Museum Studies Program, U-M Rackham Graduate School

"Too Jewish or not Jewish Enough" book launch with author Jeffrey Abt
2024-03-19 16:00 - 17:30 (America/Detroit) | Frankel Center for Judaic Studies, 202 S. Thayer Street, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, 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 with Frankel Institute Co-Head Fellows Deborah Dash Moore and Richard Cohen.
Click here to attend virtually.
Additional information can be found here.
Co-sponsored by the Museum Studies Program.

Unseen Connections: A Natural History of the Cellphone
2024-03-14 17:30 - 19:00 | Space 2435, School of Information, 105 S. State Street, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109
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 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 (NMNH). Cellphone examines cellular technology and its cultural, ecological and social intersections around the world, and is informed by a decade of interdisciplinary and collaborative research on cellular telephony in Washington D.C.. The exhibit consists of 750 objects, a comic book mural, interactive displays and 33 personal profiles of people along the cellphone’s global supply chain from 35 countries. Drawing inspiration from the relational perspectives of Indigenous world-making in Oceania, as well as the moral and ethical obligations of political ecology, this exhibit demonstrates how natural history is about, and for, everyone.
Dr. Joshua A. Bell is Curator of Globalization at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History (NMNH). Combining ethnographic fieldwork with research in museums and archives, Bell examines the shifting local and global network of relationships between persons, artefacts and the environment. To date he has carried out research with communities in the Purari Delta of Papua New Guinea, with historic Oceanic collections, and on cellular telephony in Washington, D.C.. He is currently the chair of NMNH’s anthropology department, and is the steward of NMNH’s Oceania, African and South American collections as well as the collections of the National Anthropological Archive. He is a founding member of Recovering Voices, and co-directs the annual Mother Tongue Film Festival. He also directs the Summer Institute in Museum Anthropology, a summer course funded by the National Science Foundation that teaches graduate students how to effectively and ethically engage with museum and archival collections.
Presentation flyer

Application deadline
2024-02-23 17:00
Applications for the Fall 2024 cohort are due by February 23, 2024. Application information can be found here.

Know Thyself: The Importance of Vision in Museum Leadership
2024-02-20 17:30 - 19:00 | 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 of these institutions becomes critically important. While there are many approaches to how such leadership is defined and achieved, in its most fundamental terms, it begins with a keen understanding of why an individual has chosen the museum field as their life’s work in the first place. In this talk, Barclay explores the relationship between personal vision and institutional vision and how the two define the most successful leaders working today.
In January of 2019 Neil Barclay was selected to lead the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History as its president and CEO. Prior to that, he served as President and CEO of the Contemporary Arts Center (CAC) in New Orleans for five years. Barclay also served for seven years as associate director of the Performing Arts Center for the University of Texas at Austin and is the founding president and CEO of Pittsburgh’s August Wilson Center. Additionally, he was instrumental in the historic capital renovation planning for Los Angeles’ Vision Theater, originally built by Howard Hughes and currently in the final stages of development for the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs.
Presentation flyer
Co-sponsored by the University of Michigan Museum of Art

Hopi R2-D2 and the Return of the Force: Star Wars and indigenous art
2024-02-16 12:00 - 13:00 | Haven Hall, Eldersveld Room, 505 S. State Street, Ann Arbor, 48109
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 in welcoming Samantha Honanie and Duane Koyawena as they discuss the Museum of Northern Arizona’s award-winning exhibition, “The Force Is With Our People” (2019-2020). Learn about the creation of Hopi-R2, the resonance of Star Wars themes with the Southwest’s indigenous art communities, and the ongoing cultural influence of the project.
Click here for event flyer.

