The Practicum Course Model: Embracing the Museum–University Culture Clash

Abstract

Museums and universities have natural connections. Yet with few exceptions, collaborations between them segregate each partner to its traditional sphere of activity. This article presents a practicum course model that blurs and overlaps the distinctive roles of the museum and university in productive and mutually beneficial ways. In particular, working with undergraduates on an applied project with public relevance invites us to reconsider university and museum spaces as labs or studios. This offers strategies for bringing into the museum content that may be ambiguous, sensitive, polarizing, academic, or run contrary to accepted beliefs. This article shares lessons learned over five years of developing partnerships between the Johns Hopkins University and various sized independent and university museums and other heritage organizations such as the Baltimore Museum of Art, Jewish Museum of Maryland, Baltimore National Heritage Area and the Maryland Zoo. It illustrates these lessons with two case studies, one focused on a project at a national institution, the other on a partnership with a university historic house.

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