6000 Level Art Administration Course Descriptions

ARTSAD 6010
Curatorial Practice
An examination of connoisseurship and the handling of original works of art in museums, commercial galleries, corporate settings, and alternative space galleries.

ARTSAD 6014
Exhibition Seminar: History and Practice
This seminar focuses initially on the history and theory of exhibitions and continues with an analysis of contemporary exhibition practices. A wide range of exhibition paradigms will be explored, from early encyclopedic notions of the exhibition as source of authority and connoisseurship, to current dialogic and contestatory models linked with issues of access and globalism. Basic curatorial issues, including that of the relationship of the curatorial thesis to the artist’s intent, and of the role of curator as interpreter and arbiter, will be discussed. Students develop and present their own exhibition proposals for the final project.

ARTSAD 6015
Collections Practicum
This course will be built around a number of Chicago-based collections (initially the Roger Brown Study Collection), and the ongoing effort to organize, conserve, manage, and present the thousands of objects that they contain. The class will undertake an aspect of the ongoing work with collections, learning and implementing a broad range of professional practices including documentation, registration, storage, environmental control, security, packing, shipping, and conservation. Students will learn both traditional museum practices which have been developed for collections of fine art objects (e.g. paintings, sculpture, etc.) and will also be exposed to the expanding field of collections care regimens that are being developed for collections which combine artworks with ephemera, ethnographic objects, material and popular culture, photographic and electronic media, and other types of objects in their holdings.

ARTSAD 6085
Thesis I
Thesis 1 is designed to provide the student with the skills necessary to generate research questions, critically evaluate research studies, construct research design, and generate viable thesis proposals. This will be accomplished through lecture, discussion, activities, and the students developing a research proposal of their own design. The focus will be on applications-based research and the development of a thesis proposal to complete studies in the MAAA program. It will also involve the study of institutional research methods such as program evaluation, needs assessment, market surveys, and descriptive market and quasi-experimental techniques as appropriate. The overall concern is that students develop thesis proposals which promise to yield original research of value to the field. You must be a Master of Arts in Arts Administration student to enroll in this course.

ARTSAD 6095
Thesis II
A master’s thesis is required for completion of the master’s degree in arts administration. The thesis should demonstrate a student’s ability to design, justify, execute, evaluate, and present the results of original research or of a substantial project. Students work closely with an MAAA program advisor, and meet frequently with other MAAA participants in thesis tutorials. The thesis is presented, in both written and oral form, to a thesis committee for both initial and final approval. Students will also attend monthly colloquia in which a topic related to the field is discussed and analyzed, with presentations made either by faculty members or guest lecturers. You must be a Master of Arts in Arts Administration student to enroll in this course.