The Campus Art Museum - Samuel H. Kress Foundation

2008). 4 This emphasis reflects a larger cultural pattern of perceiving teamwork and
interdisciplinary knowledge as vital in a globalized world. Although suspicious
of the degree to which such academic rhetoric is actualized, particularly in
the classroom where budget allocation structures continue to work against
interdisciplinary and collaborative teaching, I heard a lot about these efforts. The
institutions that support collaborative and interdisciplinary learning tend to also
support the involvement of the campus art museum in these activities.
KU offers an example. Staff and faculty there have created The Commons, a
partnership that includes the Hall Center for Humanities, the Biodiversity Institute,
and the Spencer Museum of Art. Its purpose is to explore the relationships between
nature and culture across the sciences, humanities, and arts. Each spring, a
thematic Commons course, in collaboration with the University Honors Program, is
proposed. Academic departments suggest speakers and The Commons then funds
a set of cross-disciplinary talks. Students attend the speaker series and engage
with faculty in small groups. The Commons also supports research that integrates
methods and ideas from the sciences, humanities, and the arts. According to a KU
administrator, “The museum’s connection to The Commons has been fantastic…
that relationship with The Commons is all about getting out of our silos and
collaboration, and collaboration in a way that really yields new research and new
ways of thinking.”
Faculty and museum staff at other institutions similarly talked about annual
cross-disciplinary, and often first-year, seminars where a theme (such as peace)
is chosen and faculty across the disciplines shape courses around that theme. In
conjunction with these thematic seminars, the campus art museum develops an
exhibitions and curators or museum educators lead academic interactions with the
exhibition, while also serving as guest lecturers in classes.
Some of the museums play collaborative roles on campus and in the
community as well. For example, as Oberlin College went through a renovation
process, it was responsive to a campus “green” initiative, investing in geothermal
wells to reduce its energy consumption by fifty percent. This was recognized by
students as “setting a standard and showing what the museum can do for the
environment.” For another example, over the last five years, the University of
Missouri (MU) Museum of Art and Archaeology has run a special therapeutic art
program for Alzheimer’s patients in collaboration with the Adult Day Connection,
and in consultation with the MU Interdisciplinary Center on Aging and the
Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. The program includes art creation, visits to the
museum, and provision of reproductions of favorite works for people’s rooms. The
exemplary campus art museum links with and bring its strengths to communities
and initiatives beyond its walls.
Institutional Structures
The culture of the museum is a mix of the physical space, the collections, and
the people—museum staff, faculty, administrators. With people it’s a history
4. The educational practices identified for high-impact learning include first-year seminars, common intellectual
experiences, learning communities, writing-intensive courses, collaborative assignments and projects, research, diversity/
global learning, service learning, internships, and capstone courses and projects.
Supportive Campus Cultures and Structures
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