British Museum in London roof
Johns Hopkins University logotypeProgram in Museums and Society
Kreiger School of Arts and SciencesUniversity CalendarUniversity NewsSearch JHU

 


   
  
ABOUT THE PROGRAM

   CURRENT COURSES

   COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

   OPPORTUNITIES

   EVENTS AND PROJECTS

   PEOPLE

   RESOURCES

   HOME



  Elizabeth Rodini
  Associate Director

  Program in Museums and Society
  Johns Hopkins University
  3505 N. Charles Street, Rm. 110
  Baltimore, MD 21218

  Phone 410-516-4827
  Fax 410-516-7502


COURSES DESCRIPTIONS


Schedule of Courses for Fall, 2008
(see Catalogue of Courses, below, for course description, and Current Courses for scheduling)

389.202 (H, S)  Introduction to the Museum: Issues and Ideas
Rodini  3 credits

[RESCHEDULED for Spring, 2009:]
389.342 (H)  Understanding the Materials and Techniques of Art Objects
Balachandran  3 credits  (M&S practicum course)

389.361 (H)  Introduction to Material Culture: Personal Hygiene in Early America
Arthur  3 credits (M&S practicum course)

389.370 (H)  Camera Arts: Photographing Evergreen House and Library
Berger  3 credits (M&S practicum course)

389.501  Independent Study in Museums and Society
Rodini, staff  up to 3 credits

589.511  Internship in Museums and Society
Rodini, staff  1 credit

100.372  The Victorians
Walkowitz  3 credits  History

140.215 (H, S)  Monuments and Memory
Leslie  3 credits  History of Science and Technology

140.359  Museums and Globalization
Kargon  3 credits
History of Science and Technology; offered jointly with Case Western Reserve University

MICA AH 405  Exhibition Development Seminar, Part I
Ciscle  W 4:00-6:45  Meets at MICA, B431
This is a two-semester course at with limited enrollment for JHU students pursuing the minor in Museums and Society; permission of Associate Director and of MICA instructor are required before enrolling.


Preliminary Schedule of Courses for Spring, 2009
(see Catalogue of Courses, below, for further details)

389.203 (H, W)  Museum Matters
Rodini  3 credits (writing intensive, practicum)

389.342 (H)  Understanding the Materials and Techniques of Art Objects
Balachandran  3 credits  (M&S practicum course)

389.362 (H) Curating Culture at the Evergreen Museum: Excellence in Twentieth Century Design
In this hands-on course, Evergreen Museum serves as backdrop for the development, planning, and production of several small focus exhibitions celebrating selected influential 20th-century designers.
Abbott  3 credits (practicum)

389.502  Independent Study in Museums and Society
Rodini, staff  up to 3 credits

389.512  Internship in Museums and Society
Rodini, staff  1 credit

History of the Artifact (tentative title)
Course description, numbering, and cross-listings forthcoming.
Finkelstein (Baltimore Museum of Industry)  3 credits (practicum)

Close Looking at the BMA: Van Dyck's Rinaldo and Armida
Course description and numbering forthcoming; cross-listed with History of Art.
Rodini  3 credits (practicum)

Nubia: An African Kingdom in American Thought, 1787-2009
Course description and numbering forthcoming; primary listing in Near Eastern Studies.
Pope (DTF)  3 credits

010.392 (H) Creating a Museum Exhibition
E. Dauterman Maguire  3 credits (practicum)

140.363 (H, S) Museums and Controversy: From the Enola Gay to Body Worlds
Molella (Smithsonian Institution)  3 credits


MICA EX 405  Exhibition Development Seminar, Part II
Ciscle  W 4:00-6:45  Meets at MICA, B431
This is a continuation of the fall course, with limited enrollment by permission only (see above).


