Mellon Faculty Seminar visit to the National Museum of African Art, January 2009
In this section and throughout the Tang's website, you will find links to exhibitions, events, assignments, and pedagogies developed by Skidmore faculty to utilize the museum as an interdisciplinary teaching resource. Skidmore faculty use the Tang, its exhibitions and collections as a resource for teaching, a classroom, and a subject for research and writing. Faculty also regularly serve as co-curators and organizers of exhibitions; as choreographers, directors and performers in dance and music at the museum; as authors for catalog essays and gallery texts; and as participants in lectures and dialogues.
Faculty members from many different disciplines have used the Tang to stimulate exploration and discovery in a variety of ways in the classroom. These include visits to the exhibitions, research using objects from the collections, critiques and discussions with visiting artists from Tang exhibitions, and use of Tang catalogues as class texts. Class assignments involving the Tang have taken the form of analytic essays, research papers, oral and visual presentations, and even small exhibitions within the museum. When asked how students are engaged with course material when working with the Tang, faculty noted that students performed deeper analysis of material, questioned assumptions, took conceptual leaps, and demonstrated enthusiasm for the material.
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Bringing Your Class
The Tang offers self-guided and docent-led tours for college groups during normal gallery hours. For group tours or visits, please contact Susi Kerr at 518-580-5532 or skerr@skidmore.edu. Advanced notice of two weeks is appreciated.
Please include the following information in your email or voicemail:
- •Group name (college and class title)
- •Expected number of participants
- •Faculty name, phone number, and email
- •Exhibit(s) you’d like to view
- •Preferred date and time for your tour
- •Special needs your group might have
Gallery Hours
September through May
Tuesday - Friday 10am to 5pm
Thursday 10am to 9pm
Saturday & Sunday 12pm to 5pm
Closed Mondays and major holidays
June through August
Tuesday - Thursday 10am to 5pm
Friday 10am to 7pm
Saturday & Sunday 12pm to 5pm
Closed Mondays and major holidays
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Collections Access
Skidmore faculty and faculty from other area colleges wishing to use the Tang Museum collection in their teaching are encouraged to contact Tang Registrar, Elizabeth Karp. The museum’s expanding collection of over four thousand, five hundred artworks and ethnographic objects serves primarily as a learning resource, and faculty can arrange to meet their students in the museum’s Kettlewell Print Study Room and in the Study and Permanent Collections Area, both designed by architect Antoine Predock to be easily accessible to faculty and students.
Faculty interested in collections use should contact Tang staff at least two weeks before prospective visits to select objects and plan their visit. Objects from the collection are also frequently on view in teaching exhibitions originated in collaboration with Skidmore faculty.
Skidmore students and faculty can access a broad selection of images of the collection through the college’s ArtStor database. A smaller selection of collection images is available to all site visitors in the collections section of the website.
Access to the collection is available by appointment. Please contact Elizabeth Karp, Museum Registrar & Collections Manager, either via email at ekarp@skidmore.edu or by phone at 518.580.5065. Advanced notice of at least ten weekdays is required to ensure that all requests for viewing can be accommodated.
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Faculty Liaison
As a member of the English and Environmental Studies departments, Professor Alison Barnes serves as the Faculty Liaison to the Tang Museum. In this role she offers peer guidance to faculty members engaged in museum-based teaching. This includes discussions about shaping museum assignments, implementing classes within the museum, and developing curricula that utilizes the museum throughout the semester. The Faculty Liaison also supports communication between the college and the museum by connecting faculty with the museum staff members who will best support their engagement with the museum: the curatorial, education and registration staff, and the Tang administration.
Professor Barnes teaches interdisciplinary courses at Skidmore, including the course “Writing in the Tang.” Her engagement with faculty seminars at Skidmore extends to both the Luce seminars and the ongoing Mellon seminars. She is currently collaborating with Tang staff members and Skidmore faculty from across the disciplines to develop web resources that support faculty engagement with the museum.
The Faculty Liaison is available by request throughout the academic year for individual and group discussions. Please contact her through email: abarnes@skidmore.edu.
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