exploring the relationship of the object and the museum

LSA 2009/10 Theme Year

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Other Events

Click the items below for more information on each event.

January 19

Lecture: "What and Who Were Artists in Ancient Egypt"

Speaker: John Baines, (Oxford University and Member School of Historical Studies, Institute for Advanced Research, Princeton University)

Abstract: Ancient Egypt artworks were typically made by people whose names are not known to us, and many seem to have been destined for extremely small audiences. The only accessible form that had visibility for many people was large-scale architecture, but its message was as often one of exclusion as of addressing an outside audience. Yet the production of aesthetically ordered artifacts, built spaces, and events, many of them requiring vast resources, was a core activity of the society. The intellectual, creative, and physical labour of making these works must have engaged the leaders of the society, including the king. How far is it possible to capture and characterize the group who were responsible for commissioning and carrying out works, and can we trace chains of decision and action among patrons, designers, executants, and audiences? How different is the Egyptian case from those of many other traditions? This lecture uses material of widely varying types and periods to survey some of these issues.

This lecture is sponsored by the Department of Near Eastern Studies, Institute for Humanities, Kelsey Museum of Archaeology, History of Art Department, Interdisciplinary Program for Classical Art and Archaeology, and Museum of Anthropology.

5-6:30 pm, Room 2022, 202 S. Thayer

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January 20

Contexts for Classics: Objects as Texts: Reading the Bacchus Sarcophagus

A panel discussion moderated by Lauren Talalay (Kelsey Museum)

Panelists:
Linda Gregerson, English Department
Ian Moyer, History Department
Elaine Gazda, Kelsey Museum and History of Art
David Halperin, English and Comparative Literature
Katherine Love, History of Art

How do modern viewers look at an ancient object from different perspectives? Five scholars respond to a Roman sarcophagus in the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology at the University of Michigan.

4:00-6:00pm, Kelsey Museum

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January 21

Lecture: Asylum, Inside the Closed World of State Mental Hospitals

Presented by Christopher Payne

The University of Michigan Visual Culture Workshop presents a lecture by Christopher Payne, "Asylum: Inside the Closed World of State Mental Hospitals." Payne, a photographer from New York City, specializes in the documentation of America's vanishing architecture and industrial landscape. A trained architect who has documented structural forms for the National Park Service and produced drawings for scholarly excavations of Greco-Roman sites, Payne will be presenting work from his much-anticipated new book of images, Asylum: Inside the Closed World of State Mental Hospitals (MIT Press, 2009), the result of a six-year exploration of America's numerous, vast and largely abandoned state mental institutions. Join us for a guided photographic tour of these spaces, and a discussion of the social, medical, architectural, aesthetic and historiographic issues raised by such work.

This event, co-sponsored by the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, the Department of English Language and Literature, the Department of History of Art, the Center for the History of Medicine, the Victor Vaughan Society, the Institute for the Humanities, the Rackham Interdisciplinary Workshops, and UMMA is free and open to the public.

7:00-8:30pm, Helmut Stern Auditorium, Museum of Art

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January 26

CRLT Workshop: Teaching in, with, and about Museums: Engaging Students in Materially Different Ways

Lynn Anderson, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology
Kristin Hass, Program in American Culture and Women's Studies
Carla Sinopoli, Anthropology and Curator and Director, Museum of Anthropology
Lisa Young, Anthropology

This session provides ideas, examples, and collaborative possibilities to enhance pedagogy in a range of disciplines. The session will include brief presentations from faculty and from museum educators. The ideas will be provocative and useful, whether one wants to create a module or course assignment, or whether one wants to design an entire course around museum collections and exhibits. In addition, participants will receive an overview of the events and lectures planned for the 2009-2010 LSA Museum Theme Year, along with information on University Museums including the lesser known. This workshop is presented by CRLT as part of the LSA Theme Year.

Museum staff will be available to discuss their collections and ideas for collaboration. Among those present will be Kira Berman (Exhibit Museum of Natural History), Orian Neumann and Pam Reister (University of Michigan Museum of Art) and Lauren Talalay (Kelsey Museum of Archaeology).

