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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.

Project Summary

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

Course Development Award Information

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.

Speaker Funding Request

Regional Partnerships

Hamilton College Partnerships

Planning Committee

Marissa Ambio

Associate Professor of Hispanic Studies, Project Director

mambio@hamilton.edu

 

Thomas Wilson

Bates and Benjamin Professor of Classical and Religious Studies, Project Director

twilson@hamilton.edu

 

Tracy Adler

Johnson-Pote Director of Wellin Museum of Art

tadler@hamilton.edu

 

Mackenzie Cooley

Associate Professor of History

mcooley@hamilton.edu

 

Christian Goodwillie

Director and Curator of Special Collections and Archives

cgoodwil@hamilton.edu

 

Rob Knight

Associate Professor of Art

rbknight@hamilton.edu

 

Laura Tillery

Assistant Professor of Art History

ltillery@hamilton.edu

 

Clare Fitzgerald

Project Consultant

 

News & Stories

Mia Horvath ’25 working at the Fenimore Art Museum in Cooperstown as part of the curatorial studies program.

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.

Shelly Cao ’23 gives a tour as a Wellin Docent

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.

special collections index card

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

National Endowment for the HumanitiesThe 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.

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