Liliana Milkova (Diaspora MON Fellow, Jan ‘24 – Mar ‘24) will present to the fellow group her research on:

The Pedagogic Power of Art: Teaching with Museum Collections across the University Curriculum

on 15 February (Thursday), 16:30 h.

Moderated by Kim Holleman.

Abstract:

Liliana Milkova, Ph.D., Yale University Art Gallery

In the last thirty years, campus art museums in the U.S. have grown increasingly relevant to university curricula and become active contributors to higher education. Collection-based teaching has gained momentum through the development and integration of effective art-based pedagogies across disciplines as varied as biology, computer science, history, literature, music, and neuroscience. Research demonstrates that thoughtfully designed learning experiences with art can pique student interest in any course subject, facilitate deep learning and connection-making, strengthen specific skills and thinking dispositions, as well as cultivate perspective-taking and celebrate diversity. In this presentation I focus on the theory and practice of teaching with original works of art, highlighting specific examples from my extensive professional practice and arguing for art’s place in today’s university curriculum. My project’s broader goal is to situate museums as valuable educational partners to faculty and students in any field, but also to university leaders and administrators, and further to offer accessible entry points into the range of interdisciplinary teaching and learning possibilities that a museum collection readily affords.

—

Photograph by Jessica Smolinski, courtesy of the Yale University Art Gallery.