Museum Studies Program, U-M Rackham Graduate School

The Seduction, Refusal, and Retention of Universality in Collections Care
2023-03-16 17:00 - 19:00 (America/Detroit) | 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 | MI
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, 2022-12-09 12:00 - 20:00, 2022-12-08 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

Digitizing the Dodo: Three-Dimensional Digitization for Research and Public Outreach at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History
2022-12-02 12:00 - 13:00 | Online via Zoom
Please join us for a Museums at Noon conversation!
Digitizing the Dodo: Three-Dimensional Digitization for Research and Public Outreach at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History
Presenter: Taylor West (PhD candidate, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology)
Date: Friday, December 2
Time: 12:00 pm
Location: Online via Zoom (Meeting ID: 967 1734 9337 / Passcode [REDACTED])
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 Studies practicum to digitize these new displays using structured light scanning technology to create interactive, 3-D models of the objects located within the new exhibits. This project aims to improve both public access to the OUMNH museum space and also begin a digital collection for researchers at Oxford University and beyond.
Museums@Noon_West

Museum Collections: Considering Access & Transparency through Visible Storage
2022-11-09 12:00 - 13:30 | Online via Zoom
In recent years, museums have increasingly turned to open storage techniques to display parts of their collection which would otherwise not be on public view. Though this approach still feels somewhat radical, the concept of visible storage in museum practice started at the University of British Columbia’s Museum of Anthropology in the 1970’s and, in the intervening decades, has expanded and evolved with examples seen around the world. Recently, significant new “open storage” projects have appeared regularly, notably the Depot Boijmans van Beuningen which opened in Rotterdam in 2021 and the Victoria & Albert’s new East Storehouse in Stratford, east London, slated to open in 2024. The foundations for this decades-long trend are found in the impulse to democratize museums and to make available the depth and breadth of collections typically hidden away in museum vaults. The increased transparency that visible storage brings to museums has been touted as one way to make collections more accessible to their communities.
For this conversation on open and visible storage in museums, the University of Michigan’s Museum Studies Program is delighted to welcome Susan Rowley, Director, Museum of Anthropology, University of British Columbia, and Bridget Callahan, Luce Foundation Center Program Coordinator, Smithsonian Institution. Guided by these two museum professionals, we will explore the history of “visible” collections storage and how technology and new considerations of democratized access have changed the design and use of museum holdings. Questions of ethics, equity, standards of care, and programming will also be addressed.

Panelists:
Bridget Callahan – Coordinator, Luce Foundation Center Program, Smithsonian Institution (Washington, D.C.)
Susan Rowley – Director, Museum of Anthropology, University of British Columbia (Vancouver, Canada)
Moderator:
Deirdre Hennebury, Associate Director, UM Museum Studies Program

Registration for this webinar is required.

This panel discussion will be presented online via Zoom and will feature real time captioning. If you would like to request an ASL interpreter, please email ummsp@umich.edu by November 1.

Visible Storage and Museum Access_flyer

Working with Contemporary Artists: A Workshop with Ferran Barenblit
2022-11-03 16:00 - 18:00 | Haven Hall, Eldersveld Room, 505 S. State Street, Ann Arbor, 48109
“Art is what makes life more interesting than art,” said French artist Robert Filliou. He was right: working with contemporary artists is one of the most enriching activities that a professional or an organization can undertake. Whether in a museum, other cultural institution, or any public or private position, working with artists will unleash interpretations and emotions. In a globally interconnected, culturally diverse, and increasingly complex world, contemporary artists give voice to the varied and changing cultural landscape of identities, values, and beliefs. Their work is always at the crossroad of theory, subjects, concepts, methods, and materials. The increasing role of audiences can generate unexpected results that can benefit both individuals and communities.
In this workshop, we will study the conceptual, practical, ethical, legal, and financial elements to consider when working with contemporary artists. We will also examine many successful (and a few unfortunate) examples that will help us to understand how art, according to Yoko Ono, makes us “walk a half an inch above ground.”
The workshop is open to students, faculty, and museum professionals. Please sign up here if you are planning to attend the workshop. Ferran Barenblit is an internationally recognized museum director and curator who has led three art museums in the last twenty years, including MACBA Museum of Contemporary Art Barcelona (2015-2021). He is an expert with a deep understanding of the political and social complexities of art museums and the need to consider them as an essential catalyst for engaged citizenship. Ferran has worked with artists Christian Marclay, Raqs Media Collective, Forensic Architecture, Akram Zaatari, Andrea Fraser, Jeremy Deller, Teresa Margolles, Rabih Mroué, Halil Altindere, Cristina Lucas, Maria Eichhorn, and Jiri Kowanda, among many others. Since 2021, Ferran has held the position of visiting professor at the University of Michigan. His current curatorial projects include the 16th Cuenca Biennial, Ecuador (2023) and a major retrospective of the work of Ben Vautier (MUAC, Mexico City, 2022-2023).

