The Art History and Curatorship Internship provides students with behind-the-scenes privileged access to Canberra’s leading art cultural institutions. A series of field visits are hosted by specialist art museum staff and led by the Art History and Curatorship academics. Students will meet staff from these arts institutions and discover the specialist activities within the institutions that relate to the collection, care and display of art objects. Focus areas may include collection management, storage, object handling and house-keeping conservation, research, exhibition development and design, and written, oral and technological communication strategies. The week-long intensive undertaken towards the end of the course at the Australian National University’s Drill Hall Gallery introduces students to the development, marketing and staging criteria of curating an art exhibition, the networks behind the travelling exhibition, and the exhibition’s role in providing a range of communication and outreach activities for the University community and the wider public. Throughout this course, students encounter, observe and learn about the inter-related activities that go into making the experience of accessing and visiting the art museum both educative and enjoyable.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:
Upon successful completion of this course, students will have the skills and knowledge to:
- Analyse, evaluate and report on the rationales and practices of an art institutions.
- Differentiate clearly between the objectives and collecting, exhibition and educative strategies and policies of the respective arts institutions.
- Understand, identify and describe the respective and inter-related roles of art museum personnel in developing, maintaining, presenting and marketing art collections.
- Identify, evaluate and articulate in written and oral forms the developmental criteria behind the funding, sponsorship, the timing, makings and staging of an art exhibition, and the art exhibition’s communication and outreach channels.
Indicative Assessment
a 4,000 word research essay that analyses and evaluates the different philosophies and missions of the respective cultural institutions visited throughout this course, and critically addresses the differing purposes and roles in collecting, and their collection management practices, their exhibition and interpretation strategies and outreach communication strategies (worth 50%)- (Learning outcomes: 1, 2, 3 & 4).
a 3,000 word evaluative critique and analysis of an art exhibition current at the time of the course’s delivery (worth 30%)-(Learning outcomes: 1, 2, & 4).
a 1,000 word presentation paper that reflects critically on the intensive held at the Drill Hall Gallery (worth 20%)-(Learning outcomes: 1, 3, & 4).
The ANU uses Turnitin to enhance student citation and referencing techniques, and to assess assignment submissions as a component of the University's approach to managing Academic Integrity. While the use of Turnitin is not mandatory, the ANU highly recommends Turnitin is used by both teaching staff and students. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the ANU Online website.
Workload
48 contact hours including:
- 8 x 2 hour access sessions at art cultural institutions
- 32 hour week-long intensive at ANU’s Drill Hall Gallery
Independent study of 16 hours per week.
Requisite and Incompatibility
You will need to contact the School of Art to request a permission code to enrol in this course.
Prescribed Texts
O’Doherty, Brian, Inside the White cube: the ideology of the gallery space, Lapis Press, Santa Monica, 1976.
Marincola, Paula (ed.), What Makes a Great Exhibition?, Philadelphia Exhibitions Initiative, Philadelphia, 2006.
Thomas, Daniel, ‘Art Museums in Australia: a personal account’, http://nma.gov.au/research/understanding-museums/DThomas-2001.html
Thompson, John, (ed.), Manual of Curatorship: a guide to museum practice, Oxford, 1992 and later editions.
Schubert, Karsten, The Curator's Egg: the evolution of the museum concept from the French Revolution to the present day, One-Off Press, London, 2000
Minors
Fees
Tuition fees are for the academic year indicated at the top of the page.
If you are a domestic graduate coursework or international student you will be required to pay tuition fees. Students continuing in their current program of study will have their tuition fees indexed annually from the year in which you commenced your program. Further information for domestic and international students about tuition and other fees can be found at Fees.
- Student Contribution Band:
- 1
- Unit value:
- 12 units
If you are an undergraduate student and have been offered a Commonwealth supported place, your fees are set by the Australian Government for each course. At ANU 1 EFTSL is 48 units (normally 8 x 6-unit courses). You can find your student contribution amount for each course at Fees. Where there is a unit range displayed for this course, not all unit options below may be available.
| Units | EFTSL |
|---|---|
| 12.00 | 0.25000 |
Course fees
- Domestic fee paying students
| Year | Fee | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1994-2003 | $2940 | |
| 2014 | $4956 | |
| 2013 | $4944 | |
| 2012 | $4716 | |
| 2011 | $4620 | |
| 2010 | $4500 | |
| 2009 | $4356 | |
| 2008 | $4356 | |
| 2007 | $4356 | |
| 2006 | $4356 | |
| 2005 | $4356 | |
| 2004 | $3672 |
- International fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 1994-2003 | $4908 |
| 2014 | $7524 |
| 2013 | $7512 |
| 2012 | $6180 |
| 2011 | $6180 |
| 2010 | $6180 |
| 2009 | $6180 |
| 2008 | $6180 |
| 2007 | $5976 |
| 2006 | $5976 |
| 2005 | $5976 |
| 2004 | $5556 |
Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links
ANU utilises MyTimetable to enable students to view the timetable for their enrolled courses, browse, then self-allocate to small teaching activities / tutorials so they can better plan their time. Find out more on the Timetable webpage.
Class summaries, if available, can be accessed by clicking on the View link for the relevant class number.
Second Semester
| Class number | Class start date | Last day to enrol | Census date | Class end date | Mode Of Delivery | Class Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8842 | 21 Jul 2014 | 01 Aug 2014 | 31 Aug 2014 | 30 Oct 2014 | In Person | N/A |
