We invite international submissions to be included in this forthcoming book which we're publishing in June 2012.

College and university museums originated out of the desire to teach with, and learn from, original objects. These museums today aim to be active participants in the teaching life of their campus communities and vital sites for learning, interdisciplinary dialogue and collaboration, and professional training in many disciplines. Academic museums differ from their freestanding counterparts in that they can express their mandates in broader and more innovative ways. They can, for example, install exhibitions that explore controversial topics or artists under the “umbrella” of education. They can create small, focused shows with little pressure to produce blockbuster exhibitions. They can include campus voices in exhibitions, and foster critical dialogues within and beyond the classroom. And they can explore the teaching possibilities of a broad range of objects and exhibit those objects in new or unorthodox ways. 

By definition college and university museums have parent organizations and function within a larger educational mission. In this two-tier environment governance, administration, finances, and fundraising all become more complex. Perhaps the greatest source of tension is around the mission of the museum and how its mission relates to that of the college or university. In recent years some parent organizations have questioned the need for maintaining a museum, and some have attempted to monetize art collections to raise capital.

Submissions

We welcome submissions – of between 2000 to 6000 words – that examine successful strategies, tactics and activities within the academic museum community internationally. We are particularly interested in practical experiences which are innovative or pioneering in nature, and which may be capable of being applied within the wider museum community. 

Topics might include but are not limited to:

• developing exhibitions that explore controversial topics or artists
• cultivating critical dialogues within and beyond the classroom
• engaging a diverse community and including campus voices in museum programming
• how a college/university museum is uniquely positioned for innovation, risk-taking, and challenging audiences in exhibitions and object interpretation
• the museum’s role as a site for interdisciplinary teaching and learning
• how the mission of the museum relates to, or conflicts with, the mission of the parent institution
• how the trustees of the parent institution resolve the tension between the desire to preserve the museum’s collection and the obligation to sustain the broader educational mission
• the value and opportunities in object-based learning
• cultivating relationships with faculty across disciplines and helping them integrate a museum’s resources into their teaching
• building a collection appropriate to the educational institution and its audiences
• organizing exhibitions with faculty members and students
• how a college/university museum defines its community, how it perceives its role in the community, and how can it contribute to the relationship between the educational institution and the greater community
• the unique opportunities that academic museums offer for experiential learning and mentoring students
• fundraising and donor relations within a larger non-profit entity
• promoting the value of a museum to administrators and trustees 
• how to successfully compete for funds
• securing outside grants as a museum with a parent organization
• case studies of recent or current innovative and pioneering programs

Submitting a proposal

If you are interested in being considered as a contributor, please send an abstract (up to 250 words) and a short biography to both the editors (at AMEditors@gmail.com) and the publishers (at books@museumsetc.com) by 16 January 2012. Enquiries should also be sent to these addresses. Contributors will receive a complimentary copy of the publication and a discount on more.

The book will be published in both print and eBook formats by MuseumsEtc in June 2012. 

The editors

Academic Museums will be edited by Stefanie S. Jandl and Mark S. Gold, both of whom have long-standing interest in the challenges and opportunities unique to academic museums. Stefanie is a museum professional with over twenty years of experience that includes exhibition planning, collections outreach, and collections management. For many years she was the Andrew W. Mellon Associate Curator for Academic Programs at the Williams College Museum of Art in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Mark Gold is a partner in the law firm of Parese, Sabin, Smith & Gold, LLP, in Williamstown, Massachusetts. His diverse practice includes nonprofit and museum law. Mark has done considerable research on the ethical rule pertaining to the use of the proceeds of deaccessioning and is the author of several articles on this topic, including ”Death by Ethics” published in Museum News. For the 2012 annual meeting of the American Association of Museums Gold will be chairing a session, The New Accreditation Standard for Museums with Parent Organizations:  How Will It Play in the Boardroom? Jandl and Gold co-authored The Practical and Legal Implications of Efforts to Keep Deaccessioned Objects in the Public Domain, in Museums and the Disposals Debate (MuseumsEtc, 2011).

DEADLINES

ABSTRACTS: due 16 January 2012

CONTRIBUTORS NOTIFIED: by 21 January 2012

COMPLETED PAPERS: due 13 April 2012

PUBLICATION: June 2012

Click here to download the PDF version of this Call for Papers