Exhibition tour - “I have a crisis for you”: Women Artists of Ukraine Respond to War
2022-10-24 13:00 - 14:00 | Land Hall Gallery
Monday, Oct 3, 2022 @ 1 pm
Lane Hall Gallery (204 S. State Street, Ann Arbor, MI)

Join your MSP colleagues for a tour of the “I have a crisis for you”: Women Artists of Ukraine Respond to War exhibit currently on display in the Lane Hall Gallery. We are restricted to 15 attendees so please sign up here as soon as possible.

The tour will be led by curator and MSP16 alumna, Grace Mahoney. Thank you, Grace!

10 Questions for Henry Ford
2022-10-19 19:00 - 20:00 | U-M Museum of Art, Helmut Stern Auditorium, 525 S. State St., Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, United States
10 Questions for Henry Ford is a documentary art film that examines the controversial life and legacy of the world’s most famous industrialist. A carefully researched combination of historical fact and poetic imagining, the film draws on newspaper interviews, archival film, oral histories, and Henry Ford’s personal notebooks to contrast the popular Ford myth with a far more complicated reality.
Starring acclaimed actor John Lepard as the lingering ghost of Henry Ford, 10 Questions investigates Ford’s often sanitized place in American History, and reveals disturbing parallels between the Age of Ford, and our world today.
Please join us for a discussion of the film, and of the issues it raises, with filmmaker Andy Kirshner and a distinguished panel of scholars from the University of Michigan.
The panel event will be moderated by Professor Angela Dillard (History, Afroamerican and African Studies), and will include Professors Kerstin Barndt (German, Museum Studies), William Calvo-Quíros (American Culture, Art & Design), and Deborah Dash Moore (History, Judaic Studies.) There will also be an opportunity for questions from the audience.
The “10 Questions for Henry Ford” film can be viewed here.

In Process: A Symposium in Honor of Ray Silverman
2022-10-01 09:00 - 15:00, 2022-09-30 13:00 - 17:30 | University of Michigan Museum of Art
Colleagues, students, and members of the community are invited to join in celebrating Ray Silverman’s retirement from his position as Professor of History of Art, African Studies, and Museum Studies with a two-day symposium at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Inspired by Dr. Silverman’s seminal volume, Museums as Process: Translating Local and Global Knowledges (Routledge 2014), the symposium invites discussion about methodologies, challenges, and benefits of undertaking scholarship, museum work, and creative production through collaboration and community engagement. We ask, what does it mean for the process of collaboration to be an end in itself, and how might this perspective shift values in the academy and beyond?
The program will begin on the afternoon of Friday, September 30 and end late-afternoon on Saturday, October 1, 2022. It will be an in-person event taking place in the Helmut Stern Auditorium at the U-M Museum of Art (UMMA).
Speakers:
Kelly Askew, University of Michigan
Daniel Berhanemeskel, artist
Donald Buaku, City of Houston
Geoff Emberling, University of Michigan
Robert Glew, Michigan State University
Erica Lehrer, Concordia University, Montreal
Allison Martino, Indiana University
Prita Meier, New York University
Derek Peterson, University of Michigan
Franc Nunoo-Quarcoo, University of Michigan
Heran Sereke-Brhan, DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities
Carla Sinopoli, University of New Mexico
Neal Sobania, Pacific Lutheran University
The complete symposium schedule can be viewed here.
Co-sponsorship provided by the University of Michigan African Studies Center, Museum of Art, Museum of Natural History, Museum Studies Program and the Departments of History of Art and Afroamerican and African Studies

Roundtable conversation - "I have a crisis for you": Women Artists of Ukraine Respond to War
2022-09-16 15:30 - 17:00 | Weiser Hall, 500 Church Street, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, United States
In February 2022, the world witnessed the invasion of Ukraine and all-out war of aggression by the Russian Federation. Since this time, massive casualties, human rights violations, and an unprecedented refugee crisis have ensued. Women artists of Ukraine have responded. They know their message is powerful, and the amplification of their voices is critical for victory in a very real battle for survival. Curated by Grace Mahoney (U-M Slavic Languages and Literatures) and Jessica Zychowicz, Ph.D. (Fulbright Ukraine and U-M Alumna), “I have a crisis for you”: Women Artists of Ukraine Respond to War showcases work created by women artists in response to Russia’s war in Ukraine. The featured artists have also been selected because of their prominent interest and exploration of issues relating to gender in their works. The artworks and documents engage a range of subjects from women volunteering as combatants to the processes of grieving and reflect ongoing discourses in Ukrainian feminist scholarship. The exhibit is accompanied by a companion website which includes an expanded set of informational and aid-related resources.

