museums concentration
Now in its fourteenth year, the museums concentration (MUX) has graduated 136 students, and another 30 were enrolled in 2022–2023. Their experience has confirmed the deep curiosity about museums that exists among students and the value of providing a structure for learning about the history, cultural role and methods of museums through a combination of academic and practical work. Indeed, MUX is the largest of Smith’s eleven concentrations, and many of the students who apply to it indicate that it was a factor for them in choosing to attend Smith.
This academic program went through a five-year review, in which we reiterated learning goals for our students:
1. Expand and deepen understanding of the origins of museums (including art, history, science and natural history) and the forces that have shaped/ are shaping their role in society.
2. Develop the ability to think critically about museums, demonstrating an understanding of issues facing them today.
3. Gain insight into the nature of work performed in museums and skills associated with different professional roles.
The concentration makes a valuable contribution to the Smith curriculum, notably by enhancing the use of special collections and activating staff expertise. The focus on developing skills related to the research, interpretation and presentation of objects supports the college’s emphasis on public discourse. The new shared gateway course for concentrations in archives, book studies and museums served more students than those who opt into the concentrations from all class years and many different disciplines. This year’s interterm course MUX 222 Topics in Museum Studies, taught by curator of Asian art Yao Wu, was subtitled Collecting and Exhibiting Asian Art: Museums as Local, National and Global Institutions and examined how “Asian art” has been constructed as a category (and to some extent imported back to Asia as a valid concept), as well as how it was/ is formed and displayed in museums in and outside Asian countries.
The spring MUX 300 capstone seminar, taught by museums concentration founding director and SCMA director Jessica Nicoll, is the culminating course for seniors completing the museums concentration. It takes the form of a research workshop that supports students in completing independent capstone projects on a topic that synthesizes their previous coursework and practical experiences for the museums concentration.
MUX students meet several times a year for workshops organized by Charlene Shang Miller, Educator for Academic Programs, focusing on cohort-building, personal reflection and peer-to-peer exchange. The cohort also meets for support in finding internships and other practical experiences and to participate in programs organized to expand their thinking about museums and provide opportunities to meet professionals in the field.
To that end, the museums concentration, in collaboration with SCMA, organized the program Museums Today: Museums as Citizen, welcoming to campus nico wheadon, an arts consultant, curator, educator and the author of Museum Metamorphosis: Cultivating Change Through Cultural Citizenship, for a dynamic program facilitated by Tiffany Bradley, SCMA’s Associate Director of Communications. They explored the concept of “museum as citizen,” and wheadon highlighted projects with cultural institutions that partner with communities of color. Preceding the talk, Smith students met with wheadon for an informal tea and compelling conversation about museum issues with which students are deeply engaged.
Haley-December Brown ’23
Unraveling an Enigma: The Past, Present and Futures of the Toledo Museum of Art’s Mummies
Cameron Findlay ’23
Breaking Down Van Buren: Collections Management in Progress
Noah Good ’23
92 Second Street: An Unauthorized History of the Lizzie Borden House
Sara Kunkemueller ’23
Mood Ring
Mackenzie Peloquin ’23
Wearing the Past: The Value of the Smith College Historic Clothing Collection
Annetje ten Holder ’23
Opening Up Conservation Practices and Knowledge to Educate Audiences
top: Portrait of nico wheadon, arts consultant, advisor, curator, educator and author of Museum Metamorphosis: Cultivating Change Through Cultural Citizenship. Photo courtesy of nico wheadon; bottom: MUX 300 senior presentation by Noah Good ’24. Photo by Charlene Shang Miller