Gallery talk in Mechanical Hall Gallery
Dance class in Old College Gallery
Teaching in the Mineralogical Museum
Class Sessions
A core part of our educational mission as academic museums is collaboration with University faculty to integrate the collections into their classes. Students studying all disciplines benefit from the Museums Collections and gain valuable skills from visual, experiential, and object-focused learning. Museums staff work with faculty to teach classes about conservation, art, art history, history, mineralogy, gemology, geology, pigments, environmental issues, foreign languages, poetry and creative writing, literature, fashion and apparel studies, and business (marketing and entrepreneurship) to name just a few.
Class sessions can include a guided tour of an exhibition, a close looking exercise related to course content, an activity to develop communication or writing skills, and more. We can work with you to develop sessions that supplement course content or reinforce skills you address in your teaching. For larger classes, faculty have the opportunity to work with curators to select specific artworks to put on display in our two Study Rooms for students to view independently. Additionally, our Education staff are happy to partner with faculty to highlight objects in the collection for in-class discussion.
Curious but not sure where to start? Our staff would love to learn more about what you teach and brainstorm ideas with you. We encourage faculty who are interested in incorporating a visit into their classes to please contact Museums.
Teaching in Mechanical Hall Gallery
Public Tours
The galleries are free and open to the public and we welcome visitors to come in and view exhibitions or attend one of our events. Interested in learning more about what exhibition development entails? Want to dive deeper into the art or minerals on view in an exhibition? A guided tour is a great opportunity to learn more about the Museums, the collections, and current exhibitions. Our Museums staff are able to offer guided tours during certain times of year and with advance notice. Those interested in scheduling a tour, please contact Museums.