These are tough times. At many universities across the country museums are being closed; in extreme cases there has been talk of selling museum collections. Though U-M struggles with the challenges of the nation’s economic crisis, our museums are thriving. This is not a reflection of the institution’s lack of fiscal responsibility; quite the contrary, it is a testimony to U-M’s deep-seated values and recognition that our museums are integral to the university’s core research and education mission. In March the U-M Museum of Art (UMMA) reopened. In the four short months between its opening and the end of July, UMMA welcomed more than 100,000 visitors. In November the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology will open a new wing. Both of these building projects were funded with private donations to the university—a testament to the significance U-M’s museums hold in our broader community. James Steward, who served as Director of UMMA for over ten years, recently assumed the Directorship of the Princeton Museum of Art. James, in addition to shepherding UMMA’s landmark expansion and restoration project, has been an important member of the MSP Steering Committee. It was largely due to his efforts that the Museum Studies Program was (re)launched in 2002. We shall miss James and wish him great success in his new position.
Steve Nowak, Director of Exhibitions and Programs, and Marc Levitt, MSP08, at the Toledo Museum of Art. The Charles H. Sawyer Center for Museum Studies, the administrative home of the Museum Studies Program, resides in the new Frankel Wing of the U-M Museum of Art.
In mid-April we moved into our new digs, the Charles H. Sawyer Center for Museum Studies, named for the founder of U-M’s Museum Practice Program. Our administrative offices are located on the lower level of the new Frankel Wing of the U-M Museum of Art. We’re enjoying rubbing elbows on a daily basis with the staff of the Museum of Art. After six years of living in temporary office space generously provided by the Center for Afroamerican and African Studies, it is wonderful to be in our own space. We have already had to modify the space, adding two new workstations to accommodate additional staff who soon will be joining us. The most exciting news is that we are launching a new undergraduate minor this fall. The 18-credit minor is situated in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts (LSA). Like its older sibling, MSP’s graduate certificate program, it has been configured as an interdisciplinary experience. There is a wonderful buzz about the new minor. MUSEUMS 301—Museums and Society, the gateway course for the new minor, filled the first day of registration—seventy students are enrolled for the fall. A quick glance at the course roster reveals that our students are coming from across the university and represent over twenty different disciplines. Working with this mix of students promises to be very exciting. The new minor is requiring additional staffing. Our Associate Director, Brad Taylor, is now working full-time in museum studies, continuing his fine work with the graduate program, while assuming new responsibilities for coordinating and teaching in the new undergraduate minor. We will also be hiring a specialist to provide student services for both our programs. The reopening of UMMA and the Kelsey and the launch of the undergraduate minor in museum studies prompted those involved with museums here at U-M to propose an LSA theme semester that explores the role of museums in the academic community. The response to the proposal was so successful that the entire 09-10 academic year is being dedicated to “Meaningful Objects: Museums in the Academy.” There is a rich constellation of special courses and events planned for the year. The MSP has organized a year-long lecture series, “Translating Knowledge: Global Perspectives on Museum and Community,” which is bringing ten international scholars to U-M whose recent work offers new models for engaging communities in the complex processes of interpreting and presenting history and culture in museums. Information about both the lecture series and the museum theme year can be found on our MSP website along with several new features—a collection of new scholarship called “Working Papers in Museum Studies,” a photographic record of the life of the Program called “MSP in Pictures,” and a recent compilation of student accomplishments in our Kudos section. The MSP website (http://www.umich. edu/~ummsp) continues to be the best place to look for up-to-date information on both the graduate certificate program and the new undergraduate minor.
Newsletter Editor Bradley L. Taylor Newsletter Design Chris VanWyck CiesaDesign Staff Director, Raymond Silverman Associate Director, Bradley L. Taylor Unit Administrator, Nancy Murray Museum Studies Program Sawyer Center for Museum Studies U-M Museum of Art 525 South State Street Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1354 Office phone: 734-936-6678 Fax: 734-786-0064 www.umich.edu/~ummsp ummsp@umich.edu Regents of the University of Michigan Julia Donovan Darlow, Ann Arbor Laurence B. Deitch, Bingham Farms Denise Ilitch, Bingham Farms Olivia P. Maynard, Goodrich Andrea Fischer Newman, Ann Arbor Andrew C. Richner, Grosse Pointe Park S. Martin Taylor, Grosse Pointe Farms Katherine E. White, Ann Arbor Mary Sue Coleman, ex officio
This fall we hope you might join us for the formal opening of the Charles H. Sawyer Center for Museum Studies. Who would have imagined over 50 years ago that Charlie’s original vision would bear such fruit? It’s going to be a very busy and exciting year for the Museum Studies Program.
Ray Silverman Director, Museum Studies Program
About Our Logo The MSP mark is derived from an ideogram created by the Akan peoples of Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire. The name of the design, nkyinkyin, may be translated “twistings” and embodies ideas of change, resilience, adaptability, and creativity.
