Research Area Expertise Sought: Including but not limited to Decolonial and critical theory, religious studies, pre-modern history, and/or the art and visual/material culture of the Global South,
This is a co-curricular research fellowship opportunity open to doctoral students in good standing at Michigan State University
Dates: Fall Semester, 2021
Work Hours: TBD, Flexible
Work Environment: Virtual and In-Person
Credits Bearing: No
Fellowship Stipend: TBD, Depending on Scope of Work
About the Fellowship
The MSU Broad Art Museum is seeking graduate fellows to assist in the research and organization of the upcoming exhibition History Told Slant (January 15–August 7, 2022). The artworks on view offer a survey of the museum’s permanent collection. Formerly the Kresge Art Museum collection, and now 63 years in the making, the MSU Broad Art Museum collection includes more than 10,000 objects that span geographies, cultures, and time periods. By utilizing diverse works from within the collection and experimental object displays and interpretative strategies, the exhibition will disrupt conventions of the western art historical canon, while also acknowledging the gaps and historical blind spots within the collection itself, to offer a more inclusive vision of the history of art. Emphasis will be placed on artists, artistic practices, and cultures that have historically been excluded or under-represented, drawing specific attention to the artworks and stories of women and people of color. Canonical works will also be reexamined, in light of the “other” stories they might tell. The exhibition will additionally include a section focused on the history of art at MSU and in the mid-Michigan region.
Exhibition description
History Told Slant examines how diverse visual storytelling strategies can support disruptions to dominant histories and make new kinds of stories possible to tell. History, like all stories, is shaped by those with the power to represent it. But any singular effort to control a narrative is a doomed process. Certain figures and narratives are made visible and certain power dynamics are obscured. Western conceptions of storytelling generally feature distinct concepts such as character, setting, and narrative, but how can the limits of these concepts be challenged or woven together? How can stories be told slant?
Fellowship description
The graduate fellows will work closely with the exhibition curators to create interpretative content in support of the exhibition; this may include:
- researching artworks
- writing in-gallery exhibition texts
- producing multimodal interpretative materials (such as video interviews, visual essays, brochure content, etc.)
- designing and implementing a public program
- contributing to the overall conceptualization of the exhibition
We are seeking graduate students with research focuses and expertise in (but not limited to) decolonial and critical theory, religious studies, pre-modern history, and/or the art and visual/material culture of the Global South. This very broad range of research corresponds to the breadth of the MSU Broad Art Museum collection and the artworks on view in the exhibition. In consultation with the exhibition curators, graduate fellows will have the opportunity to identify a project that supports the interpretation of specific artworks or thematic sections within the exhibition. This work will primarily be conducted independently, but there will be regular virtual team meetings with exhibition curators and fellows to share research and exhibition/project updates.
How to Apply
These fellowships will take place during the fall 2021 semester at MSU in advance of the exhibition’s opening on January 15, 2022. We expect all work related to the fellowship to be complete no later than December 11, 2021. Interested applicants should submit the following materials to Senior Curator and Director of Curatorial Affairs Steven Bridges (sbridges@msu.edu) and Assistant Curator Georgia Erger (ergergeo@msu.edu) by 11:59PM on Monday August 30, 2021. Late submissions will not be reviewed. Applications should consist of the following components:
- One page statement describing applicant’s interest in project, area of expertise/study, and potential contribution
- CV/resume, including reference contact information
- A short (no longer than one page) writing sample
As an example of this kind of work, see a video feature about former SEEK Fellows here:
Job posted to MSU Handshake: #5173495
