Curatorial Studies
The Curatorial Studies initiative equips students with foundational knowledge and skills in curatorial practice and archival science, enabling them to explore the collection and interpretation of cultural artifacts, archival documents, artwork, and scientific data.
Multi-Disciplinary & Institutional Collaboration
Hamilton’s Curatorial Studies initiative is broadly multidisciplinary, corresponding to our faculty’s areas of specialization as well as the expertise and collections of our institutional partners. In addition to humanities, arts, and sciences faculty, participants include trained professionals from campus and regional partners who bring distinctive and essential insights to the program.
Goals
Hamilton’s Curatorial Studies Initiative is funded by a generous grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to develop an interdisciplinary minor and experiential learning opportunities. The grant supports student internships and research fellowships at regional partner institutions, faculty course development awards and a speaker series. Funding for the initiative is also provided by Hamilton College.
Curatorial Studies courses will equip students with the foundational knowledge and skills of curatorial practice and archival science. Through coursework, students will explore the collection and interpretation of cultural artifacts, art objects, archival documents, rare books, manuscripts, and scientific data. They will also exhibit their curatorial or archival research as public scholarship under the direction of faculty and professionals at Hamilton College and partner institutions. Curatorial Studies students will:
- study the theory and ethics of collection, curation, and exhibition
- critically assess an exhibition, analyzing its organizational assumptions and foci
- study archival science; including knowledge of best practices and industry standards in the archives field
- understand how to develop the scope of an exhibition and to conduct research of texts, documents, and/or objects to mount an exhibition
- formulate an exhibition concept, conduct research, and interpret the content to design virtual or physical exhibitions that are accessible to general audiences and edifying to specialists
Working with physical objects can be profoundly different from working with digital artifacts. And yet many of the modes of curating physical materials pose remarkably similar challenges to conceptualizing a virtual collection and exhibition. Students will apply curatorial insights in the use of Digital Humanities (DH) technologies (e.g., Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), 3-D technology, and 360-degree videos) to analyze how the selection and organization of the space, lighting, and arrangement of objects creates meaning. Students who incorporate digital technologies in the curation and design of an exhibition will also consider subjects such as data collection, data visualization, and data ethics, including the intersection of these technologies with race, gender and privacy issues.
Funding Opportunities
The NEH grant provides funding for course creation or revision to develop the curatorial studies minor. Course development applications that propose additional work requiring travel, collaboration with other institutions, preparation of field trips, securing guest speakers, and/or the identification of public forums for the dissemination or display of student work are especially encouraged. Awards will be issued on a sliding scale based on whether the course is new or revised, the number of course weeks devoted to curatorial studies or archival science, and/or the percentage and types of curatorial or archival assignments.
Eligibility: Tenured faculty, tenure-track faculty, visiting faculty, and instructors
Application Period: Early March - Mid-April
Notification by: Early May
A grant from the National Endowment of the Humanities (NEH) provides funds for student summer internships and research fellowships with our campus and regional partners.
- Internships: Students can work with a range of museum professionals to support ongoing museum and archival projects as interns at partner institutions. Students will learn about and acquire essential skills for a career in Curatorial Studies and Archival Sciences.
- Research Fellowships: Students can propose independent projects that stem from coursework or internships, or collaborate on faculty research.
Eligibility: Rising sophomores, juniors, and seniors
Application Period: Early February-mid March
Notification by: Early April
A grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities for the Curatorial Studies Initiative provides support for public lectures related to courses this Fall. Funds may cover an honoraria of up to $1,000 and up to $1,250 for additional expenses. Speakers may include scholars, professionals from museums (e.g., art, science and technology, history, etc.), special collections, and/or archives.
Eligibility: Faculty and professional staff
Deadline: October 8, 2024 (for Fall 2024 semester)
Please contact Thomas Wilson or Marissa Ambio.
Regional Partnerships
Everson Museum of Art
Syracuse, N.Y.
Fenimore Art Museum and Farmers’ Museum
Cooperstown, N.Y.
MUNSON Museum of Art
Utica, N.Y.
Museum of Science and Technology (MOST)
Syracuse, N.Y.
Hamilton College Partnerships
Burke Library's Special Collections & Archives
Clinton, N.Y.
Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art
Clinton, N.Y.
Planning Committee
Thomas Wilson
Bates and Benjamin Professor of Classical and Religious Studies, Project Director
Clare Fitzgerald
Project Consultant
News & Stories
Curating Curiosity Through Summer Museum Internships
In 2023, the National Endowment for the Humanities awarded Hamilton a grant for its new curatorial studies program, and this summer a handful of students had the opportunity to work behind-the-scenes as interns at regional galleries and museums. We talked with a few about their experiences.
Five Reasons to Pursue the Curatorial Studies Program
Hamilton highlighted its new Curatorial Studies program on Feb. 12 with an information session featuring representatives from area museums. The new initiative, funded through a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, will give students interdisciplinary, hands-on experiences with museum curating that may lead to potential careers, summer internships, and research fellowships.
Hamilton Awarded NEH Grant for Curatorial Studies Collaboration
The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) recently awarded Hamilton College a $150,000 grant for a new curricular effort that will connect students and faculty with four regional cultural institutions, as well as the College’s Wellin Museum of Art and Burke Library’s Special Collections.
Contact
Office / Department Name
Curatorial Studies
Contact Name
Ariel Jarman
Temporary Assistant, Curatorial Studies
The Curatorial Studies initiative has been made possible in part by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of the NEH.
