A Spring 2024 Department of Art History course brought students into The Block to think about the evolving obligations of museums. Taught by Kathleen Bickford Berzock, Professor of Practice in Anthropology and Block Museum Associate Director of Curatorial Affairs, the class titled “Museums and Responsibility,” began with a conversation around the very definition of museum. Students looked at four iterations of the International Committee on Museums’ (ICOM) definition of “museum” before diving into an interdisciplinary look at museums’ relationships, including to communities, objects in their collections, and their own individual and collective histories. In doing so, the class engaged with a wealth of case studies and guest speakers, including Block exhibitions, staff members, and partner organizations.  

Berzock said thinking critically about museums invites us to think more broadly about the history of culture and power. A museum is never a neutral space, and its implications go beyond art and art history. 

“Museums are sites for connecting with art, but also sites where we can think about the way that culture and power structures are embedded in institutions,” she said.  

In addition to inspiring critical reflection on the roles and responsibilities of museums, the course also engaged students, some of whom already have experience within the field. For Audrey Bannister, a Block Undergraduate Curatorial Intern and American Studies major, the course helped further illuminate the depth of care behind museum work. 

“This course has helped me realize even more how much intention and thought is behind what the museum does,” Bannister said. 

For Maggie Munday Odom, a Student Supervisor for the Dittmar Memorial Gallery and dual major in Theater and English, Museums and Responsibility was a valuable introduction to important concepts in the field.  

“I appreciated the nuance with which we approach thinking about Indigeneity in museums. The class gifted me the ability to approach topical conversations with more thoughtfulness and a deeper understanding of the varied perspectives and varied stakeholders involved,” she said. 

Being able to learn within The Block’s galleries and through encounters with staff guest lecturers enlivened the course material for students. Participating Block staff included Assistant Director of Collections and Exhibition Management and Senior Registrar Kristina Bottomley, Collections and Exhibitions Coordinator Joe Scott, Associate Director of Collections and Exhibition Management Dan Silverstein, Ellen Philips Katz Executive Director Lisa Corrin, Steven and Lisa Munster Tananbaum Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art Janet Dees, and Guest Co-Curator of Indigenous Art Jordan Poorman Cocker. 

Odom said learning from Berzock and other museum professionals provided a direct connection to the work.  

“It was so cool to get to actually learn from someone who has so much experience in the field and who is living these issues,” Odom said.  

“Presenting a course is great for the way that it makes possible extended, in-depth engagement with students around a particular topic.”

– Museums and Responsibility Professor Kathleen Bickford Berzock

One class period took students beyond The Block to learn from museum experts outside Northwestern. As part of the course’s look at Indigenizing museums, one session included a visit to Evanston’s Mitchell Museum of the American Indian with Executive Director Kim Vigue and Development Director Joseph Gackstetter. By broadening the range of institutions and professionals students engaged with, the course offered a wealth of perspectives to consider on topical issues. 

“Going to the Mitchell Museum was interesting too, because it was helpful to see another museum and how they approach the same kinds of ideas of care for visitors and artists,” Bannister said. 

Case studies on A Site of Struggle: American Art against Anti-Black Violence and Actions for the Earth: Art, Care & Ecology let students probe the ways two Block exhibitions engaged in practices of care for museum guests. 

Berzock said recurring themes in the class involved questions of care and obligation, which frequently exist in tension within museums. In some cases, a museum’s obligation to its community might clash with its obligation to its collection. In others, one notion of object care might contrast another, as in care for objects from cultural origins that prioritize use or touch over longevity in preservation. 

“There are Anishinaabe protocols for caring for a black ash basket, like spritzing it with water, or putting things in it so it’s fulfilling its function, or bringing it out and spending time with it,” she said. “These are sometimes counterintuitive to the Eurocentric principles of care that are typical in museums within the United States or Europe.” 

Bringing The Block into the classroom and the classroom into The Block allows for more in-depth consideration of relevant topics in museum studies at a time of particular interest for the field. Questions about museums’ various responsibilities and their significance in conversations around issues including collections care, community engagement, restitution and repatriation, and climate action allowed students to envision a better future for the field.  

“In our wrap-up conversation, it became clear that as a group, we’ve all grown more aware of ways we want to see museums stepping up and acting on their responsibilities to the communities they’re connected to, whether through forms of accessibility, accountability, care, or listening,” Berzock said.  

Those issues and the perspectives students consulted in considering them are already shaping a new generation of museum professionals.In her work as an undergraduate intern, Bannister curated an installation for The Block’s conference room, where she drew on things she learned from the class.

“I think that thinking about the histories of certain communities and bringing them to light is really interesting and important for broadening our perspectives,” she said. “I’d say I took that from the museum class and kept it in consideration when crafting my installation.” 

Odom felt likewise, noting a parallel between reflections prompted by the course and her work with the Dittmar Gallery.  

“I realized how much work is being done to make museums more accessible spaces,” she said. 

The course and its impact on students of many academic disciplines speaks to The Block’s commitment to being a space for learning and knowledge-sharing. 

“Block staff engage with curricular teaching and co-curricular learning in so many ways,” Berzock said. “Block curators enjoy teaching through their affiliations in multiple departments and programs, and presenting a course is great for the way that it makes possible extended, in-depth engagement with students around a particular topic.”