Virtual Open House for prospective students
2024-02-02 11:00 - 12:00
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, natural and social sciences, and technology and provides countless opportunities to apply theories in a vast array of museums and cultural institutions on campus, in the region, nationally and around the world.
The MSP curriculum examines the role of museums in society as sites of memory, learning, research, cultural production, public scholarship, civic engagement, and entertainment. The 12-credit certificate program consists of the Museum Studies Seminar (Fall and Winter terms, 6 credits), approved electives (6 credits), and a funded internship. It prepares students for academic and professional careers in museums, heritage sites, arboretums, botanical gardens, zoos and other living collections, and universities.
Application Deadline: February 23, 2024
Application information can be found here.
Learn more at our upcoming virtual open house!
Zoom meeting ID 915 1170 6281

Competing Interests: Examining Identity Politics in the Display of Ancient Egypt
2023-11-30 12:00 - 13:00 | Haven Hall, Eldersveld Room, 505 S. State Street, Ann Arbor, 48109
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 for a practice of self-reflection and transparency paired with a recognition of their Western-centric and criminal foundations. This has led institutions with collections of ancient Egyptian art and artifacts to revisit the ways in which they classify, interpret, and display their collections. These shifts in museum practice have revealed many competing interests, exposing the complex ways in which inclusion, identity, and ownership are deeply intertwined. I witnessed these competing interests first-hand this summer during my MSP internship when a new exhibition highlighting the influence of ancient Egypt and Nubia in contemporary black music debuted at the Dutch National Museum of Antiquity in Leiden, the Netherlands.
In this talk, I will discuss this and other curatorial and institutional case studies that reflect current trends and the complicated discourses developing from them. Additionally, I will consider the future of these movements and how they may affect museum practices.
Flyer

Museums in Practice series - Access and Museums: Making Meaning through Online and Digital Connections
2023-11-15 12:00 - 13:30 | Online via Zoom
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 Institution, this session will explore the challenges and opportunities of “Open Access” initiatives and “Access to Heritage” programs. Topics to be presented and discussed include the task of upgrading Nomenclature for Museum Cataloguing to provide access to terminology from multiple languages and regions; the creation of new, community-engaged research and educational opportunities using online collections; and the championing of digitized public domain heritage as a key tool for museums aiming to fulfill their societal missions.
Panelists:

Liz Harmon, PhD, Virtual Museum Program Manager, American Women’s History Museum, Smithsonian Institution, USA
Douglas McCarthy, Head of Library Learning Centre, Delft University of Technology, Netherlands
Heather Dunn, Heritage Information Analyst, Canadian Heritage Information Network, Government of Canada

This panel discussion will be presented online via Zoom and will feature real time captioning.
Please register in advance for this online Zoom webinar.
Flyer

From the Ballroom to the Museum: Celebrating Black Resistance in the Graystone Collection
2023-11-09 17:00 - 21:00 | The Jam Handy, 2900 E. Grand Blvd, Detroit, MI, 48202, 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 – its collection including records, posters, and materials from the former Graystone Ballroom. Though the Graystone Ballroom and Museum are both closed today, the collection – stewarded by DSC – remains a testament to the power of Detroit sound.
Please join Detroit Sound Conservancy at the historic Jam Handy for an evening of celebration and reflection on the legacy of the Graystone Collection. Renowned musician and composer Ali Jackson will give a lecture on Black sonic resistance in the Graystone Collection. After some light refreshments, Jackson and his band will perform a curated rearrangement of tunes celebrating the Graystone legacy.
This program was facilitated by Ekaterina Olson-Shipyatsky (MSP23) for the Arts & Resistance Theme Semester.
Event flyer

Tour of "Narrating Nubia: the Social Lives of Heritage"
2023-10-09 13:00 - 14:00 | Duderstadt Center (2281 Bonisteel)
North Campus Duderstadt Gallery (2281 Bonisteel)
Join Bailey Franzoi (MSP21), Shannon Ness (MSP15 ), and Geoff Emberling (Research Scientist, Kelsey Museum of Archaeology) for a tour of “Narrating Nubia: the Social Lives of Heritage.” “Narrating Nubia” is a project funded by the UM Humanities Collaboratory that focuses on developing ways to move beyond the colonial past of archaeology and cultural anthropology. The meanings of Nubia in ancient and modern Egypt and Sudan are explored. The exhibit includes four main sections: a presentation on the ongoing archaeology in Sudan, an animated film about Egyptian Nubia, a podcast, and an online classroom program.
Register in advance for the tour (space is limited).
Narrating Nubia tour flyer

