The Campus Art Museum - Samuel H. Kress Foundation

talk about the objects, and they tell all kinds of stories about how the children
respond. They have students thinking about how could they make connections
between these objects and their curriculum, how can they make a link between
this still life and science or math or all of the things they have to teach.
Courses in languages, museum studies, art education, and the arts are not
the only ones to use the museum as a way to practice disciplinary skills; others
do so as well. A pharmacology professor made use of a collection of photographs
of HIV patients to get students to practice medical observation skills. 8 An algebra
class spent time at a Frank Lloyd Wright house, affiliated with the museum, doing
algebra assignments to work out aspects of the design and construction of the
house. And music classes often link with the museum to practice their playing and
provide concerts during an art opening or other special events.
Interdisciplinary Analysis
Interdisciplinary use of the museum—crossing disciplinary boundaries and
connecting diverse schools of thought—contributes to new understandings. Of
those interviewed, music and literature professors most often used the campus art
museum in cross-disciplinary ways, but others did so as well. This section describes
how interdisciplinary analysis may take place.
Art works well to complement and extend the concepts music professors
tend to teach. One professor, for example, annually rotates his geographical focus
in his course on historical musical performances. Each year, he takes students
to the print study room where a curator displays works corresponding to the era
and location of the performances. Together the group analyzes what is happening
visually and musically and how each informs the other. A student reflected on how
a professor with a similar approach got them to think about music history through
assignments that required visits to the campus art museum:
I took both a Medieval-Renaissance class and a Baroque Music History class…
and two of our papers, graded assignments, were to go over to the museum
and look at specific works chosen by the professor.… He’d pick a work, such as
a Medieval work, and he’d say, “Go to the [campus art museum], look at this
work, and think about all you’ve learned in music history about the overarching
style of the Medieval period…. How does it relate to the piece of art that you’re
looking at?” We had to write a two-page paper about it. Initially, everybody’s
reaction was, “I don’t want to do this, I don’t want to go to the museum.” And it
turned out to be everybody’s favorite assignment. People take more classes with
him. They take the Medieval-Renaissance class and then they take the Baroque
class and they see the assignment again and they go, “Yeah, the museum piece.”
Everyone gets really excited about that one. It’s not that difficult, particularly
because there are so many parallels between music and art, and that’s what
you’re supposed to learn. It’s an enjoyable exercise because you already have
8. Alexa Miller, an arts learning specialist, draws attention to combining visual arts and medical training through her work
to improve Harvard Medical students’ observation and diagnostic skills in a time of increased reliance on technology.
See Kowalczyk 2008.
Meeting Course Objectives through the Art Museum
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