2:00-4:00pm, CRLT Seminar Room, 1013 Palmer Commons
To register, please click here: http://www.crlt.umich.edu/faculty/facseminar.php

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January 30

History of Art Symposium Part I: "Contemporary Strategies in Documentary Photography"

Alec Soth

See Feb. 6 for Part II with Allan Sekula and Sally Stein. This two-part symposium explores new practices in documentary photography through the work of some of its most important contemporary practitioners. The first session is devoted to the work of Alec Soth. Soth (b. 1969) is a member of Magnum Photos. He rose to international prominence with the publication of his first monograph, Sleeping by the Mississippi, in 2004. A visual record of the people and things Soth encountered during his travels along the 2,300-mile river, it revealed Soth to be a new and important voice in the tradition of lyrical documentary developed by Walker Evans, Robert Frank, and others. Since then Soth has published NIAGARA (2006), Fashion Magazine (2007), Dog Days, Bogotá (2007) and The Last Days of W (2008), projects that have cemented his reputation of one of United States most important contemporary photographers. Soth's work is represented in major public and private collections, including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, and the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis; and his photographs have been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions, including the 2004 Whitney and São Paulo Biennials. He is represented by Gagosian Gallery in New York and Weinstein Gallery in Minneapolis.

Co-sponsors: U-M Museum of Art, Office of the Vice President for Research, Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, School of Art & Design, Institute for the Humanities, International Institute, Rackham, Eisenberg Institute for Historical Studies, Institute for Research on Women & Gender, History, English, American Culture.

1:30-4:00pm, Helmut Stern Auditorium, Museum of Art
visit www.lsa.umich.edu/histart/events for more information

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February 3

Exhibit Museum of Natural History and Program in the Environment Lecture: Signs of a Warming Climate: Is it Later Than we Think?

Philip Myers (U-M Museum of Zoology and Professor of Zoology and Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology)

When we compare recent surveys of distributions of mammal species in Michigan to historical records from museums, we find that the northern part of this state is literally being overrun by southern invaders. Data from weather stations and other sources reveal a strong and unequivocal pattern of warming over the last century. These two sets of observations come together in ongoing research at U-M¹s Biological Station in northern Michigan that explores how the numbers of one of the species of southern invaders, in this case white-footed mice, are affected by winter conditions.

This lecture is co-sponsored by the Program in the Environment and the Exhibit Museum of Natural History as part of the 2009-10 LSA Theme Year, Meaningful Objects: Museums in the Academy. Reception follows.

For directions and parking suggestions, visit: www.lsa.umich.edu/exhibitmuseum
For more information about the Program in the Environment, visit: www.lsa.umich.edu/pite

5:00-7:00pm, U-M Exhibit Museum of Natural History, 1109 Geddes Ave.

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February 4 - April 8, alternate Thursday evenings

Reading Circle

MLibrary hosts Reading Circle at Shapiro Undergraduate Library: an ongoing book club-style discussion of fiction related to the theme semester, including The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides.

Email readingcircle@umich.edu to join or for more information.

6pm - 7pm, ongoing on alternate Thursday evenings

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February 6

History of Art Symposium Part II: "Contemporary Strategiesd in Documentary Photography"

Alan Sekula and Sally Stein

See Jan. 30 for Part I with Alec Soth. This symposium explores new practices in documentary photography through the work of one of its most important contemporary practitioners. This symposium explores new practices in documentary photography through the work of one of some of its most important contemporary practitioners. Since the 1970s, Allan Sekula has been on the forefront of documentary practice, expanding our understanding of the photographic "objectivity" in his dual role as both photographer and theoretician. Sally Stein is an art historian whose field is the history of photography with particular interest in American photography of the New Deal era. Feminist issues and methodology consistently inform her efforts toward an interdisciplinary critical perspective. Among the many questions this symposium will raise are the following: How can socially and politically engaged photographers represent the effects of violence and exploitation without re-victimizing their subjects? Can photographs depict the hidden networks of power that today characterize global societies? And is it possible for photography to document the world and simultaneously make its spectators aware of the shifting and contextual nature of photographic meaning?

Co-sponsors: U-M Museum of Art, Office of the Vice President for Research, Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, School of Art & Design, Institute for the Humanities, International Institute, Rackham, Eisenberg Institute for Historical Studies, Institute for Research on Women & Gender, History, English, American Culture.

