Art Museums and Exhibition Spaces

Student Learning Outcomes, Goals, Objectives:

Students successfully completing this course will be able to:

• Through written reflections and oral conversations, demonstrate an understanding of the different needs and expectations of art museum visitors and the ways in which museum staff can offer positive visit experiences.
• Utilize visual analysis, primary sources, and secondary literature to create and revise exhibition content, including a show thesis, checklist of artworks, gallery layout, and object labels.
• Demonstrate an ability to communicate effectively with colleagues across a variety of collaborative contexts that are common to museum work, including the development of shared written research notes, in-person discussions and brainstorming sessions, and peer editing.
• This course engages diverse scholarly perspectives to develop critical thinking, analysis, and debate, and inclusion of a reading does not imply endorsement.

Course Grading Information:

Activity/Performance Measure	Percentage/Points
Grammar and punctuation quizzes (in-class)	70 points
Participation / Attendance (in-class)	130 points
Written reading and research reflections	180 points
Preparatory exhibition assignments	80 points
Final artwork exhibition labels	40 points
Semi-formal presentation (5 - 7 minutes)	20 points

Grading Scale:

Grading Scale

Percentage	Letter Grade
94-100%	A
90-93%	A-
87-89%	B+
84-86%	B
80-83%	B-
77-79%	C+
73-76%	C
70-72%	C-
67-69%	D+
64-66%	D
61-63%	D-
60% and below	F

Attendance/Participation:

This is an in-person class. You may take 2 unexcused absences over the course of the semester and miss 2 in-class quizzes with no impact on your grade. You are not expected to contact the professor about these absences caused by minor illnesses or isolated life-events.

Each student’s lowest 2 quiz and participation grades will be “auto” dropped at the end of the term – these are your unexcused absences and are reflected in the point totals. Once a student has exceeded 2 missed quizzes/classes they will receive zeros for subsequent missed quizzes/classes. All missed assignments will appear as zeros until the end of the semester to allow students to keep track of their current count of missed Participation/Attendance; the auto-drop will happen at the end of the course.

OARS accommodations will, of course, be accounted for according to OARS paperwork.

Assignment grades will be dropped 10% for every 24-hour period past the deadline. Assignments submitted more than 3 days late will not be accepted.

In very special circumstances arrangements for an extension may be made at the discretion of the professor, but the key is open communication and keeping your professor informed of challenges you may encounter with deadlines. To qualify for any extension, you must email your professor no later than 24 hours after the original deadline. Students who have a major event impacting multiple classes may be asked to reach out to Students First or the Dean of Students in order to connect with the correct resources, as there will likely be multiple classes involved in expanded life circumstances.

Course Materials Purchased by the Students:

No course materials are required.