A Letter from Jerusalem [Ed.: Students enrolled in the MSP graduate certificate program are required to complete a three month practicum as part of their program requirements. Many students choose a location compatible with their research interests. Kathy Zarur, a Palestinian American doctoral student in the Department of the History Art, chose Jerusalem, a location that resonated deeply for her at a personal level. Kathy’s “postcard” from Jerusalem suggests how meaningful this experience proved to be.] Al Ma’mal Foundation for Contemporary Art appeared in my cards some years ago. While taking a course on women artists with Whitney Chadwick at San Francisco State University, I learned about Mona Hatoum, a world renowned artist who, along with millions of other Palestinians, was born in exile because of the creation of the state of Israel. Her work inspired me to pursue art study because I saw in it the potential to change people’s perspectives. In my research, I came upon her piece Present Tense, which was commissioned during her residency at Al Ma’mal. It was her first time in Palestine and my first time learning about the organization. Fast forward to five years later. I am a doctoral student of contemporary Arab art in the Department of the History of Art and enrolled in the Museum Studies Program at the University of Michigan. The time comes for me to arrange a required three-month internship for the Museum Studies Program. With the help of Tarek Al-Ghoussein, a Kuwaiti-born Palestinian artist about whom I am writing in my dissertation, I secured an internship at Al Ma’mal. There I worked alongside a dedicated, creative and hardworking crew assembled by Jack Persekian, the foundation’s director. The bulk of our energies were dedicated to The Jerusalem Show, a yearly ten-day event that includes performances, film screenings, youth workshops and an art exhibition.
The Jerusalem Show uses the old city as a gallery. In order to facilitate access to this maze-like space, Al Ma’mal created and distributed a map of the city with the artworks’ locations. Map in hand, visitors traversed the city in what amounted to a kind of treasure hunt. Some of the works, like Nida Sinnokrot’s Untitled (Transponders) were site-specific. I walked through dimmed night alleys helping him scout out locations to plant tiny blue LED lights. Hidden between cracks in the walls and cobblestones, they themselves were treasures for children who happened upon them. A great deal of my energy was devoted to writing and editing wall and catalog texts. One task that I initially believed unimportant but later appreciated was organizing the mailing list and sending out invitations. Through it I learned that without connections, a non-profit organization in Palestine could not survive. In Palestine, philanthropists and aid agencies are more inclined to contribute to efforts to improve humanitarian issues like water rights and house demolitions. Art is often last on the list. It’s an understandable standpoint that nonetheless fails to grasp the importance
of fostering and preserving art and culture. Contemporary art reflects the social and political pulse, offering commentaries more poignant than written ones. The visceral experience of looking at art can generate indescribable feelings that might illuminate otherwise foreign experiences: encountering the smell of sage and jasmine wafting up from a valley of olive trees, or in stark contrast, the simultaneously numbing and piercing sensation that comes from being in a constant state of fear. Being a Palestinian-American student of Arab art with an interest in museums and cultural centers, an internship at Al Ma’mal made perfect sense. It offered me a rare view of day-to-day activities as well as ways in which the seeds for future plans are planted and nurtured until they come to fruition. I also learned how invaluable relationships are to a small organization. On the last day of my internship, I had a most incredible opportunity. Mona Hatoum, the artist whose work introduced me to Al Ma’mal in the first place, came to the gallery. As I sat in the bright airy space, chatting with the woman who changed the course of my life, I realized that I had come full circle.
Kathy Zarur, MSP05, enjoying the fruits of Jerusalem where she pursued a practicum at Al Ma’mal Foundation for Contemporary Art.
Research Spotlight: Collecting Archaeological Artifacts [Ed.: Hima Mallampati’s article speaks both to her practicum experience at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and doctoral research that was supported by a Fellowship for Doctoral Research in Museums awarded to Hima by the Museum Studies Program. Each year four awards of $10, 000 are made available on a competitive basis to MSP doctoral students whose research is situated in or around museums and related institutions. In this case, the award allowed Hima, a former practicing attorney, to pursue her mutual research interests in the law and classical art & archaeology.] Hima Mallampati (center), MSP05, with friends at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.
Collecting is a risky business. Whether shopping at the local flea market or Sotheby’s auction house, buyers worry about inflated prices, discovering choice objects, detecting forgeries, and uncovering stolen artifacts. For institutional collectors, such as museums, the costs of collecting also include reputational, financial, and educational perils as evidenced by the recent controversies surrounding many museums in their return of archaeological artifacts to foreign countries. My interest in museums and their collecting practices began not in a museum but during a summer in college on an archaeological excavation. All of the excavated objects from this site were recorded, cleaned and analyzed, but there were a few broken pottery pieces, i.e. sherds, that were deposited in the courtyard of our living quarters and students were permitted to take them home. Some students wanted pottery handles exclaiming that they would make great napkin rings; others wanted a sherd or two to bring back as souvenirs for their families. The acquisition of some artifacts always puzzled me: why were some objects deemed worthy to enter storage houses for future research and possibly enter a museum, while others were left in the center of the courtyard, either to be picked over by students or reburied. My interest in this aspect of archaeology, the collection and removal of artifacts, the use of ancient artifacts in the modern day,
and the contest over objects led me to law school and eventually to graduate school and the Museum Studies Program at the University of Michigan. My doctoral research focuses on how legal restrictions and ethical guidelines have shaped museums’ collecting activities. Specifically, I explore whether and, if so, how the organizational structures of museums affects their collecting of archaeological material, whether funding similarities validate the legal form of museums, and why museums alter acquisitions policies and to what end. I maintain that the similarity in funding between state and nonprofit museums is a result of tax exemption benefits for supporting museums, but these exemptions can sometimes jeopardize museums’ educational purposes. My objective is to examine the historical significance of American museums’ past acquisitions of classical artifacts, that increasingly have become sources of international dispute, and to consider how an understanding of former acquisition practices can steer current institutional policies. My research explores how museums’ practices have developed through an assessment of specific museums’ policies by examining the collecting traditions of two distinct institutions: a university museum, which is both a state entity and a nonprofit institution (the University of
Michigan’s Kelsey Museum of Archaeology) and a larger nonprofit art museum (the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston). I hope to explore how regional interests intersected with acquisition decisions in the academic and private sectors at these two institutions, taking into account their varied geographical locations, diverse audiences, and distinct missions. The Museum Studies Program (MSP) has been invaluable in facilitating this research. Through an MSP sponsored internship at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, I was able to spend several months working on a permanent installation of classical sculpture and learn about the organization and funding of the Museum. The MSP’s Fellowship in Doctoral Research in Museums has funded additional research in archives, museums, and libraries. Last, but certainly not least, the class discussions in the Museum Studies proseminar led me to reevaluate the ways I think about museums as educational venues, tools for social justice, and vehicles for community empowerment. The MSP has fostered a diversity of experiences—from eating chocolate cake with former governor of Massachusetts and presidential candidate Michael Dukakis at the MFA, Boston, to speaking with undergraduates about exhibition strategies and for this collected set of memories I am eternally grateful.
