TAKE BACK THE MUSEUM

Harvard University

DMUSE E-154 | CRN 26292

Spring 2022

5:10-7:10pm, Monday

Dr. Jonathan Michael Square (jsquare@fas.harvard.edu)

Course Description

"Take Back the Museum" examines exhibitions that highlight the work of artists and designers who have been historically silenced or omitted from dominant narratives. The course will be structured around the analysis of examples of pioneering exhibitions mounted in the past decade or to be mounted in the near future. Case studies will include Inspiring Beauty: 50 Years of Ebony Fashion Fair, Willi Smith: Street Couture, Posing Modernity: The Black Model from Manet and Matisse to Today, Implicit Tensions: Mapplethorpe Now, among others. Through these case studies, the course will explore how these curatorial projects have countered institutional erasures. Geared towards students invested in the intersection of museum studies and curatorial justice, the course examines how exhibitions are critical to address issues of visibility and invisibility. The course will also directly engage with practitioners via guest speakers and virtual site visits throughout the semester.

Course Objectives/Learning Goals

By the successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

1. Students will learn about the radical potential of the field of curation to affect change.

2. This course has a heavy emphasis on praxis with students being asked to both engage with actual curators and virtual site visits.

3. Students will also be asked to mount their own virtual exhibitions inspired by the course topic or their own curatorial interests. 


Assignments and Grading

Students will be asked to write a review of an exhibition that is relevant to the course topic, but not included on the syllabus. The course will also culminate in a proposed exhibition that will have both a written and oral component. Students will be required to curate an virtual exhibition that will include digital images, “wall text,” programming, and a long curatorial statement. They will also be asked to present this exhibition to the class on the last day of the course.

grade breakdown

Class presentation (on the last day of class) 10%

Attendance & participation 10%

Exhibition review 30%

Exhibition proposal 50%

Accommodation Requests. Harvard Extension School is committed to providing an inclusive, accessible academic community for students with disabilities and chronic health conditions. The Accessibility Services Office (ASO) (https://extension.harvard.edu/for-students/support-and-services/accessibility-services/) offers accommodations and support to students with documented disabilities. If you have a need for accommodations or adjustments, contact Accessibility Services directly via email at accessibility@extension.harvard.edu or by phone at 617-998-9640.

Academic Integrity. You are responsible for understanding Harvard Extension School policies on academic integrity (https://extension.harvard.edu/for-students/student-policies-conduct/academic-integrity/) and how to use sources responsibly. Stated most broadly, academic integrity means that all course work submitted, whether a draft or a final version of a paper, project, take-home exam, online exam, computer program, oral presentation, or lab report, must be your own words and ideas, or the sources must be clearly acknowledged. The potential outcomes for violations of academic integrity are serious and ordinarily include all of the following: required withdrawal (RQ), which means a failing grade in the course (with no refund), the suspension of registration privileges, and a notation on your transcript.

Using sources responsibly (https://extension.harvard.edu/for-students/support-and-services/using-sources-effectively-and-responsibly/) is an essential part of your Harvard education. We provide additional information about our expectations regarding academic integrity on our website. We invite you to review that information and to check your understanding of academic citation rules by completing two free online 15-minute tutorials that are also available on our site. (The tutorials are anonymous open-learning tools.)

Course Schedule