Museum Trip II: Visit and Blog Assignment

ENN 195: Museum Trip to the The New York Historical Society

Directions: see website or class blog.  Address: 170 Central Park West
at Richard Gilder Way (77th Street)
New York, NY 10024

We meet on the front steps (if not raining) at TWO PM SHARP (2 PM). Be there ON TIME. If it’s raining we’ll met INSIDE IN THE LOBBY, in the CENTER of the lobby. If for any reason you’re late, simply find us in the exhibit. 

Take: a notebook with pen AND pencil.

Assignment Goal: The goal of this assignment is for students to produce a blog (minimum 300 words) that addresses three aspects of their museum trip: their overall impression of the museum as an “experience”; their summary of the “story” that the exhibition tells; and their analysis or close-reading of at least three artifacts from the exhibition. Students may later choose to focus on one of these artifacts for a future assignment. 

Assignment Description: We will meet at the NYHS on the date assigned (May 21, 2pm). As we tour, we will be taking notes, observing the space of the museum itself (and the people in it), the artifacts on display, and the “story” that these artifacts tell (and which the museum has designed in a particular sequence, with certain themes emphasized). Look up, look down, get close, look all around – and take notes!

Observing the space. You may find the following questions helpful: what is communicated by the architecture of the museum? What is communicated by the spatial design of the exhibit? Who is in this space? What feelings or mood does the space give you? What feelings or mood is the space supposed to convey? Who do you think this museum was designed for? In what ways does it speak to you? In what ways does it not?

The artifacts. We will see a range of artifacts that are supposed to tell us what the World War II in NY was like. Please take comprehensive notes on three artifacts. You will need to record, their title, their source, their year, and any other information provided by the museum. Choose artifacts that stand out to you: they might interest you, challenge you, confuse you, or offend you. You will later mention three of these artifacts, but you will write about one in detail. You will have to describe these objects to someone that has not seen them. 

The story of the exhibition. All museums and curators (the people who design exhibitions) make certain choices when they put together shows. Keeping in mind our course discussions, texts, and keywords, what story do you think the museum is trying to tell about World War II in New York? Who are the main characters in this story – the heroes, the villains? Who or what do you think is left out? Why is photography an interesting medium to observe the war? What do you wish had been in the exhibition that isn’t? What more do you want to know?

We will discuss both our experiences and your blogs when we meet next as a class.