Teaching with Museum Collections Across Disciplines

Date: 

Thursday, February 3, 2022, 1:30pm to 3:00pm

Location: 

Harvard Art Museums

The Harvard Art Museums and the Bok Center for Teaching and Learning are organizing a workshop on Teaching with Museum Collections Across Disciplines, designed for faculty and TFs of any subject. This is a great opportunity to engage with objects and explore options for teaching in the physical space of the Harvard Art Museums. 

Led by:

  • Jen Thum, Assistant Director of Academic Engagement and Assistant Research Curator, Harvard Art Museums
  • Rebecca Miller Brown, Assistant Director, Graduate Student Programming, Derek Bok Center

A Van Gogh analyzed by medical students. A landscape to think about climate change. Post-war prints to discuss the lives of noncombatants. Each semester, classes from disciplines across the university—on topics ranging from poetry to psychology—engage with original works of art at the Harvard Art Museums. Such objects can illustrate arguments, give tangible expression to ideas, and steward student engagement with new concepts and skills. In this workshop, we will explore the resources and collections at the Harvard Art Museums, modeling strategies for encouraging students of any discipline to look closely and think critically with works of art. Participants will also learn how they can collaborate with museums staff for future visits.

To register, please fill out this form. This program is designed for faculty and Teaching Fellows of any Harvard school and subject, and will take place in-person at the Harvard Art Museums. For the safety of our collections, this program is limited to 15 participants. Participation is free, but registration is required.

Arrival instructions will be provided via email a few days before the program.