The specialization in Museum Education and Administration at AAEP gives students the opportunity to explore the museum education field critically, leading discourses that shape the future role and responsibility of cultural institutions to develop and strengthen art education and arts administration in museum settings. This specialization can be combined with a MA or PhD degree in the department, and prepares students for careers in and with museums. Graduates with the Museum Education and Administration specialization often go to work in museum settings, and occasionally use their specialization in schools and other community spaces
Annual AAEP/Wex Museum Specialization Lecture
Each year the Museum Education & Administration Specialization in the Department of Arts Administration, Education & Policy partners with the Wexner Center for the Arts to host an internationally recognized speaker in the field of museology. Presenters explore contemporary theoretical and philosophical issues such as #BlackLivesMatter, critical disability, decolonization, #MuseumsAreNotNeutral, queer epistemology, radical inclusion, and social justice frameworks. Recordings of their lectures may be found below.
2019: La Tanya Autry (she/her) (no video)
2021: Elaine Heumann Gurian (she/her)
Gurian's more than 50 years of experience as a museum director, senior advisor, teacher, lecturer, and writer inform her ideas about growth and change in museums around the globe. In this lecture, she calls on the profession to both help visitors experience their shared humanity and to respond to our current social conditions in order to make museums more useful to everyone as we navigate the COVID-19 pandemic together.
2022: Syrus Marcus Ware (he/him)
An assistant professor at McMaster University’s School of the Arts—and a visual artist, activist, and curator—Ware uses painting, installation, and performance to explore social justice frameworks and Black activist culture. His work has been presented across Canada in solo and group exhibitions, and he has performed for local and international festivals. Ware is a member of the Performance Disability Art Collective and cofounder of Black Lives Matter—Canada.
2023: Margaret Middleton they/them
Middleton is an international museum consultant currently based in Belfast, Ireland. In their work, Middleton creates strategies of inclusion for communities who face inequity and exclusion in traditional museum spaces. These range from youth and families and members of LGBTIQ+ communities to museum workers. Their practices include exhibition design, audience engagement, and writing. Middleton draws from multiple critical theories to center the lived experiences of marginalized populations in their work.