A Letter from Beirut [Helen Dixon, MSP07, a doctoral student in Near Eastern Studies, shares this account of her summer 2008 internship at the Archaeology Museum at the American University of Beirut. Helen’s plans were almost upended by fierce fighting that took place in Lebanon just weeks before her scheduled arrival. Her particular story had a very happy outcome.] I’m two months into my internship at the Archaeology Museum at the American University of Beirut and I had no idea I’d get to do this much here. So far I’ve worked on digitizing (and by that I mean creating for the first time, using an ancient card catalogue) the museum object catalogue, I’ve studied the Iron Age pottery in the collection, done provenance research, helped to conserve a 2000 year-old wooden model boat, worked on designing an exhibit at a Maronite church, sorted archives, accessioned material from 1956-74 excavations run by the museum, and even worked in the museum shop.
Working in a Lebanese museum has been surprising in many ways. For one, the electricity goes off at least once a day and generators have to kick in to keep computers, lights, and climate-controls from shutting off and on. I never thought much about the maintenance of humidity and temperature levels in a regulated museum until I realized that even the most modern equipment can’t stay constant without electricity! Language also surprised me: though everyone speaks Arabic, many educated Lebanese are French trained, so there is a real mix of languages here in the (English-speaking) American University Museum environment. It can be hard to keep up with conversation, planning, and instructions, but I’ve managed all right, and everyone is willing to help me learn vocabulary or try to understand the English expressions I use. Finally, I was excited to learn that you can drive the entire length of Lebanon in 3 hours— I’ve been able to visit Jbeil, Saida, Sur, Batroun, Beiteddine, and other sites relevant to my dissertation research on weekends (and even got to take a weekend in Amman, Jordan).
Many times I’ve been grateful to be here under the auspices of the University of Michigan. Because she knows I’m extensively trained in both ancient Lebanese history and museum theory, my mentor, Dr. Leila Badre, gives me a great deal of responsibility and includes me in all aspects of her work. We had a conservator come in one day to reconstruct some small Roman period spindle bottles (using plaster and ceramics paint) and Dr. Badre called me away from my database work in the museum to observe. I sat with the conservator one-on-one and asked her all the questions I wanted. Now, while Dr. Badre and her research assistants are excavating in Syria, she has placed me in charge of opening and closing the museum. It’s exciting to think I am responsible for the third oldest museum in the Middle East! Though I’ll be able to spend a few days on the excavation (as long as Syria grants me a visa), in the meantime I’m learning what it really takes to run a museum. Interruptions for phone calls, meetings with members of the Society of Friends of the Museum, helping visitors, and answering questions about any and everything... all these tend to get in the way of steady work on a single project. Nevertheless, this week my goal is to develop a panel on the history of the AUB museum, so I’ve got a pile of archived museum correspondence on my desk to sort through and take notes on. Out the window I can just make out the Mediterranean Sea through the Neo-Ottoman buildings of the AUB campus and the lush foliage of summer. I just got a call from Dr. Badre, who wanted to know how things were going and whether I needed any help. “No, no,” I said. “Life is good here.” That’s the truth.
Helen Dixon, MSP07, at work at the Archaeology Museum at the American University of Beirut.
Capstone Projects
MSP08 students with staff members at the Ziibiwing Center of Anishinabe Culture and Lifeways in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan.
As the summative project for the year-long graduate proseminar, students work collaboratively to address a “real world” need for a local museum. Each team works with MSP faculty and staff from area museums to arrive at recommendations for resolving a specific challenge, often an exhibition proposal but sometimes a plan for further organizational development. A final proposal is presented to an audience comprised of members of the university and museum communities at the end of the term. Students also travel to host institutions to make formal presentations on these projects to interested in-house staff. We are grateful to the many professionals who supported our students through their collaboration on this year’s capstone projects. Mischief and Mayhem: Crime in Washtenaw County, 1830-1930 Andrea McDonnell, Ricky Punzalan, and Aimee VonBokel Partner: Washtenaw County Historical Society Liaison/mentor: Susan Nenadic
Toledo Museum of Art Director of Exhibitions and Programs, Steve Nowak, talking with MSP08 students about a chest made for Napoleon Bonaparte.
Visits to Regional Museums Throughout the academic year, MSP students travel with faculty to visit area museums. MSP faculty work with museum hosts to identify an itinerary for the visits, which frequently include time spent with museum professionals learning about their areas of expertise and discussing the application of theory in real world situations. Site visits, which usually last for a half day, succeed due to the commitment of host institutions to the education of young professionals. We are pleased to acknowledge the contribution made by this year’s site visit sponsors.
