The Rollins Museum of Art (RMA) is a local resource that Dr. Cheong’s Intro to Public History graduate students will be working in collaboration with this semester. RMA is a teaching museum with a central mission that their collection “stimulates transformative encounters with works of art while integrating art learning into daily life for campus and community.” As future public historians, we will bear this mission in mind as we work in collaborative teams to complete a deliverable project for the use of Rollins faculty, students, and the wider community. Our goal in this project is to create teaching portfolios consisting of curated works from the RMA collection that represent a theme that we feel would align with RMA’s mission and vision. According to the RMA website, these works are chosen for their capacity to “encourage learning, discovery, dialogue, and critical thinking” that represents a diverse range of artistic perspectives that demonstrates the interconnectedness of current and historical events. In viewing the RMA collection available online, I was struck by several particularly moving works that my team agrees are excellent examples of works depicting revolutionary moments in American history. Some of these moments are seen in the following works:
This theme encompasses a wide range of topics involving a number of social movements throughout American history which occurred to advance, resist, or even reverse social change. Social movements are typically public centered and rely on collective solidarity to affect a desired outcome. A few examples of these movements that are represented in the above-mentioned works include the anti-war movement of the late 1960s, American nationalism, and more recently, the Black Lives Matter movement.
Our team believes that understanding the foundations and formations of revolutionary moments in the past can provide insight into the present which in turn provides meaningful context to the issues we will face tomorrow. Evidence of revolutionary thoughts and actions can be found in many mediums; from art and literature to economic and political policy. Understanding these movements through a variety of means can help students of many disciplines increase their understanding of their subject matter. The addition of a teaching portfolio of curated works depicting artistic representations of revolutionary moments in American history would be an excellent resource for many Rollins College liberal arts courses. A preliminary glance at their current catalog shows several courses that could find this theme applicable to their content including African American Studies, Anthropology, History, Philosophy, Political Science, Religion, Sociology, and more.
We hope that by providing evocative examples of revolutionary moments that can link the qualitative nature of art to current Rollins coursework that our portfolio will foster new interdisciplinary connections for students that will enhance the cultural fabric of the Rollins community. On a personal level, this project stretches my skillset as a historian by focusing on works of art as sources to connect to larger themes with the added challenge of ensuring interdisciplinarity that will serve a public audience. Click here to read our team's formal portfolio proposal.
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