Museums: Humanities in the Public Sphere

FAIN: EH-261583-18

Regents of the University of California, Santa Cruz (Santa Cruz, CA 95064-1077)
Karen Bassi (Project Director: February 2018 to November 2021)
Gretchen Ernster Henderson (Co Project Director: March 2018 to November 2021)

A four-week summer institute for 25 college and university teachers to examine museums as sites of cultural meaning, to be held in Washington, DC.

"Museums: Humanities in the Public Sphere" is an in-depth exploration of museums and curated cultural collections around Washington, D.C. The four-week Institute approaches museums as sites for interdisciplinary inquiry into advances in humanistic and scientific research, the effects of ongoing international conflicts, the speed of evolving technologies, and ethical debates over privacy and sustainability and cultural heritage. These explorations are guided by weekly lectures and seminars led by six outstanding Visiting Faculty and a renowned Visiting Artist, working together with local museum specialists. Complemented by carefully chosen readings, excellent library resources, and targeted museum visits as case studies, the Institute is guided by the principle that museums offer windows on the educational, ethical, and cultural debates that define the humanities today.