Fall
The Henry Ford University of Michigan Exhibit Museum of Natural History University of Michigan Museum of Zoology Ziibiwing Center of Anishnabe Culture and Lifeways
Winter
Arab American National Museum Kelsey Museum of Archaeology Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit Toledo Museum of Art Toledo Zoo University of Michigan Matthaei Botanical Gardens
The Peony Project Collaborative Lea Bullard, Tiffany Chao, and Amadaeus Scott Partner: University of Michigan Nichols Arboretum Liaison/mentor: David Michener Archaeology! From Air, On Land, Under Sea Luciana Aenasoiae, Christine Efta, and Marc Levitt Partner: University of Michigan Museum of Anthropology Liaison/mentor: Carla Sinopoli
Alumni Profile: Nancy Villa Bryk Nancy Villa Bryk, Director of Education and Public Programs at the Ann Arbor Hands On Museum, was all smiles as she shared the good news. Her museum had just received notification of being awarded a $130K Museums for America/ Building Capacity IMLS grant for supporting new public programs at the museum. “This will give me weekends and holidays back! I’ve been developing and running public programs for a year now and am happy to have someone else take this over….Now we can get to work on that grant for the American Museum of Magic.” In just a few sentences Bryk had encapsulated everything her colleagues have known about her for years—that she is bright, talented, and has a capacity for work unlike almost anyone else. For in addition to all the hours logged in weekly at the AAHOM, Bryk teaches university students in Eastern Michigan University’s Graduate Program in Historic Preservation, sits on the boards of at least five professional organizations, is the incoming President of the Michigan
Museums Association, writes and reviews grants, and has recently gone back to school and completed an MBA at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan. Bryk’s foray into the world of museums began back in the mid 1970s when she worked for several years as an interpreter at the Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village while an undergraduate student. Following a double major in History and the History of Art at Michigan and an M.A. in American Culture, Bryk began professional work on the curatorial staff at the Henry Ford Museum where she eventually rose to Senior Curator of Domestic Life and Interim Director of the Curatorial and Education Staffs during a career of nearly 25 years. During her Henry Ford years, Bryk also participated in the graduate certificate program in Museum Practice at Michigan. Bryk vividly remembers being handed the reins to the textile collection only weeks into her internship when the curator moved
to New York to take another job. “It was sink or swim and I decided this was something I could do. And I learned to do it for years.” Bryk’s responsibilities at the Henry Ford Museum grew to include the reinstallation of historic houses, the first scholarly interpretation of African American family life in Greenfield Village, and the furnishings plan for the 1880 Firestone Farmhouse, a living history farmhouse which was called, at the time, the finest Victorian home restoration in the United States by Technology and Culture. While delighted with her new responsibilities at the AAHOM, Nancy acknowledges the special place Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village continues to hold in her heart—”It’s where I grew up after all.” Today, at the AAHOM, Bryk leads a full and part time staff of over 20 in developing, delivering, and evaluating school and public programs, and special events. Though she has seen program revenues rise by 60% over the past three years (in spite of the state of the Michigan economy), she is most proud of her work with Title One students in five Ann Arbor schools which have seen increased science test scores for a number of students. With her university students, she has recently returned from a week in Michigan’s Leelanau Peninsula where she led a graduate student team in inventorying, photographing, cataloguing, accessioning, storing and re-housing an early 20th century home for the Leelanau Conservancy. For anyone else the assignment might well have seemed overwhelming. Bryk returned to Ann Arbor all smiles speaking enthusiastically about tackling the challenge, her work with students, completing the task, and the glories of a Michigan summer up north. And those who know this remarkable professional wouldn’t have expected to hear anything less.
Nancy Bryk, Museum Practice Program alumna and one of Michigan’s leading museum practitioners.
Visiting Scholar Sheds Light on “Difficult Heritage” Detroit Institute of Art Director, Graham Beal (right), talking with Sharon Macdonald and MSP Associate Director, Bradley Taylor, during their visit to the DIA. Sharon Macdonald’s week in residence as the MSP’s Visiting Scholar for 2009 began with a breakfast meeting at Angelo’s restaurant, a local landmark from the 1950s. “Look at this place,” the anthropologist exclaimed upon entering, “It’s just like you see in the movies. A real American diner.” The University of Manchester (UK) based scholar—a prolific contributor to contemporary discourse on museums and heritage—was making her first visit to the American Midwest and was fascinated with local sights from the moment she arrived. Further investigations into midwestern life would need to be squeezed into a very ambitious agenda, however. MSP Visiting Scholars are invited to participate fully in all facets of the life of the program. Students are central to these activities—Macdonald led one of the evening graduate proseminar classes, she met individually with students who wanted to discuss research or professional development issues, and she advised teams of graduate students on their capstone projects. Macdonald relished
the opportunity to get involved with the capstone projects, term long exhibitionrelated assignments that involved topics ranging from the processes of conducting archaeological research, to crime in 19th century Ann Arbor, and an installation of peonies in the university’s arboretum. Macdonald’s time was shared with members of the university and professional museum communities as well. A group of 15 museum professionals spent one morning at the Bentley Library in open discussion with Macdonald about her interest in the field of “difficult heritage.” While Macdonald’s own research has concentrated on former Nazi architecture and associated public space in Nuremberg, she encouraged participants to share examples from their own institutions. That same evening, Prof. Macdonald delivered the 2009 Whitesell Lecture, speaking to a room of over 100 about her research in Nuremberg [Prof. Macdonald’s talk is available as streaming video on the MSP website]. An extended question and answer session and a book signing ended a very full day.