Dis/continuities: Unsettling Memory and Time – Charles F. Fraker Graduate Conference
2023-10-07 08:00 - 17:00
October 6 & 7 from 8:00 am – 5:00 pm (see links below for locations)
The Museum Studies Program is proud to co-sponsor the biannual Charles F. Fraker Graduate Conference organized by Doctoral students in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures.
The biannual Charles F. Fraker Graduate Conference is organized by doctoral students in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures at the University of Michigan–Ann Arbor in honor of Professor Emeritus of Spanish Charles F. Fraker. Originally a venue for graduate students of Hispanic Studies to meet and discuss the subjects of their research, the conference has grown to include the work of students of many other fields and disciplines. In previous years, the Charles F. Fraker Conference has featured as its keynote speakers intellectuals such as Jacques Lezra, Alberto Moreiras, Jacques Rancière, Bill Brown, Michael Taussig, WJT Mitchell, and Robert T. Tally Jr. This year, we will enjoy the presence of professor Eduardo Cadava for our keynote presentation. Past conferences have attracted graduate student panelists from such universities as Yale, Tulane, Cleveland State, Western Michigan, Brigham Young, and Western Ontario.
The conference will take place on the 6-7th October 2023 at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
Program
Flyer 1 (overview)
Flyer 2 (keynote)

Dis/continuities: Unsettling Memory and Time - Charles F. Fraker Graduate Conference
2023-10-06 08:00 - 17:00
October 6 & 7 from 8:00 am – 5:00 pm (see links below for location details)
The Museum Studies Program is proud to co-sponsor the biannual Charles F. Fraker Graduate Conference organized by Doctoral students in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures.
The biannual Charles F. Fraker Graduate Conference is organized by doctoral students in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures at the University of Michigan–Ann Arbor in honor of Professor Emeritus of Spanish Charles F. Fraker. Originally a venue for graduate students of Hispanic Studies to meet and discuss the subjects of their research, the conference has grown to include the work of students of many other fields and disciplines. In previous years, the Charles F. Fraker Conference has featured as its keynote speakers intellectuals such as Jacques Lezra, Alberto Moreiras, Jacques Rancière, Bill Brown, Michael Taussig, WJT Mitchell, and Robert T. Tally Jr. This year, we will enjoy the presence of professor Eduardo Cadava for our keynote presentation. Past conferences have attracted graduate student panelists from such universities as Yale, Tulane, Cleveland State, Western Michigan, Brigham Young, and Western Ontario.
Program
Flyer 1 (overview)
Flyer 2 (keynote)

Afterthought - Remembering a Pandemic
2023-09-30 11:00 - 16:00 | Rackham Graduate School, 915 E. Washington Street, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, United States
Five events comprise a special program spotlighting COVID commemoration as a form of political resistance. This program offers interactions with commemorative art, invites students and visitors to think about art as a form of political and social action, and includes multiple opportunities to interact with artists on campus. Additionally, art is proposed as a pathway for resisting the dominance of text in academic expression.
Sept 28: 1:00 – 3:00 pm, GalleryDAAS – Exhibition reception: “Half Built House” a COVID memorial by Laura Taylor (exhibition runs from Sept 28 – Oct 27)
Sept 29: 6:00 pm, UM Museum of Art auditorium – Screening: A work-in-progress screening of “Afterthought”
Sept 30: 11:00 am, Rackham East Conference Room – Workshop: A graduate student workshop on film & academic expression
Sept 30: 1:00 pm, Rackham East Conference Room – Career Talk: Featuring the Editor & Producer for “Afterthought”
Sept 30: 3:00 pm, Rackham East Conference Room – Panel Talk: A discussion of the role of art in COVID commemoration

Afterthought flyer
For additional details, click here.

Sponsored by Arts Initiative, UMMA, American Culture, Latina/o Studies, and the Museum Studies Program

Global Interns: museum practice in Israel & Uganda
2023-09-29 12:00 - 13:00 | Haven Hall, Eldersveld Room, 505 S. State Street, Ann Arbor, 48109
Global Interns: museum practice in Israel & Uganda
September 29 from 12:00 – 1:00 pm
Eldersveld Room, 5670 Haven Hall