Opening reception on Thursday, September 15 from 4:00 – 6:00 p.m. in the Lane Hall Gallery.
A roundtable conversation with artists featured in the exhibition “I have a crisis for you”: Women Artists of Ukraine Respond to War on Friday, September 16 from 3:30 – 5:00. The conversation will be moderated by curators Grace Mahoney and Jessica Zychowicz.

This exhibit is hosted by the Institute for Research on Women & Gender and the Department of Women’s and Gender Studies and is cosponsored by the Center for Russian, East European & Eurasian Studies, the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, the Museum Studies Program, the Weiser Center for Eastern Europe and Eurasia, and the Weiser Center for Emerging Democracies at the University of Michigan.
Event flyer

Opening exhibition reception - "I have a crisis for you": Women Artists of Ukraine Respond to War
2022-09-15 16:00 - 18:00 | Lane Hall gallery, 204 South State Street, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, United States
In February 2022, the world witnessed the invasion of Ukraine and all-out war of aggression by the Russian Federation. Since this time, massive casualties, human rights violations, and an unprecedented refugee crisis have ensued. Women artists of Ukraine have responded. They know their message is powerful, and the amplification of their voices is critical for victory in a very real battle for survival. Curated by Grace Mahoney (U-M Slavic Languages and Literatures) and Jessica Zychowicz, Ph.D. (Fulbright Ukraine and U-M Alumna), “I have a crisis for you”: Women Artists of Ukraine Respond to War showcases work created by women artists in response to Russia’s war in Ukraine. The featured artists have also been selected because of their prominent interest and exploration of issues relating to gender in their works. The artworks and documents engage a range of subjects from women volunteering as combatants to the processes of grieving and reflect ongoing discourses in Ukrainian feminist scholarship. The exhibit is accompanied by a companion website which includes an expanded set of informational and aid-related resources.

Opening reception on Thursday, September 15 from 4:00 – 6:00 p.m. in the Lane Hall Gallery.
A roundtable conversation with artists featured in the exhibition “I have a crisis for you”: Women Artists of Ukraine Respond to War on Friday, September 16 from 3:30 – 5:00 in Weiser Hall. The conversation will be moderated by curators Grace Mahoney and Jessica Zychowicz.

This exhibit is hosted by the Institute for Research on Women & Gender and the Department of Women’s and Gender Studies and is cosponsored by the Center for Russian, East European & Eurasian Studies, the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, the Museum Studies Program, the Weiser Center for Eastern Europe and Eurasia, and the Weiser Center for Emerging Democracies at the University of Michigan.
Event flyer

Kelsey Museum Flash Talk - In Search of Hamzeh Carr
2022-06-03 12:00 - 12:30 | Online via Zoom
In 1925, the University of Michigan’s archaeological expedition to Egypt commissioned artist Hamzeh Carr to make facsimiles of the colorful murals they were discovering, and these images have been widely reproduced ever since. But who was Hamzeh Carr? In preparation for a future exhibition and publication of the Kelsey Museum’s Hamzeh Carr paintings, curator Terry Wilfong has been tracing the amazing career of this mysterious artist and will share some of his surprising findings.
Kelsey Museum Flash Talks are 15-minute Zoom lectures by Kelsey curators, staff members, researchers, and graduate students talking about their recent research or current projects. Each presentation is followed by 15 minutes of Q&A. Flash Talks are free and open to all visitors. They take place at noon on the first Friday of every month.
Join us via Zoom at:
https://umich.zoom.us/j/94557516348
Meeting ID: 945 5751 6348
Passcode: [REDACTED]
Co-sponsored by the Museum Studies Program

Study Days at UMMA
2022-04-24 08:00 - 20:00, 2022-04-22 08:00 - 20:00, 2022-04-21 08:00 - 20:00 | University of Michigan Museum of Art
Bring your laptop, bring your books, bring your notes, and set up shop at one of the many tables or couches that will be stationed throughout the museum and galleries.
In addition to ample study space, throughout exam week you’ll find special self-care and stress-relieving activities planned around the museum.
Quiet study spaces are also available in the UMMA Multipurpose Room (the room next to the big mural at the center of UMMA) and in the classrooms on the lower level.
Full schedule and details are available here.