1:30-4:00pm, Helmut Stern Auditorium, Museum of Art
visit www.lsa.umich.edu/histart/events for more information

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February 9

Institute for Humanities Brown Bag Lecture/Artists at Work: Discussion of Various Works in South Africa and Current Exhibit at Institute for Humanities Gallery

Sanfu Mofokeng, South African Artist

12-1:30 PM, 202 S. Thayer St., Room 2022

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February 17

Science Café: To be announced

Sponsored by the Exhibit Museum of Natural History

Join us for hors d'oeuvres at 5:30 and a brief presentation at 6:00 pm, followed by discussion. Participants must be 21 to purchase alcoholic beverages. Everyone is welcome and invited to purchase additional food and beverages.

5:30-7:30 PM Conor O'Neill's Traditional Irish Pub, 318 South Main Street, Ann Arbor

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February 22

Metcalf Lecture: The Flavian Women: A Family Drama on Coins

Dr. Susan Wood (Oakland University)

5:30 - 7:00 PM, Classics Library, 2nd Floor, Angell Hall

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February 23

Institute for Humanities Brown Bag Lecture/Artists at Work: Discussion of Various Works throughout the Detroit area and Current Exhibit at Institute for Humanities Gallery

Scott Hocking, Detroit Sculptor and Artist

12-1:30 PM, 202 S. Thayer St., Room 2022

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March 23

Joukowsky Lecture: The Sea of Galilee Boat

Dr. Shelley Wachsmann, Institute of Nautical Archaeology

5:30 - 7:00 PM, Classics Library, 2nd Floor, Angell Hall


Lecture: Curatorial Decision Making in Times of Change

Betti-Sue Hertz, Director of Visual Arts, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco

Abstract: An art exhibition is an interpretive act of investigation into meaning and works of art, which depends on the construction of relational structures guided by awareness of art practices and history, culture in general, and the history of exhibition making. One of the challenges for the curator is to present works of art in the best viewing conditions possible and to create a social context for their reception, most often, but not necessarily, within the boundaries of physical space. Exhibitions of contemporary art are under constant dual pressure to appeal to audiences and at the same time strive for historical significance. These pressures are particularly acute as exhibitions are very rarely reconstructed at a later date. Therefore, experiencing an exhibition has a fixed window that while not as limited as a sports event that only happens once, share qualities with "I was there" events. In contrast, most artworks are either complete objects, repeatable, or meant to survive through document. They are designed with longevity in mind and can live in a variety of situations over time. In addition, new technologies of mediated viewership have changed audience expectations when faced with works of art in a gallery or museum environment. Taking all of this into consideration I will employ exhibitions that I have organized in recent years as case studies for navigating these conditions for current curatorial practice.

7 PM, University of Michigan Museum of Art

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March 24

Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library Lecture: Presidential Libraries and Museums in the 21st Century: Reflections on the Dilemmas of History, Legacy, and Politics

Sharon Fawcett, (Assistant Archivist for Presidential Libraries, National Archives and Records Administration)

7:30-9:00 PM, Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library, 1000 Beal Ave (North Campus)


Science Café: Evolutionary Science in Medicine: From Diseases to Doctor Training

Sponsored by the Exhibit Museum of Natural History

With Randolph Nesse, M.D., U-M Departments of Psychology and Psychiatry, and Institute for Social Research. From research on antibiotic resistance in disease organisms, to predicting flu epidemics, to the importance of training doctors to react to protect public health, the evolutionary science pervades the field of medicine and has been the focus of much recent research. Join us for a discussion of what some of the new research coming from this emerging field may mean for health and public policy.

Join us for hors d'oeuvres at 5:30 and a brief presentation at 6:00 pm, followed by discussion. Participants must be 21 to purchase alcoholic beverages. Everyone is welcome and invited to purchase additional food and beverages.

5:30-7:30 PM Conor O'Neill's Traditional Irish Pub, 318 South Main Street, Ann Arbor

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March 31

History of Art Department: Charles Lang Freer Lecture in the Visual Arts

Christopher Kit Luce

TBA

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April 20

Institute for Humanities Brown Bag Lecture: Oju: Face/Eye/Index/Presence in Yoruba Visual Culture

David Doris, History of Art

12-1:30 PM, 202 S. Thayer St., Room 2022

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