Street, Ann Arbor, MI, United States

This is a celebration of Jeff Abt's newly published book "Too Jewish or not Jewish Enough: Ritual Objects and Avant-Garde Art at the Jewish Museum of New York" (2024).  Join the Frankel Center for Judaic Studies for a panel discussion of the new book...

Exhibit tour at UMMA – “A Gathering”

Join MSP for a guided tour of “A Gathering,” currently on display at UMMA. The works on view in this exhibition, all brought into the Museum between 2019 and the present, shows how institutions like UMMA are becoming more permeable to societal challenges, and more...