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Exhibits

Forever Unfinished: Making and Remaking a Public University

September 5-October 27, 2017
Hatcher Library Gallery (Room 100)

The University of Michigan was founded in 1817 as a public institution, a concept for which there were few models. What makes a university public? What should it look like? Whom should it serve? Who should have access to its resources, and where should those resources come from?

This exhibit explores how students, faculty, staff, politicians, and citizens have attempted to answer these questions. These stories invite us to imagine U-M's future as a public university based on what we know about its past. Link for a walk-through video of the exhibit.

Exhibit team: Jonathan Farr, Nora Krinitsky, Michelle McClellan, Gregory Parker, Emily Price, Kate Silbert
 

From Swing to Hip-Hop: A Photographic History of Music Performance at the University of Michigan

March 4-April 30, 2017
Michigan League Lobby Gallery

Music has always been an integral part of life in Ann Arbor and at the university. This exhibit explores how Wolverines and others have employed music for a range of purposes, from embracing a common creative past to fomenting political or artistic rebellion. The images are drawn from local archives and depict a rich history of musical performance in Ann Arbor and nearby venues. Link for a walk-through video of the exhibit.

Exhibit team: Joshua Mound, Gregory Parker, Jacques Vest
 

The Leaders and the Rest: Boundaries and Belonging at the University of Michigan

January 4-February 25, 2017
Hatcher Library Gallery (Room 100)

Who belongs at the University of Michigan? Who gets to draw its boundaries? Michigan students have asked and answered these questions for nearly two hundred years. This exhibit showcases key moments of student expression, politics, and culture from the first decades of the university’s existence in Ann Arbor, through the upheavals of world wars, and to the social and cultural turmoil of the late-twentieth century. Link for a walk-through video of the exhibit.

Exhibit team: Jonathan Farr, Nora Krinitsky, Michelle McClellan, Gregory Parker, Emily Price, Kate Silbert
 

Digital Exhibits

1963: Pop Art Comes to the University

This online exhibit is based on multi-year research into the early exhibitions of Pop Art held at the University of Michigan. The bulk of the site draws upon work carried out by students in the University of Michigan class History of Art/American Culture 244, “Art of the ‘American Century,’” in 2014 and 2016, under the direction of Professor Rebecca Zurier.
 

Living in History: Names of U-M Residence Halls

Many buildings at University of Michigan are named after figures from the university’s past. Recent controversies over the names of campus buildings demonstrate how important naming can be to our sense of community. This research project explores names associated with four residence halls: Alice Lloyd, Mary Markley, Bursley, and Baits. Who were these people? Why did the university choose to honor them in the naming of dorms?