MuseumLAB: Teaching with the Collection
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Each year, professors in departments ranging from Classics to Economics teach hundreds of students in the largest classroom on campus: the Middlebury College Museum of Art. Discussing art produced throughout history and around the globe offers students perspective on the topic at hand—and space to reflect on their own place in today’s complex world.
MuseumLAB, an experiment in interdisciplinary education, invites the public to engage in similar explorations. Professors from across the curriculum have selected pieces from the museum’s collection to catalyze conversation in their current classes (summarized in the accompanying course descriptions). In turn, visitors are encouraged to contemplate the questions sparked by the juxtapositions in this “learning laboratory,” which supports courses in American studies, art history, comparative literature, English and American literature, environmental studies, gender studies, history, neuroscience, psychology, and religion.