Even with this busy schedule, MSP staff were able to arrange for a private tour of the Detroit Institute of Arts with Director Graham Beal and a visit to the Heidelberg Project in Detroit where Executive Director Jennene Whitfield provided a tour of the installation. However, the highlight of the day might well have been a drive up Woodward Avenue in Detroit where Macdonald excitedly commented on the width of the street and the scale of the buildings. The path back to Ann Arbor wended past local museums of all sorts—the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, the Arab American National Museum, The Henry Ford, and Henry Ford’s Fair Lane Estate among them, before ending up at Zingerman’s Deli. Macdonald purchased brownies and coffee cakes to take back home to family the next morning ending the week as it had begun for her, happily marveling over the uniqueness of the American diner.
MSP Visiting Scholar, Sharon Macdonald, signing a copy of her recent book, Difficult Heritage: Negotiating the Nazi Past in Nuremberg and Beyond, for MSP affiliated faculty member, Kerstin Barndt.
An Unexpected Haven: Social Life and the Museum Studies Program [Ed.: One of the great findings of the five year review the Program underwent two years ago was the importance of the social life of the program to the students enrolled. Each fall a new cohort of students from diverse departments, programs, and schools begin the Museum Studies Program. For the first time in their university careers they encounter students who haven’t read the same literature they have, don’t know the same theory they do, and don’t look at the world through the same ideological lens. Within several months students have moved beyond these “limitations” to embrace the social haven they have found within the MSP. MSP07 student Helen Dixon shares her perspective on the many benefits of the social life that exists within the Museum Studies Program.] Though we come from different departments, backgrounds, and life experiences, all the graduate students who apply to the Museum Studies Certificate Program do so for similar reasons—in variations on a theme, I might say we’re all here to explore the theory, practice, and business of museums in order to enhance the quality of our research or our post-degree marketability. So when I showed up for my first day in the core seminar as a member of the newly created MSP 07 cohort, I admit that I expected it to function like any other perfunctory required course: a means to an end. In fact, I expected to simply have less in common with the members of my cohort than I did in my home department of Near Eastern Studies. These eleven other students might be an interesting change of pace, but what were the odds I would actually like any of them? Reflecting in print on those initial skepticisms is almost embarrassing now, as this summer I’ll be attending a wedding for one of my cohort, helping another move into a new apartment, and following the careers of all over drinks in Ann Arbor or by email for those who have graduated and moved elsewhere. Anyone who has tried to make friends in graduate school knows what a rarity this kind of connection is; the side benefit of “meeting new people” has transformed the MSP 07 cohort into a supportive, honest, creative community we can potentially turn to for the duration of our careers. Our particular group was as diverse as any Museum Studies cohort—students hailed from the School of Information, the departments of Anthropology, AnthroHistory, History of Art, Near Eastern Studies, the School of Education, and even an MFA student in the School of Art & Design. Our experiences with museums also varied considerably. There were those who had worked in the “real world” already, behind the scenes in major museums or designing exhibits with a
MSP07 students doing what graduate students do best—eating and enjoying each other’s company at an end-of-the-year party. consulting firm; those who had found the institutional display of objects/peoples in their particular geographic or topical areas problematic while recognizing the potential for museums to change and improve; and those who were wholeheartedly enthusiastic about museums, waxing poetic about their memories of particular exhibits or reflective moments within soaring architectural spaces. The first few weeks involved a kind of slow unveiling, as we each learned where the others stood and observed our discussions of reading material or guest speakers becoming more and more frank. Around December we began meeting after class to continue the conversations and talk about our plans for internships or other degree work. Some of us felt truly relieved to be able to voice ideas and opinions that would not have been readily accepted in our home departments, and on many occasions one or another of us sought help with a particular problem involving advisors, professors, or fellow colleagues. We became like a family—if slightly dysfunctional—whose intense time together on field trips, in class, with partnered presentations, and end-of-term group projects all contributed to the trust, support, and knowing smiles we continue to offer one another. We’ve blogged about
our professional internships (some of us even did them at the same institutions), attended each other’s exhibitions and dissertation defenses, celebrated bad news with good beer, and joked about the jobs we’re one day going to offer each other... I even got suggestions for writing this article. In other words, I can honestly say I’m closer to many of my fellow Museum Studies student colleagues than I am to grads in my own department. While so much of the graduate experience leaves us feeling as though we’ll never know enough, my time with the MSP 07 cohort helped me see that I really do know something! The skills and perspective I brought with me from Near Eastern Studies added to the texture of our multi-disciplinary discussions and were challenged and enriched by ways of thinking I had never encountered in my home department. I left feeling as though I had gained not only content knowledge, but a sense of what I was capable of offering to other academics. And of course, if I ever run into a situation I can’t quite wrap my head around, I have a cohort of experts I know I can call.
2008-2009 Public Programs As a means of bringing together the general public, area museum professionals, the university’s academic community, and our growing family of MSP students, public programs form a critical component of the Museum Studies Program. Noted individuals from across campus and around the world are invited to share current research, challenge existing assumptions, and discuss exciting changes from the professional front. Conversations that ensue after these presentations often provide ideal opportunities for diverse audiences to engage on topics of shared interest. Each year a selection of these presentations are taped for local broadcast over UM TV and later find their way to the MSP website as streaming videos where they can be accessed for research and teaching purposes. Soon, some of these presentations will appear in a new e-publication series, U-M Working Papers in Museum Studies.
