Meets Together with HISTART 689-001, and MUSEUMS 498-001

This practice-oriented training will provide students with the skills necessary should they wish to pursue a curatorial career. As a case study, we will participate in the ongoing investigation and display of a spectacular collection of South and Southeast Asian Art housed at the Art Institute of Chicago. Together, we will first gain a working knowledge of material and visual culture produced and consumed in South and Southeast Asia over the past five millennia. Next, we will review voices and visions guiding the display of South and Southeast Asian art in Europe and North America since the late Middle Ages. Thereafter, we will study the forms and functions of select objects in the Art Institute of Chicago's permanent collections and those on long-term loan to the institution. Subsequently we will confer with specialists on their physical condition, propose provisional object groupings, gauge public interest in them through focus group testing, revising groupings based on feedback received from stakeholders, and learn to develop interpretive materials. This course will likely include at least one class visit to Chicago.

Textbooks/Other Materials: All students must buy the following textbooks: James Cuno, Museums Matter: In Praise of the Encyclopedic Museum (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2013). Vidya Dehejia, Indian Art (London: Phaidon, 1997). All other readings will be made available either as .pdf files on the Canvas website or as books on the reserve shelf of the Fine Arts Library.

Course Requirements: For undergraduate students (tentative breakdown)
15% Research Paper
25% Mid-Semester Class Presentation on Select Artifacts in the Art Institute of Chicago's Collections
30% Museum Labels for 20 Artifacts in the Art Institute of Chicago's Collections
15% Regular attendance and informed participation
15% Development of a Pop-Up Exhibition
10% Completion of Reading Worksheets

Intended Audience: Anyone welcome

Class Format: Two 80-minute meetings a week consisting of lectures, discussions etc.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $50-100

HISTART Distribution Requirements: Geographical Regions: C (Asia) and D (Europe and the U.S) Chronological Periods 1 (Ancient) 4 (Modern and Contemporary)