Alexandra Norwood, PhD candidate, Anthropology
The Apes of Uganda: An Exhibit and Outreach Program at the Uganda Museum
Uganda is often called the Pearl of Africa, a phrase invoked by Winston Churchill describing the country: “for magnificence, for variety of form and color, for profusion of brilliant life – bird, insect, reptile, beast” (W. S. Churchill, 1909). Uganda’s remarkable biodiversity includes the presence of two species of living apes and a rich hominoid fossil record. Uganda’s importance to the evolution and conservation of great apes makes it essential to promote awareness and generate interest in protecting both fossil sites and the living apes.
The “Apes of Uganda” Exhibition and Outreach Project is the result of a collaboration between staff at the Uganda National Museum and biological anthropologists at the University of Michigan. The goal of this project was to share information about ape evolution in Uganda, the lives of chimpanzees and gorillas in Uganda’s National Park, and the importance of conserving both fossil sites and the National Parks where living apes are found. The exhibition at the Uganda National Museum opened in February 2023 and has been visited by ~ 100,000 visitors. A complementary schools outreach program carried out in July reached 18 Ugandan public primary and secondary schools in western Uganda, near National Parks where great apes live. The measured impact of these efforts teaches us valuable lessons about how to make this type of educational programming as effective as possible and demonstrates the importance of meaningful, outward-facing partnerships between researchers and museums.
Denisa Glacova, PhD student, Middle East Studies
Is ANU – Museum of the Jewish People Telling the Whole Story?
When asked about the ten-year-long renovation of ANU – Museum of the Jewish People in Tel Aviv, Dan Tadmor, the museum’s CEO explained that the conceptual, technological, artistic, and architectural overhaul was necessary to turn the institution into “the most comprehensive Jewish museum in the world.” Even its name was changed then – the former Beit Hatfutsot, or the Diaspora Museum, became ANU, i.e. we in Hebrew, reflecting its ambitious attempt to represent “all parts of the Jewish people.” Or, as Tadmor puts it, to “tell the whole story.”
In my short talk, I will reflect on my three-month internship at The Koret International School for Jewish Peoplehood in ANU. I will focus on ANU’s “vision of radical [Jewish] togetherness” and address its methodology and tools used to create an overarching exhibition narrative connecting Jewish histories and cultures throughout more than 4,000 years. Additionally, I will present a few possibilities to include stories pushed to the margins in the new three-store exhibition and to diversify the narrative of the current exhibition through educational programming in order to get closer to the – in my opinion – unattainable ideal of “telling the whole story.”
Museums@Noon flyer

Tour of “Secrets of State: The Declassified History of the Chilean Dictatorship” exhibition at Weiser Hall gallery
2023-09-22 12:00 - 13:00 | Weiser Hall, 500 Church Street, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, United States
Weiser Hall – II Gallery, Room 555 (5th Floor) (500 Church St.)
Join Eimeel Castillo (MSP18 alumna, curatorial assistant, and PhD candidate in History and Women’s & Gender Studies) for a tour of “Secrets of State: The Declassified History of the Chilean Dictatorship” exhibition. The documents in this exhibit were declassified and made public as a result of years of research and FOIA advocacy by those promoting openness, particularly members of the National Security Archive. In the wake of the historic arrest in London of General Pinochet in October 1998, their efforts, among others, led President Bill Clinton to launch a special Chile Declassification Project in 1999 and the eventual release of over 24,000 formerly top secret documents.
Curated by Peter Kornbluh (Director of the Chile Documentation Project at the National Security Archive, an NGO dedicated to freedom of information and transparency), this exhibit was co-designed by Eimeel Castillo (Ph.D. Candidate in History and Women’s and Gender Studies) and Victoria Langland (Associate Professor of History).
Register in advance for the tour (space is limited).
Cosponsors: University of Michigan [Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies; International Institute; College of Literature, Science, and the Arts; Office of Research; Department of History; Eisenberg Institute for Historical Studies; Museum Studies Program; Institute for the Humanities] and Interfaith Council for Peace & Justice
“Secrets of State” related events flyer