Winter 2009 Whitesell Lecture
Issues in Museum Studies
2 April 2009
You Want to Do What?!? Experience Design for Non-Profit Institutions, For-Profit Corporations and Everyone in Between
Difficult Heritage: Negotiating the Nazi Past in Nuremberg and Beyond
February 17, 2009
Scott Mallwitz, Associate & Director, Experience Design, Cuningham Group
Sharon Macdonald, Professor of Social Anthropology, University of Manchester, England
February 19, 2009
The winter 2009 Whitesell Lecture was sponsored by The Bentley Historical Library and the Museum Studies Program at the University of Michigan
Robert Bain, Associate Professor, School of Education, U-M
The Necessity of Making the Invisible Visible: The Challenges of Using Museums in Formal Education
March 11, 2009 Museums, Histories and the Dilemmas of Change in Post-Apartheid South Africa Leslie Witz, Professor, History Department, University of the Western Cape April 14, 2009 Monuments of Patriotism: The Commemoration of Warrior Kings in Limpopo Province, South Africa Mahunele Thotse, Lecturer, University of Pretoria, South Africa and U-M African Presidential Scholar April 16, 2009 Civilizing the Guam Museum Christine DeLisle, Museum Studies ‘05; PhD, History and Women’s Studies, U-M
Brown Bags The success of the MSP Brown Bag series comes entirely from student involvement. Program assistant and doctoral student Deirdre Hennebury has led this effort now for several years– organizing, promoting, and hosting the sessions–and students from each cohort volunteer to participate as presenters. Critical reflections on summer practicum experiences are often featured but brown bag sessions are also used to highlight faculty and student research. We’re delighted that professionals from area museums eagerly accept invitations to participate, often opening a window onto specialized areas of considerable interest.
3 October
23 January
Helen Dixon (MSP07, PhD student, Near Eastern Studies and Museum Studies)
Christopher Berk (MSP07, PhD student, Anthropology and Museum Studies)
“Ce n’est pas un musée archéologique!” Repositioning the Archaeology Museum of the American University of Beirut for a Changing Museological Audience
Intercultural Collaboration and the Role of the Museum in Australian Society: Working in the Indigenous Cultures Department at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery
24 October
6 February
Lindsay Stern (MSP07, MFA, Art and Design and Museum Studies)
Hima Mallampati (MSP05, PhD student, IPCAA and Museum Studies)
Where Oh Where Is the “Town Square”? Observations from the Walker Art Center
Ancient Art and Modern Dilemmas: Money, History and Exhibitions at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
7 November Jennifer Beyer (MSP07, MA student, Education and Museum Studies) What Did You Learn? Museum Education Efforts in the US and the UK 21 November Katie Johnson (MSP03, Assistant Curator of Education for Adult Learning, Cincinnati Art Museum) “Who Arted?” and Other Tales of Adult Learning at the Cincinnati Art Museum 5 December Susan McCabe (Curator for Museum Practice, Henry Ford Estate, University of Michigan Dearborn) Never a Dull Moment! Curating at the Historic Henry Ford Estate
6 March Gayle Drews (Director of Museum Activities/Curator, Yankee Air Museum) Honoring Aviation History and Its Participants through a Living, Flying Museum 20 March Kathy Zarur (MSP05, PhD student, History of Art and Museum Studies) An Art Foundation in Palestine: Forging Possibility in Impossible Circumstances
MSP03 During the past year Henrike Florusbosch designed and taught a course entitled “Museums and Heritage in a Globalized World: Preserving Objects, Building Nations, Re-claiming Identities,” for the Department of Anthropology at the University of Michigan.
Kudos... a collection of updates on the activities and many successes of Museum Studies Program students, past and present…
MSP04 Marking the opening of the new Frankel Wing of the University of Michigan Museum of Art, Deirdre Hennebury guided public tours of the “Museums in the 21st Century” architecture exhibit housed in the Taubman Galleries. In May, Deirdre presented “Reimagining the Museum: UMMA’s Frankel Wing and Its Historical Context” as the anchor speaker at UMMA’s Doris Sloan Memorial Docent Symposium. During winter 2009 Lydia HerringHarrington completed an assistantship with IPCAA and History of Art Professor Elaine Gazda, where she did research on and wrote preliminary labels for objects that will be displayed in the new wing of the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology. In April 2009 Erica Lehrer, Assistant Professor and Canada Research Chair in Post-Conflict Memory, Ethnography & Museology at Concordia University in Montreal, organized an international conference of scholars, curators, artists and activists entitled “Curating Difficult Knowledge.” In 2008, Erica co-curated the bilingual interactive installation “Odpowiedz…Please Respond” at the 18th annual Festival of Jewish Culture in Krakow, Poland. Also in 2008, she published the article “The Matter of Jewishness: Rules for the Collection and Display of Material Culture” in the Journal of the Inclusive Museum.
MSP05 Kathryn Stine is currently the archivist for The HistoryMakers, a national nonprofit organization based in Chicago that conducts and collects life oral histories with both well-known and unsung African American interviewees. This past year, Kathryn has been working on innovative ways to provide access to oral history content by creating finding aids and developing systematic strategies for indexing individual stories. She’s also kept busy teaching advanced archives management at Dominican University and has recently presented at the Midwest Archives Conference as part of a panel discussing the challenges of working with legacy donor agreements. Medha Tare recently presented a paper, “Parents’ Scaffolding of Children’s Learning at an Evolution Exhibition,” on her research at the Explore Evolution exhibit at the University of Michigan Exhibit Museum of Natural History. The talk was given at the symposium “Family Conversations in Museum Settings: How Do They Contribute to Children’s Science Learning?” at the Biennial Conference of the Society for Research in Child Development held in April 2009 in Denver, CO. Jennifer Zee has relocated to San Francisco where she has established a photography business specializing in natural style photography of families. She also started working with SaveNature.org, a non-profit conservation organization where her role is that of an Insect Education Specialist. In this capacity she takes live bugs to schools in the Bay Area, and teaches children about insects and conservation. Jennifer reports one satisfied student’s response to the visit: “It’s like a museum in our classroom!”