Catalogue of Courses

389.201 (H, S)  Introduction to the Museum: Past and Present
This course surveys museums, from their origins to their most contemporary forms, in the context of broader historical, intellectual, and cultural trends.  Anthropology, art, history, and science museums are considered.  Offered alternate falls.  Cross-listed with Anthropology, History, History of Art.
Rodini  3 credits

389.202 (H, S)  Introduction to the Museum: Issues and Ideas
This course considers the practical, political, and ethical challenges facing museums today, including the impact of technology and globalization, economic pressures, and debates over the ownership and interpretation of culture.  Cross-listed with History of Art.
Rodini  3 credits

389.203 (H, W)  Museum Matters
Through weekly field trips, group discussion, and analytical writing assignments, this course examines how museums organize, interpret, and present their holdings.  Museum controversies, challenges, conflicts are examined.  Offered alternate springs; freshmen and sophomores given priority.  M&S practicum course, writing intensive.
Rodini  3 credits

389.340 (H)  Critical Issues in Art Conservation
The course examines recent controversies in the conservation of major global art works and sites, raising questions concerning the basic theoretical assumptions, practical methods, and ethical implications of art conservation.  Cross-listed with Anthropology, History of Art.
Balachandran  3 credits

389.341 (H)  Examining Archaeological Objects
Students examine objects from the Archaeological Collection to understand and recognize ancient materials and manufacturing techniques, identify conservation concerns, and pursue technical research questions related to specific artifacts.   Cross-listed with History of Art, Near Eastern Studies, Classics.  M&S practicum course.
Balachandran  3 credits 

389.342 (H)  Understanding the Materials and Techniques of Art Objects
This course investigates material and manufacturing techniques used to produce art and archaeological objects by visiting local museum conservation laboratories and artists, and closely examining objects.  Cross-listed with Classics, History of Art, Near Eastern Studies.  M&S practicum course.
Balachandran  3 credits

389.354 (H)  Paper Museums: Exhibiting Prints at the BMA
Students work with Baltimore Museum of Art print collection and staff to develop, organize, and design an exhibition.  All aspects of museum work are explored, including research, interpretation, presentation, programming, marketing.  Cross-listed with History of Art.  M&S practicum course.
Rodini  3 credits

389.361 (H)  Introduction to Material Culture
Students explore early American life related to the region and the Carroll family of Homewood.  Primary research and object study culminates in student-curated thematic exhibition.  Optional intersession practicum experience is also possible.  Cross-listed with History.  M&S practicum course. 
Arthur  3 credits

389.362 (H)  Curating Culture at the Evergreen Museum
In this hands-on course, students research the Evergreen collection in order to develop an innovative, public exhibition or presentation. The history of the house, its grounds, its books and artifacts are all subject to investigation.  M&S practicum course.
Rodini, staff  3 credits

389.362 (H)  Behind the Scenes at the Walters Art Museum
Work with Walters staff to learn about the workings of a professional art museum while developing an exhibition or other museum project.  M&S practicum course.  Cross-listed with History of Art.
Rodini  3 credits

389.370 (H)  Camera Arts: Photographing Evergreen Museum and Library
Curator and photography instructor lead stduents in a photographic exploration of the Evergreen collection.  Fine arts approach to digital photography and printing.  Final project exhibition at Evergreen.  M&S practicum course.  Cross-listed with Homewood Art Workshops.
Berger  3 credits

389.440 (H, S)  Who Owns Culture?
This seminar explores the complicated, often explosive concept of cultural property, including questions surrounding the ownership, preservation, and interpretation of artifacts, monuments, heritage sites, and living traditions.  Cross-listed with Anthropology, History of Art.
Rodini  3 credits

389.501/502  Independent Study in Museums and Society
Independent study allows students to develop and carry out their own research project in a related field.  Projects must be approved and overseen by a supervising faculty member and approved by the Program’s Associate Director.  Students should also consult the University’s Independent Work Policy.
Rodini, staff  up to 3 credits

389.511/512  Internship in Museums and Society
Students may seek credit for academic work connected to an unpaid museum internship. Projects may be in the area of research, exhibition development, conservation science, or other related fields.  All projects must be approved and overseen by a supervising faculty member and approved by the Program’s Associate Director, and must be in keeping with the University’s Independent Work Policy.
Rodini, staff  1 credit

AFRICANA STUDIES

African Visions: Art Objects, Context, and Interpretations

A hands-on class that address the relationship between art and its contexts by focusing on the histories and inventions of African art objects.  Film, print media, and museums will all be considered.  M&S practicum course.  Cross-listed with History of Art. 