Lecture - Secrets of State: The Declassified History of the Chilean Dictatorship
2023-09-20 12:00 - 13:30 | Weiser Hall, 500 Church Street, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, United States
The Museum Studies Program is proud to co-sponsor this lecture associated with the “Reflections on the 50th Anniversary of the 1973 Coup in Chile” series of events:
“Secrets of State: The Declassified History of the Chilean Dictatorship”
Speaker: Peter Kornbluh, Director of the Chile Declassification Project, National Security Archive
Date/time: September 20 from 12:00 – 1:30 pm
Location: 1010 Weiser Hall
Peter Kornbluh will present a lecture on the “Secrets of State: The Declassified History of the Chilean Dictatorship” exhibit. The documents in this exhibit were declassified and made public as a result of years of research and FOIA advocacy by those promoting openness, particularly members of the National Security Archive. In the wake of the historic arrest in London of General Pinochet in October 1998, their efforts, among others, led President Bill Clinton to launch a special Chile Declassification Project in 1999 and the eventual release of over 24,000 formerly top secret documents.
Curated by Peter Kornbluh (Director of the Chile Documentation Project at the National Security Archive, an NGO dedicated to freedom of information and transparency).
Cosponsors: University of Michigan [Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies; International Institute; College of Literature, Science, and the Arts; Office of Research; Department of History; Eisenberg Institute for Historical Studies; Museum Studies Program; Institute for the Humanities] and Interfaith Council for Peace & Justice
“Secrets of State” related events flyer

I See What You're Saying: A WICAD Symposium at UMMA
2023-06-24 08:00 - 10:30 | University of Michigan Museum of Art
University of Michigan Museum of Art A Symposium on WICAD (the Workshop on Inclusive Co-Creation of Audio Descriptions) With Museum Visitors Who Are Blind, Partially-blind, And Sighted at UMMA
8 – 10:30 AM – Public Panel Discussion, Moderated by Audrey Bennett
Location: University of Michigan Museum of Art
For generations, large swaths of the population have been excluded from experiencing exhibitions at art museums. Those who are sighted have the privilege of visiting museums and engaging with the art within its spaces, including reading contextual information about each piece on the placards positioned nearby. Museums have assumed that it is acceptable to make sight compulsory to engage with art and that sight alone is sufficient. However, those who are blind and partially blind, for instance, are marginalized from these cultural experiences though they have a legal right to access and experience them. While the conversation around the uses of audio description started decades ago (Synder 2005), in recent years, it has emerged as a viable way to facilitate blind and partially blind museum visitors experiencing museum artwork through oral descriptions of them facilitated via virtual and in-person experiences (Eardley et al. 2017; Anagnostakis et al. 2016), particularly during the Covid age of social distancing. However, in those conversations, audio descriptions are typically created solely by museum professionals, without input from visitors who are blind and partially blind. Join us for a symposium at the University of Michigan Museum of Art to launch a generative co-creation of audio description educational program that brings together museum professionals with community members to co-create audio descriptions of select artwork from UMMA’s collection.
Click here to register.

MSP22 Capstone Presentations
2023-04-12 18:00 - 20:00 | Online via Zoom
Presentations for this evening are as follows:
6:00 pm “Marking the Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museum’s 25th Anniversary”
Presented by Hannah Edwards, Charlotte Juergens, Shiyuan Wang
Challenge statement: To identify and propose programming to boost both local engagement with the museum and international recognition of the museum and Marshall Fredericks’ legacy.
Host institution: Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museum

7:00 pm “A Small Place with a Deep History: Exhibition Strategies for the Rehabilitated Blue Bird Inn”
Presented by Denisa Glacova, Mia Glionna, Ekaterina Shipyatsky
Challenge statement:
To develop an exhibition strategy for the Blue Bird Inn – a small place with a deep history – that meets its needs as Detroit’s only music archive, event venue, and reclaimed public hearth.
Host institution: Detroit Sound Conservancy

Join via Zoom: https://umich.zoom.us/j/97795227624
Meeting ID: 977 9522 7624

A full schedule of all Capstone presentations can be found here.

MSP 22 Capstone Presentations
2023-04-10 18:00 - 20:00 | Online via Zoom
Presentations for this evening are as follows:
6:00 pm “Expanding Narrating Nubia’s Network:” Best Practices for Online Exhibition and Access”
Presented by Tori Herzig-Deribin, Tessa Oliveira, Abigail Staub
Challenge statement: To develop robust resources and best practice recommendations for the development of an online component of the Narrating Nubia exhibition, to be held in UM’s Duderstadt Center in Fall 2023.
Host institution: Narrating Nubia Humanities Collaboratory

7:00 pm “Managing the Marionettes: The Bixby Trust Collection”
Presented by Basmah Arshad, Hayley Crowell, Katie Kasperian
Challenge statement: To develop a long-term collections management plan for the Bixby Trust Collection and to refine the museum’s narrative and overall mission for future grant acquisition.
Host institution: Saline Arts & Culture Committee

Join via Zoom: https://umich.zoom.us/j/97795227624
Meeting ID: 977 9522 7624

A full schedule of all Capstone presentations can be found here.

