Object Lab is both a hybrid gallery-classroom and a responsive pedagogical platform. Each semester, faculty across academic divisions collaborate with museum staff to select works of art that employ, convey, investigate or interpret key course concepts. These works of art are then presented in a course-specific installation, offering students and faculty extended access to works of art as visual texts. Throughout the semester, students return to the space for assignments such as empirical experiments testing neuroscience theories, weekly journals about form and original context, line drawings, and re-imaginings of literary characters.
Course descriptions written by participating faculty provide a public window into the course content and how students are engaging with the art. We share behind-the-scenes information about class visits and student projects on social media—search #ObjectLabWCMA on Instagram to see how Williams students are using Object Lab for liberal arts learning.
This is the fourth iteration of Object Lab.