Milbourne (BMA)  3 credits

ANTHROPOLOGY

070.103 (H, S, W) Africa and the Museum
Freshman seminar course on African material life, as created, used, collected, displayed, and discussed.  Aims to introduce both Africa and its representation in the West.
Guyer  3 credits

HISTORY

100.353 (H, S) Remembering Vietnam: Documenting, Capturing, and Preserving a Divisive War
This is a course to teach students about a divisive war, its documentation, and its memorialization through gathering images, interviews, and other data.  A lab unit is required.
Walters  4 credits

100.372  The Victorians
This course focuses on the politics of everyday life, consumption, intimate relations, and concepts of the self in Victorian Britain (1837-1901).  Particular attention is devoted to Victorian visual culture, including exhibitions, built environment, decorative arts, and leisure culture.  Other themes include popular nationalism, class cultures, feminism and body politics, Empire and racial thought.
Walkowitz  3 credits

100.376 (H, S) Baltimore as Historical Site
This class uses the historical site of Baltimore to demonstrate the spatial context of major events in U.S. and urban history.
Ryan  3 credits

100.470 (H, S) Monuments and Memory in Asian History
This seminar explores the ritual, political, and religious significance of architectural sites in Asia. We also examine their more recent role as signifiers of cultural and national identities—and in tourism.
Meyer-Fong  3 credits

HISTORY of ART

010.390 (H) Art Museum Policy and Practice
This hands-on seminar looks behind the scenes at displays and exhibitions, museum operations and programs, as signs of current thinking about what art, past and present, may be.
E. Dauterman Maguire  3 credits

010.334 (H) Problems in the Art of the Ancient Americas
Selected topics which may include art of the ancient scribe and visual communication (Maya, Aztec, Mixtec, Inka), imperial art and architecture (Aztec Moche, Inka), sacred media and indigenous aesthetics (Mesoamerica, Andes), the role of American art in the European Kunstkammer, collection and exhibition of antiquities, the antiquities market and art crimes.  (Note: this course is only cross-listed with M&S when the particular topic is appropriate, subject to Instructor and Associate Director approval.)
DeLeonardis  3 credits

010.392 (H) Creating a Museum Exhibition
Research, interpretation, and presentation; a hands-on introduction.  Permission required. M&S practicum course.
E. Dauterman Maguire  3 credits

010.411 (H)  Art Collecting and the Rise of the Museum
This class looks at the history of collecting and displaying art from the Renaissance studiolo through the nineteenth century.
Campbell  3 credits

010.552  Museum Internship
An opportunity for first-hand experience in museum work on the Homewood campus or in local museums.  Advance arrangement with faculty required.  (M&S credit requires approval of Associate Director and adherence to the University’s Independent Work Policy.)
E. Dauterman Maguire  1 credit

HISTORY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

140.215 (H, S) Monuments and Memory
This course explores the construction or discovery, and the enduring significance, of selected monuments in the West, including national memorials, national parks, and other architectural and engineering milestones. It investigates how they were made, interpreted, and represented in art, literature, popular culture, and tourism.
Leslie  3 credits  Gilman Course in the Humanities

140.359  Museums and Globalization
Examines how museums are linked to wider national and cultural communities, and how they mobilize resources to address political, economic, and social concerns and questions of heritage.
Kargon  3 credits

140.363 (H, S) Museums and Controversy: From the Enola Gay to Body Worlds
Exhibitions on Freud, Darwin, the Bomb, environment, the human body, and similar “hot” topics have stirred unexpected controversy.  This seminar explores the origins of such heated public and scientific disagreements.
Leslie, Kargon  3 credits

140.372 (H, S) Science on Display
History of collecting, exhibiting and interpreting science and technology, from Renaissance cabinets of curiosity to modern world's fairs, zoos, aquariums, films and science centers. Students will present their own exhibits as dioramas, web sites, documentaries or other formats.
Leslie  3 credits

_____________________
OTHER LOCAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDY

Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) offers a number of relevant courses through its new Curatorial Studies Concentration, a number of which are open to Hopkins students.  If you are interested in MICA courses, please contact the Associate Director.


      





 © The Johns Hopkins University. All rights reserved.