Following through on its mission to incorporate art exhibitions into the Dartmouth curriculum, the Hood Museum is offering hands-on experience in two classes this summer.
A primary goal of the Hood Museum is to showcase works of art that correspond with Dartmouth's curriculum.
"It's a good way to get kids into the Hood Museum," Bill Drekhoff '97 said."I know I don't get in there too much but I always enjoy it."
"It's almost an advertisement for the museum," Drekhoff said, who must go to the museum for a classics course he is taking this summer.
"I think it is an excellent, very imaginative use of the Hood Museum," Classics Professor James Tatum said. "It makes a lot of sense."
Tatum assigned students in his summer Classical Mythology course to visit "Representing Myth: The Classical Tradition in Western Art," on display in the Friends and Cheatham Galleries.
The exhibit is drawn primarily from the Hood Museum's permanent collection, but it also includes work by Studio Art Professor Varujan Boghosian and a famous series of prints by Pablo Picasso.
Students in Tatum's class seem to enjoy going to the museum rather than being forced to sit at their computers.
"It's a good assignment because it's not the same old thing," Ben Chittick '97 said, a student in Tatum's class."We're doing something that is more interesting than writing a paper."
Tatum has assigned his class to choose one piece of art and sketch it. Students must then describe how the artist incorporates the myth into the artwork.
"Having to pick an image and draw it forces people to really study it," said Katherine Hart, curator of academic programming at the Hood Museum and coordinator of the exhibit.
Tatum said some students are using water color for their final product while others are making collages.
But he stressed that he is not grading his students on artistic ability, or lack thereof."They don't have to be great artists," he said."It's the amount of imagination they bring."
"He's not looking for good art, just that we picked out what's necessary from what is being depicted," Chittick said.
Tatum said classical myth is a type of adaptable language that can be represented visually through iconography.
"What students are doing is expanding the range of ways to study myth," he said."The visual representation of myth is just as important as the written [representation]."
The Herrington Gallery, which has been designated specifically for teaching exhibitions, presently holds "Unlayering Stereotypes," a display depicting images that "evoke culturally predetermined stereotypes," according to the brochure.
The exhibition is put on in association with Anthropology Professor Hoyt Alverson's course, "Introduction to Cultural Anthropology."
Alverson said this summer will mark the first time he is using the Hood Museum for the course."I don't know what will come of it, but it's very exciting in prospect and I think it has a lot of potential," he said.
Alverson said students find it hard to see stereotypes and symbols within their own society because they are submersed in it.
The exhibit "makes certain aspects of symbol systems clear, which is an important aspect of culture," he said. "It shows how much of our world is filled with symbols."
The images on display include women and flowers, men on horseback, full-length portraits of men, United States history, female allegorical figures and portraits of the presidents of the United States and their families.
"Women and flowers are a cultural symbol," Hart said. "So are men on horseback.They symbolizes power and prestige."
Students appreciate the opportunity to visit the Hood since many say their schedules often preclude them from doing so.
"I don't go to the Hood very often but I had to go so I looked around at the other exhibits too," said Allison Pope '97.
Students say the exhibit adds to their educational experience.
"It definitely makes you think," anthropology student Alex Smirnov '97 said."You go to look and certain things fill your head.It's much easier to write based on that than just reading a book because it uses more of your senses," he said.
"It exposes you to outside material that you wouldn't necessarily see in class," Drehkoff said. "The teacher can't bring paintings and sculptures to class.To see it in the outside world is very beneficial," he said.
