VISITING THE MUSEUM Learning Resource
Overview
While most students understand that objects inside museums have important cultural, ideological, economic, and art historical value, they don’t always recognize the role of these institutions to shape and reinforce such values. AHTR’s Visiting the Museum Learning Resource aims to help students think more critically about the broader implications of art museums and to better understand their integral relation to the study and practice of art history.
Project History
In 2012, with support from a Baruch College Teaching & Learning with Technology Partnership, AHTR produced nine short videos that showcase the interior and exterior settings of well-known museums throughout New York City. Designed to suggest the experience of visiting the museum, these videos importantly allowed instructors to raise questions about museum design in their classes, regardless of the logistical challenges that often prevent organized field trips.
In 2018, a grant from CUNY’s OER initiative allowed AHTR to expand these resources with additional bibliography, adaptable lesson plans and assignment ideas, and strategies that both students and faculty can use to build greater understanding of museums as social spaces where embodied experience contributes to art’s meaning and value.
We welcome feedback and suggestions about how we might improve this resource. Please send comments to info@arthistorytr.org.