Exploring the past and shaping the future in archives and collections (Museums@Noon)
2023-04-07 12:00 - 13:00 | Online via Zoom
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 the Ed Williams Black Memorabilia Collection to help Rebuild Artist-Fellows learn how to engage and use the archive as data to inspire and create new art. As an interdisciplinary historian, Kimberly has also leveraged the collection to further her research and public-facing scholarship. Specifically, she has examined a collection of early 20 th century postcards with malicious depictions of Black children. Kimberly aims to use the collection to create a counter-narrative of historical photographs that benevolently depict Black children in and around schools on Chicago’s Southside, visually positioning them as possessors of childhood in the public imagination. In her presentation, Kimberly will discuss her experience and how community museums and archives can expand historical scholarship toward community art and action.

Pelle Tracey, MSP21, PhD candidate at the UM School of Information
The Philadelphia Institute of Contemporary Art
In the summer of 2022, Pelle Tracey interned at the Philadelphia Institute of Contemporary Art under the supervision of Assistant Curator Alex Klein. In this presentation, Pelle will describe two of the main projects he pursued: archiving a recent long-term collaboration between the ICA and the Dakar, Senegal-based art institution RAW Material Company, and conducting oral history interviews with Los Angeles artist Carl Cheng. Through these projects Pelle learned a great deal about how a contemporary art museum functions, and how a museum focused on the future of art engages with the past.

Join Zoom Meeting:
https://umich.zoom.us/j/99128919196
Meeting ID: 991 2891 9196

April 7 Museums@Noon flyer

The Seduction, Refusal, and Retention of Universality in Collections Care
2023-03-16 17:00 - 19:00 | Rackham Graduate School, 915 E. Washington Street, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, United States
Rackham Graduate School Assembly Hall (4th floor)
Please join the Museum Studies Program for its 20th anniversary keynote address by Cara Krmpotich, Director of Museum Studies at the University of Toronto.
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 universal design offers a new set of values with which to imagine the universal in museums. In this talk, I consider moves from universalism to relativism, and from singularity to plurality. In seeking to understand why universalism, its refusal, and its retention within museum spaces matters, I propose that museums’ evolving interpretations of universality directly shape how they care—for their collections, their publics, and their environments.
Cara Krmpotich is Associate Professor and Director of the Museum Studies Program at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Information. She is Past-President of the Council for Museum Anthropology, an Ontario Museums Association Councillor, and Co-Director of the Great Lakes Research Alliance (GRASAC), an Indigenous-Settler network committed to reuniting Great Lakes cultural belongings with Great Lakes places, knowledge systems and peoples.
Please join us online via Zoom if you are unable to attend in person: https://umich.zoom.us/j/92878966443
Krmpotich flyer

A Storm was Coming: Workshop
2023-03-14 13:00 - 15:00 | Modern Languages Building, 812 Washington St., Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, United States
A Storm was Coming: Workshop
The Museum Studies Program is proud to co-sponsor a film screening and workshop with Director Javier Fernández Vázquez.
A Storm was Coming:
Film Screening and Q&A with Director Javier Fernández Vázquez
Monday, March 13, 2023 | 4:00 pm – 7:00 pm
at Palmer Commons Forum Hall
Workshop with Director Javier Fernández Vázquez
Tuesday, March 14, 2023 | 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm
MLB Commons, 4th Floor
Learn more about the film here.
A Storm Was Coming flyer

A Storm Was Coming: film screening
2023-03-13 16:00 - 19:00 | Palmer Commons, 100 Washtenaw Ave, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109
A Storm Was Coming
The Museum Studies Program is proud to co-sponsor a film screening and workshop with Director Javier Fernández Vázquez.
A Storm was Coming:
Film Screening and Q&A with Director Javier Fernández Vázquez
Monday, March 13, 2023 | 4:00 pm – 7:00 pm
at Palmer Commons Forum Hall
Workshop with Director Javier Fernández Vázquez
Tuesday, March 14, 2023 | 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm
MLB Commons, 4th Floor
Learn more about the film here.
A Storm Was Coming flyer