While working on her practicum at the Charles Wright Museum of African American History and preparing for her preliminary examinations, Kelly Kirby gave two conference presentations. The first, at Northwestern University in March 2009 was entitled, “Dress, Popular Culture, and Social Action in Africa” and the second, “Thinking about ‘Things’” was presented at University College in Dublin, Ireland in May 2009. In her role as Assistant Professor of Museum Studies, Art History and Curator of the College’s Permanent Collection at Wheaton College, Leah Niederstadt taught a seminar called “Exhibition Design.” One of the outcomes of this course was a student-curated exhibition, “Making It Modern: Wheaton College and the International Style.” A cross-campus collaboration between Niederstadt, archivists and other art historians, the exhibition and a companion book trace the architectural development of the Wheaton campus. Katie Raff is currently on a nine-month Fulbright fellowship in Italy carrying out research for her dissertation, which is on the domestic decor of the middle-class apartments at the site of ancient Ostia, located outside of Rome.
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Ksenya Gurshtein co-curated an exhibition of works by the Russian artist D. A. Prigov at the Jane Vorhees Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers University. The curatorial project was an outcome of research on Prigov that Ksenya had conducted earlier that year. It sought to present a cross-section of drawings, texts, videos, and installations by one of the most important members of the Moscow Conceptual Circle.
This past March Christopher Berk gave a paper at the 19th annual Students of Color of Rackham (SCOR) conference here at Michigan entitled, “Reflections on the Morality and Practicality of Collaboration and Indigenous Self-Representation.” The conference theme was “Crossing Borders, Creating Alliances: Collaborating within the Academy and Beyond.”
During winter 2009 KeunYoung Kim was an Exchange Scholar at Peking University and held an internship at the Capital Museum (Beijing, China). This summer, KeunYoung plans to participate in the Summer Institute in Museum Anthropology at the Smithsonian Institution. In 2008, KeunYoung presented two conference papers: “Globalization and the Transformation of Museums in the Far East: The Case of Beijing, China” at the Annual Interdisciplinary Conference at the University of Washington and “The Practice of New Museum Building and Chinese Urban Culture” at the International Council of Museums (ICOM) CAMOC Museums of Cities Annual International Conference held at the Seoul Museum of History in Seoul, Korea.
Since leaving Michigan for Minneapolis last spring, Lizzie Ehrenhalt has been working in the Walker Art Center’s Public Relations Department. She has also been involved in distributing press kits for the Walker’s visual and performing arts programs. In addition, Lizzie held a position at the Minnesota Historical Society where she worked on the Mondale Papers and assisted the 3-D objects curators in the Collections Department. Alice Goff presented her paper, “Defining Virtual: Reflections on the Place of the Museum in the Virtual Realm,” at the fall 2008 annual meeting of the Michigan Museums Association.
In fall 2008 Monica Patterson curated a show at the University of Michigan’s Hatcher Graduate Library entitled, “Apartheid and Resistance” in honor of Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s visit to U-M to receive the Wallenberg Medal for Outstanding Humanitarians. In winter 2009, Monica completed her dissertation in Anthropology and History, “Constructions of Childhood in Apartheid’s Last Decades,” and began a two year post-doctorate at Concordia University in Montreal in fall 2009. Starting in May 2009 Lindsay Stern will be working for the National Network of Depression Centers in Ann Arbor organizing and curating a traveling exhibit on art and mental health. A project that Lindsay completed during her practicum at the Walker Art Center recently won Museums and the Web “Best of the Web 2009” award for “Innovative Site.” Beatriz Zengotitabengoa presented a paper, “What’s in a Jug? An Archeology of Romuald Hazoumé’s Plastic Bin Sculptures,” at UCLA for the “Reading the Remnant” graduate student symposium. In addition, she worked with a team to produce an educational guide for “Milking the Rhino,” an award winning documentary that explores the relationship between people and animals in Africa. Congratulations to all!
Practica Each year MSP students who have completed the 601/602 proseminar sequence on museum history and theory leave the area to pursue their practicum requirement, the final step to achieving certification in Museum Studies. Students work with MSP faculty and staff to identify a location for their practicum and to propose a course of study. Once students have connected with a museum host, they finalize a three month full time schedule of activities keyed to the student’s area of interest and the host museum’s institutional needs. The MSP provides generous financial support to students so that they can pursue meaningful opportunities. As the list below will show, students end up around the globe and in our own back yard. Students frequently tell us that the practicum is the most enjoyable part of the program.
