Teaching from objects and classics in a college art gallery

Abstract

The Daura Gallery exists to support the mission of Lynchburg College by being a resource for teaching through the collection, care, interpretation and exhibition of works of art. This paper examines the Lynchburg College undergraduate museum studies program, which combines teaching from the objects in the Daura Gallery collection with the Lynchburg College Symposium Readings, Classical Selections on Great Issues (LCSR). This innovative program connects ideas and objects, and develops critical thinking skills through readings by such diverse authors as Thorstein Veblen, Leo Tolstoy, Chief Joseph and Elie Wiesel. These readings foster discussion of the theory and practice of museum education, exhibitions and programming; ethical standards for museums; issues of sensationalism and pornography; government support of the arts and humanities; the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act; the repatriation of Holocaust-era assets; and other current legal and ethical issues.