Building the Gacaca Digital Archive
2023-03-10 14:00 - 15:30 | School of Information, 105 S. State Street, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, United States
UMSI welcomes guest speaker Jean-Damascène Gasanabo, PhD, former Director General of the Research and Documentation Center on Genocide at the Rwanda National Commission for the Fight against Genocide (CNLG).
The presentation will take place at the School of Information in North Quad Space 2435 and online.
Watch online via Zoom
Abstract
After the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, more than 130,000 inmates were imprisoned and accused of genocide crimes. The country was operating through fire and blood! The judicial system was destroyed – judges and lawyers had been killed or exiled in neighboring countries. To judge the genocidaires, the government decided to reintroduce the Traditional Jurisdictions Courts called Gacaca. This talk will emphasize what Gacaca did as a court and how it worked during the trials; the digitization process of the 45 million pages of Gacaca files; and the impact of the Gacaca files on society after the digitization.
Sponsored by the University of Michigan School of Information Data, Archives, and Information Seminar; African Studies Center; Museum Studies Program; Ethics, Society and Computing; and Franklin Innovator Residency Fund.
Speaker bio
With a PhD in education from the University of Geneva, I have substantial experience working with the United Nations, international non-governmental organizations, non-profit organizations, and governments on projects related to equitable and sustainable education curricula. As the Director General of the Research and Documentation Center on Genocide at the Rwanda National Commission for the Fight against Genocide (CNLG), I managed and led research projects as well as designed, implemented, monitored, and assessed projects related to the Genocide against the Tutsi. Key projects included the digitization of forty-five million pages and four thousand audio-visual materials from Rwanda’s Gacaca Courts, the preservation of textiles at the Nyamata genocide memorial site, the preservation of bodies at the Murambi genocide memorial site, and the preservation of artifacts in six other national genocide memorial sites in Rwanda. Between 2013 and 2015, I also participated in a team responsible for designing Rwanda’s new national education curriculum for history and civic education. I am currently a Consultant with the International Labour Organization (ILO) for their Accelerator Lab 8.7 Program, which provides funding and support to international organizations with innovative solutions to tackle child labor, forced labor, and human trafficking.

Genocide Ideology and Denial in Rwanda
2023-03-09 11:30 - 13:00 | School of Information, 105 S. State Street, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, United States
UMSI welcomes guest speaker Jean-Damascène Gasanabo, PhD, former Director General of the Research and Documentation Center on Genocide at the Rwanda National Commission for the Fight against Genocide (CNLG).
The presentation will take place at the School of Information in North Quad Space 2435 and online.
Please RSVP for lunch
Watch online via Zoom
Abstract
Despite the unequivocal evidence that the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi occurred in Rwanda, some still endeavour to expunge that atrocity from historical records. All genocide starts with a destructive ideology and followed afterwards by denial. This talk will re-examine the concepts of genocide ideology and denial, how they are linked and how they contributed to the killings of Tutsi from 1959 up to 1994. Available literature as well as recent cases will be thoroughly analyzed, both at local and international level, to understand different forms and trends of genocide ideology and denial, with specific emphasis on the Rwandan case.
Sponsored by the University of Michigan School of Information Data, Archives, and Information Seminar; African Studies Center; Museum Studies Program; Ethics, Society and Computing; and Franklin Innovator Residency Fund.
Speaker bio
With a PhD in education from the University of Geneva, I have substantial experience working with the United Nations, international non-governmental organizations, non-profit organizations, and governments on projects related to equitable and sustainable education curricula. As the Director General of the Research and Documentation Center on Genocide at the Rwanda National Commission for the Fight against Genocide (CNLG), I managed and led research projects as well as designed, implemented, monitored, and assessed projects related to the Genocide against the Tutsi. Key projects included the digitization of forty-five million pages and four thousand audio-visual materials from Rwanda’s Gacaca Courts, the preservation of textiles at the Nyamata genocide memorial site, the preservation of bodies at the Murambi genocide memorial site, and the preservation of artifacts in six other national genocide memorial sites in Rwanda. Between 2013 and 2015, I also participated in a team responsible for designing Rwanda’s new national education curriculum for history and civic education. I am currently a Consultant with the International Labour Organization (ILO) for their Accelerator Lab 8.7 Program, which provides funding and support to international organizations with innovative solutions to tackle child labor, forced labor, and human trafficking.

