The Museum Studies Program at Johns Hopkins University proves that hands-on experiences are the best way to learn. Graduate students recently collaborated with Cuseum to delve into the world of digital media in museums. When the students came to Boston for an intensive seminar, their main project was to evaluate new technologies at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. With strong research and concise presentations, they were able to take advantage of what they learned at Cuseum to benefit the museum and their education.
Joining us for a guest post: Gail Ringel, Lecturer, Museum Studies at Johns Hopkins University!
Graduate students from Johns Hopkins University’s Museum Studies Program recently spent an intensive two-week seminar in Boston, where they were grateful for the opportunity to work with Cuseum’s Dan Sullivan and Brendan Ciecko. As a Museum Studies Program, our mission was to think about new media in museums and how it raises issues of authority and enables greater engagement with the public. While contemplating this, we raced from one museum to the next, visiting more than a dozen in nine days. We observed that these museum visits raised a lot of questions about the “how” and “why” of museum media. While discussing these media questions, students learned about Cuseum and its approach to digital technologies in the museum world.
“Cuseum's platform… for museums was absolutely fascinating to me, I was very impressed and could not help but think of how well it could be used in the museum that I work in.”
Students, in collaboration with museum staff, evaluated new digital installations at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Cuseum’s wide-ranging experience and command of available technologies provided valuable input as they analyzed data and made sense of the findings.
By working with Cuseum on this project, students also gained insight on how to make digital media language more accessible and presentable.
“My biggest excitement of the day was our meeting with the Cuseum team. They gave us so many good points about our presentation, but also about our content – what isn’t necessary, what is. It’s great to have a casual back and forth before we hunker down and present the final product!”
The insight provided by Brendan and Dan elevated our game, and made our work with the Gardner Museum the highlight of the two-week intensive seminar.