presentation on haffenreffer museum at brown commencement forum may 2012
TRANSCRIPT
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Commencement ForumMay 2012
Teaching and Learning with
Art and Artifact
Sarah Ganz Blythe, director of education, RISD Museum of Art
Elizabeth Hoover, visiting assistant professor, Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America
Steven Lubar, director, Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology
Emily Stokes-Rees, postdoctoral fellow, Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology
New directions at the Haffenreffer Museum
Steven Lubar
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Haffenreffer Museum at
Manning Hall
Some history
1920: Founded as King Philip Museum by Rudolph Haffenreffer, collector
1955: Given to Brown – located 20 miles from campus in Bristol, RI
2005: Manning Hall gallery, on the main green
2008: Bristol facility closed to public; becomes Collections Research Center
Collections Research Center at Bristol,
Rhode Island
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Working with faculty
Working with faculty
For a university museum to become essential to the university, it must provide support for the core goals of the university: research, teaching, and learning
But faculty don’t know how to work with artifacts
We need to help them re-imagine their research and teacing with objects...
… and we need to re-imagine the museum around their research and teaching
Working with faculty
Work with faculty from a wide range of disciplines
Provide easy and convenient access to original artifacts and works of art, and make it easy to use them
Read course descriptions, syllabi, and find objects for them
Bring objects to class, bring class to objects
Co-teach the class
Faculty exhibitions
Class Exhibitions
Class Exhibitions
Make it easy
Clear guidelines Schedules Labels Objects Dates
Narrow the options
Teaching with objects
Class assignments Object descriptions
Writing assignments Close looking
Object comparisons Object drawing
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Working with students
Undergraduate student group projects
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Graduate student group projects
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Dissertation exhibition projects
Student assistants on education projects
Student collectors
Student collections interns
CultureLab
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Cataloging in Public
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“Culture Lab has been a great experience, because it has brought a tangible, hands-on component to in-class work and discussion. I think Culture Lab adds another dimension to learning in this way, that in many humanities classes, is hard to accomplish….
Usually, books and articles are my tools to learn. Now, I get to see and touch real objects from the period I am studying, which is a bit more exciting than flipping through the pages of a textbook.”
Reorienting the museum
Reflective practice!
Beyond the museum building!
Reach out! Let go!