CANCELLED - Experiment|Experience: Campus Art Museums in the 21st Century
2023-02-09 17:30 - 19:00 | U-M Museum of Art, Helmut Stern Auditorium, 525 S. State St., Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, United States
Please join us for a Museums Studies panel discussion!
Experiment|Experience: Campus Art Museums in the 21st Century
Panelists:

Christina Olsen – Director, Museum of Art, University of Michigan
Maurita Poole – Director, Newcomb Art Museum, Tulane University
Anne Goodyear – Director, Museum of Art, Bowdoin College

Moderator:

Ferran Barenblit – Visiting Professor, STAMPS, University of Michigan

Introduction:

Kerstin Barndt – Director, Museum Studies Program, University of Michigan

Date: Thursday, February 9
Time: 5:30 pm
Location: UM Museum of Art (Helmut Stern Auditorium)
What sets university and college art museums apart from other art institutions? What is the responsibility of art in shaping our institutional and political futures in higher ed and beyond? With their engaged audiences and potential for dialogue across diverse fields of knowledge, university museums can play a distinct societal role. In this panel discussion, three museum directors will consider these questions by presenting initiatives and exhibition projects that have challenged the status quo of art museums – on and off campus.
Experiment Experience panel_flyer

Virtual Open House for prospective students
2023-02-03 12:00 - 13:00
The Museum Studies Program invites students enrolled in any graduate program at the University of Michigan to apply for the Fall 2023 cohort. This multidisciplinary graduate certificate program draws on ideas from the arts, humanities, natural and social sciences, and technology and provides countless opportunities to apply theories in a vast array of museums and cultural institutions on campus, in the region, nationally and around the world.
The MSP curriculum examines the role of museums in society as sites of memory, learning, research, cultural production, public scholarship, civic engagement, and entertainment. The 12-credit certificate program consists of the Museum Studies Seminar (Fall and Winter terms, 6 credits), approved electives (6 credits), and a funded internship. It prepares students for academic and professional careers in museums, heritage sites, arboretums, botanical gardens, zoos and other living collections, and universities.
Application Deadline: February 24, 2023
Application information can be found here.
Learn more at our upcoming virtual open house!
Zoom meeting ID 970 1405 2330

The Arab American National Museum – Past, Present, and Future
2023-01-26 17:30 - 18:30 | University of Michigan Museum of Art
Presentation by Diana Abouali, Director, Arab American National Museum.
January 26 at 5:30 pm, UM Museum of Art
The Arab American National Museum, located in Dearborn, Michigan, remains the only museum in the country that interprets and presents the history and culture of Arab Americans. Diana Abouali will chart the origins, development, and future prospects of AANM, situating it within its broader social, cultural and political contexts.
Diana Abouali is director of the Arab American National Museum (AANM). In the last twenty years, she held leadership positions at museums, cultural heritage, and refugee institutions in Palestine and Jordan and worked as Assistant Professor at Dartmouth College for History and Middle East Studies. She serves on several boards and committees including the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS), ArteEast (NYC), CultureSource (Detroit), the Citizens Advisory Committee at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, and the general assembly of Taawon-Welfare Association (Palestine). Diana Abouali received her PhD in History and Middle Eastern Studies from Harvard University in 2004.
Presentation flyer

Study days at UMMA
2022-12-11 12:00 - 20:00, 2022-12-10 12:00 - 20:00 | University of Michigan Museum of Art
Study Days at UMMA will take place across four days, beginning on Thursday, December 8th and will end on Sunday, December 11th. It is meant to surround the upcoming finals period, in order to facilitate students’ wellness along with their studies. During these four days, UMMA will be converted into a study center, which includes:

Various comfortable spaces to study, alone or collaboratively
Accessible food and drink
De-stressing resources and activities including music and art-making