Recently Completed Al Ma’mal Foundation for Contemporary Art, Jerusalem Kathy Zarur (MSP05) was involved with curator Jack Persekian’s development of Al Ma’mal’s annual Jerusalem Show. This art show uses the streets and neighborhoods of Jerusalem as a gallery for contemporary art. In a place coping with social and political unrest, Kathy found the making and dissemination of art to be exceedingly important. Archaeology Museum, American University of Beirut Joining the small staff at the AUB Archaeology Museum for her twelve week practicum, Helen Dixon (MSP07) was able to assist in many facets of museum operations. In addition to updating acquisition records, Helen catalogued artifacts, processed excavated material, helped in the museum gift shop and worked with the Society of Friends of the Museum. On reflection, she was surprised by the role that funding had in the exhibition and operational policies at the museum. Boston Museum of Fine Arts During her practicum in the Art of the Ancient World Department at the MFA, Hima Mallampati (MSP05) worked on the permanent installation of a Greek and Roman sculpture gallery. She assisted in researching the collection, writing exhibit labels, offering ideas for design strategies, and meeting with donors. With her legal background, Hima was particularly interested in how financial considerations determined the development of the installations, the role of donors in the department’s operations, how the repatriation of classical artifacts to Italy affected the institution, and how the MFA has faced the challenging question of authenticity in the design of exhibitions and in the display of ancient artifacts. Cabbagetown Regent Park Community Museum, Toronto Now on the faculty at the University of Waterloo, Luna Khirfan (MSP03) took advantage of her proximity to Toronto to work on a project in the Cabbagetown-Regent Park area. This neighborhood, formerly a slum and now Canada’s largest social housing project, has been undergoing a gentrification and redevelopment process since 2005. In response to these changes, there has been a strong desire to develop a museum that documents the community’s layered history. Luna’s research consisted of data collection in the form of interviews and an in-depth study of the artifacts, photographs and other oral histories held in the museum’s collection. Homol’ovi Ruins State Part, Winslow, Arizona / Museum in Docklands, London For a study in contrasts, Jennifer Beyer (MSP07) divided her practicum between two institutions. At the Museum in Docklands, Jennifer assisted the education department, where she managed a multitude of responsibilities including the development of programs for children. For one project, Jennifer wrote interactive scripts as well as support lessons and materials for educators. Given her own interests and strengths, it is not surprising that education was also her focus at Homol’ovi where she was involved in outreach and programming. Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Australia Christopher Berk (MSP07) worked in TMAG’s Department of Indigenous Cultures. While there, Chris’s responsibilities ranged from the composition of didactic materials to data entry to exhibition planning. With his own research and work with the Tasmanian aboriginal people in mind, Chris found that his internship experience made him consider the societal role of the museum and the benefits these institutions can offer for intercultural collaboration. U-M Provost Office Alice Goff’s (MSP07) practicum was an expansion of her MSP 602 exhibition project, The Frontier University: Michigan in the Information Age. This project, called simply the Virtual Museum Project, began with her presenting the museum proposal to interested parties throughout the university with the goal of determining how to serve the different constituent needs. These sessions were followed by strategic planning, content development, and exhibit design. The Virtual Museum Project is dedicated to the exhibitions and collection of the histories of information technology at the University.
Upcoming Walker Art Center, Minneapolis Working primarily at the Registration Department at the Walker, Lizzie Ehrenhalt (MSP07) made herself indispensable creating microfilm acquisition records, cataloguing print archive CD materials and updating exhibition histories. In addition to more mundane tasks like affixing new labels to hundreds of object files, Lizzie assisted the Associate Registrar for Exhibitions in formatting the department manual and in following up with Rights and Reproductions clients for publication verification. Finally, she wrote all of the RFID tags for the Fluxus cabinet which includes announcements, books, newspapers, etc. Lindsay Stern (MSP07) worked in the Education & Community Programs Department at the Walker Art Center where she participated in numerous physical and digital efforts related to the institution’s Art & Civic Engagement Map – a Walker developed set of guidelines for outreach and education. As it happened, Lindsay’s internship preceded the Republican National Convention in St. Paul and she helped to facilitate My Yard Our Message (MYOM), a project produced by the Walker and mnartists.org in collaboration with TheUnConvention. For MYOM, artists were invited to submit nonpartisan yard sign designs. In true democratic form, these designs were then posted on the web and finalists were selected by public vote. The project resulted in approximately 300 sign entries with 50 finalists. The top signs were available for purchase and their locations were mapped on Google to indicate the sign galleries in the Twin Cities area.
Ten students are currently completing practicum requirements at the following institutions: Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL Center for Legislative Archives, Washington, D.C. Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, Detroit, MI Chicago History Museum, Chicago, IL Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI Fort Douglas Museum, Salt Lake City, UT Gallery Project, Ann Arbor, MI
MSP Director, Ray Silverman, returned to Techiman (Ghana) this past summer, accompanied by four MSP students to continue work on a community-focused cultural center. The U-M team worked with colleagues from the University of Ghana to engage citizens of Techiman in conversations about the meaning of “culture” in their community, an important preliminary stage in planning for the new center. Silverman is seen here in front of a drum ensemble while documenting a festival organized to celebrate the diverse heritage of Techiman.
Lower East Side Tenement Museum, New York, NY Museum of History and Archaeology, Neamt, Romania Oriental Institute Museum, Chicago, IL
Fall 2009 Admissions Clara Cahill Education, PhD
Deborah Kent History of Mathematics, PhD
Alison Vacca Near Eastern Studies, PhD
Joseph Cialdella American Culture, PhD
Neha Paliwal Anthropology, PhD
Elizabeth Vandermark Architecture, PhD
Kate Donovan, Information, MSI
Kristine Ronan History of Art, PhD
Anna Wieck History of Art, PhD
Sarah Gothie American Culture, PhD
Angelica Serna Romance Languages, PhD
Emma Wolman Information, MSI
Andrew Gurstelle, Anthropology, PhD
Charles H. Sawyer Center for Museum Studies University of Michigan Museum of Art 525 South State Street Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1354