Study Days at UMMA is organized by the UMMA Student Engagement Council and generously sponsored by the University of Michigan Credit Union Arts Adventures Program, UMMA’s Lead Sponsor for Student and Family Engagement, as well as the U-M Museum Studies Program, Institute for the Humanities, Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS), and College of Literature, Science, and the Arts.

Study Days at UMMA
2022-04-23 08:00 - 20:00 | MI

Engaging with Campus Collections - Digital Interpretation and Curation at UMMA & the Stearns Collection
2022-04-15 12:00 - 13:00 | MI
Museums@Noon – Friday, April 15 at 12:00 pm
Engaging with Campus Collections – Digital Interpretation and Curation at UMMA & the Stearns Collection

Isabelle Gillet, PhD candidate in the History of Art
Muting the Museum’s Omniscient Narrator

Why do we trust museum labels even when they sound like they were written by a disengaged but knowledgeable AI? Instead, can we rely on an “I” to guide our eye through the galleries? This talk will reflect on an eighteen-month fellowship at the University of Michigan Museum of Art and focus on its main accomplishment: Insight. Insight is an online collection of essays, curated to share insightful, individual, and informative responses to works from the museum’s collection. This research outreach project elevates museum interpretation with personal narratives and experiences.

Chuyi Zhu, PhD candidate in Ethnomusicology
Museums in the Pandemic: Virtual Exhibits, Experience Design, and Innovative Collaborations
In the presentation, I will talk about two virtual exhibitions I worked on as an intern of the Stearns Collection of Musical Instruments at the University of Michigan. The first virtual exhibition, which I planned, designed, and produced in 2021, focuses exclusively on the UM Javanese Gamelan. The second exhibition, which I helped curate in 2022, focuses more generally on representing the entire Stearns Collection. In the talk, I will also highlight our collaborations with CultureVerse, a non-profit organization based in Ann Arbor, and our use of Saganworks, a digital tool and cyberspace that creates virtual reality rooms for multidimensional knowledge and visual storytelling.

Register for this Zoom webinar.

Gillet and Zhu_BrownBag

MSP21 Capstone Presentations
2022-04-13 18:00 - 20:00 | Haven Hall, Eldersveld Room, 505 S. State Street, Ann Arbor, 48109
Presentations for this evening are as follows:
6:00 pm “Realigning the Rails: The Opportunities of Reopening at the Southern Michigan Railroad Society”
Presented by Melissa Gryan, Chad Machinski, Gala Patenkovic
Host institution: Southern Michigan Railroad Society

7:00 pm “Marking Time: Reimagining Detroit’s Historical Markers”
Presented by Bailey Franzoi, Mona Hagmagid, Pelle Tracey
Host institution: Michigan Historical Commission

Presentations will be held in 5670 Haven Hall, Eldersveld Room

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

MSP 21 Capstone Presentations
2022-04-11 18:00 - 20:00 | Haven Hall, Eldersveld Room, 505 S. State Street, Ann Arbor, 48109
Presentations for this evening are as follows:
6:00 pm “Deaccessioning Out Loud at UMMA”
Presented by Katelin Mikos, Emily Na, Chuyi Zhu
Host institution: University of Michigan Museum of Art

7:00 pm “Forward Motion: Expanding the Educational Breadth of the Ford Piquette Avenue Plant”
Presented by Leila Braun, Sony Prosper, Estrella Salgado, Taylor West
Host institution: Ford Piquette Avenue Plant Museum

Presentations will be held in 5670 Haven Hall, Eldersveld Room

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

Africa’s Struggle for its Art: History of a Postcolonial Defeat 1965-1985 - Bénédicte Savoy
2022-04-07 17:30 - 19:00 | University of Michigan Museum of Art
Bénédicte Savoy
Africa’s Struggle for Its Art: History of a Postcolonial Defeat 1965-1985
April 7 at 5:30 pm, UM Museum of Art (Helmut Stern auditorium)
In the wake of postcolonial African independence, African intellectuals and politicians spearheaded a movement to pursue repatriation of artworks stolen during the colonial era and placed in Western museums. Art Historian and curator Bénédicte Savoy brings to light this largely unknown but deeply important history. An expert on restitution and cultural heritage, Savoy reconstructs a story of missed opportunity and defeat that still resonates in today’s repatriation discourse.
Bénédicte Savoy is a professor of modern art history at the Technical University of Berlin, Germany, and professor for the cultural history of European art at the Collège de France in Paris, France.
Co-sponsored by the University of Michigan’s African Studies Center, Eisenberg Institute for Historical Studies, and Museum of Art
