ABSTRACT
The Museum course is an interdisciplinary class co-taught by art history and business faculty at California State University Channel Islands (the newest member of the California State system and one of fastest growing 4-year public universities in America) and offered in partnership with local museums. From the start, The Museum has been different: neither an art history nor a business class, but both. Students from various majors have a “behind the scene” exposure to museums and explore how art, money, safety, marketing (to name only a few dimensions) interact and affect exhibition themes, gallery displays and art historical narratives. Guided by museum professionals and faculty, students work collaboratively to develop projects with real-life applications, some of which have been implemented by museum partners. Many museums have been involved in this course, but two institutions, The Getty and the Carnegie Art Museum in Oxnard (which exemplify both ends of the institutional spectrum-large vs. small), have been frequent partners. This article discusses the course from the faculty’s and museum experts’ point of view and examines some projects with a focus on the college night at the Getty and the Carnegie museums.
