Close Looking in the Museum: Pedagogies in Practice

Museums are spaces for learners of all kinds to question, wonder, investigate, discuss, and build practical and analytical skills. Yet the average museum visitor spends less than 30 seconds looking at a work of art. How does one even begin to look closely? And how can we convince audiences of the power of slowing down? Based in the diverse, world-class collections at the Harvard Art Museums, this practice-based course explores a variety of strategies for close looking and object-based learning, while taking a critical approach to these pedagogies. We read key scholarship on a range of methods for learning from art and other objects, and then model and assess those methods ourselves. We explore what close looking can feel like for various types of learners and imagine creative ways to engage them longer and more deeply. Course activities include field-testing and reflecting on various close-looking strategies at the Harvard Art Museums, active discussions, and group work. Readings on theories and methods in museum pedagogy, with particular emphasis on art museum pedagogy, form the basis of our inquiries. The final project is for students to design a hypothetical museum-based learning experience for an audience of their choice. Students may not take both MUSE E-141 (offered previously) and MUSE S-141a for degree or certificate credit.